<p>Hi I am a junior from New York but I’m really interested in this school</p>
<p>1.) Is UCSC as academically relaxed as I have heard? I would like some challenge at school
2.) I have heard the linguistics program at UCSC is fantastic but is it really graduate focused or undergraduate focused? Are there any research opportunities
3.) THe UC eligiblity seems to be very confusing especially for out of staters. I can still use test only eligiblity if I am out of state right?</p>
<p>Sooo many questions, but I think I can help out a few of you:</p>
<p>@penguin, econ and psych should be fine in terms of getting classes and whatnot. Those are two of the most popular majors at UCSC. I can’t really give you guys input on the other majors though.</p>
<p>@Star, bio hasn’t been impacted that much either. If you need a place to study, there are local “libraries” at each of your colleges that should be accessible 24/7. It’s basically a small study room.</p>
<p>@tony, I think it depends on what type of girls you are in to. I’ve seen some good looking girls on campus and at parties. I wouldn’t really join a college due to a major, but I know Crown has a lot of CS majors (especially game design). No, there is only one gym on campus (located near Cowell/Stevenson). However, there is also another field house located near College 8. Yes, the dining hall thing is true depending on your meal plan. Most freshman get the 7 day meal plan, which means unlimited food at the dining halls for 7 days (until they close at like 12?).</p>
<p>Okay, I guessed I missed a few questions-</p>
<p>@Star, Colleges 9 and 10 are both pretty new and have a lot of Asians. Cowell may also fit the other requirements you listed. It is not mandatory, but most students live on campus first year. Freshman apply for dorms for their first year (with the exception of Kresge which is all apartments/no dorms). You can choose who you want to room with OR you can fill out a survey over the summer, so you can get paired with an other student. There are no kitchens in the residential halls, so you got to survive with a microwave/fridge in the dorms. Getting around campus = walking or taking a bus. Walking really isn’t that bad, but you can take a free campus bus if you don’t feel like it. If you want to go to the town, there are metro buses that you can ride if you show your student ID card (the school gets charged everytime you use it, but not you personally).</p>
<p>@Kil, I think it can be challenging if you want it to be challenging. At first I thought the school was very easy, so then I started to take more advanced courses/more units. I do know that our linguistics program is highly ranked, but I don’t know the specifics of the upper division courses. I would guess that there is a recommended path for those interested in grad school (as with most majors). There are research opportunities, but you got to take the initiative and find them. I don’t know about eligibility, you have to look closely at the UC website. I just know that out of state admission is very selective and very expensive.</p>
<p>does the field house have lifting equipment like a gym??</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, I have never really explored the field house near College 8. All I know is that it has a basketball gym. For lifting equipment, you have to go to the East Field House (located near Cowell/Stevenson). For more information on that, you might want to check this: [Wellness</a> Center/OPERS](<a href=“http://wellness.ucsc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=7&Itemid=6]Wellness”>http://wellness.ucsc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=7&Itemid=6)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t really pick a college based on location for these kind of services. I went to College 10 and I was able to go to the gym 4 times a week.</p>
<p>@MidnightGolfer; thank you so much!</p>
<p>Maybe I can visit UCSC over the next few weeks cause it’s about an hour or two away. My mom suggested commuting, but I don’t really want to miss out on the ‘college experience’ of getting to dorm and living on-campus. I feel like it would be harder to meet people and make friends by commute ^^; I’m already shy as it is, haha…</p>
<p>Yeah, visiting UCSC is probably the best way to find out for yourself. I would never think about commuting to SC, mostly because you don’t want to drive on highway 17 every day. Also that college experience is really great. I’m now a 2nd year at UCSC and I’ve built really great friendships with people from the dorms last year. Looking back at it, I’ve experienced SO much my freshman year. I have hundreds of stories that I would love to tell my future offspring(well the PG-ones that is).</p>
<p>MidnightGolfer: Dining hall hours were changed from midnight to 11pm beginning of February. And seems hours have been slightly adjusted again (I swear I remember Crown/Merrill staying open until 3:30pm on Fridays… but maybe I’m thinking of Banana Joe’s hours).</p>
<p>Cowell/Stevenson Dining Hall:
Monday-Friday: 7:15am-7pm
Saturday-Sunday: 10am-2pm; 5pm-7pm</p>
<p>Crown/Merrill Dining Hall:
Monday-Thursday: 7:15am-8pm
Friday: 7:15am-3pm
Saturday-Sunday: Closed</p>
<p>Porter/Kresge Dining Hall:
Monday-Friday: 12pm-7pm
Saturday-Sunday: Closed</p>
<p>Oakes/8 Dining Hall:
Monday-Thursday: 7:15am-11pm
Friday: 7:15am-7pm
Saturday: 10am-7pm
Sunday: 10am-11pm</p>
<p>9/10 Dining Hall:
Monday-Friday: 7:15am-11pm
Saturday-Sunday: 10am-11pm</p>
<p>[UC</a> Santa Cruz Dining Halls](<a href=“http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/dining/dining-halls.html]UC”>http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/dining/dining-halls.html)</p>
<p>Yeah, I heard about the reduction in hours. That’s why I included the question mark 
(I live off campus)</p>
<p>To be honest, I never had any problems with the availability of the dining facilities. Then again, I am from C9 (the dining hall with the best hours). Many of my Crown friends, however, are pretty disappointed, and for good reason.</p>
<p>MidnightGolfer: It wasn’t a slight if that’s how you took it. It was simply answering the question mark you put in. Now if I said something along the lines of, “Where have you been the last two months?” then I would have been teasing you ;). However, I was just providing supplemental information. My apologies if you interpreted it as anything but that.</p>
<p>Cali Trumpet: Crown/Merrill’s hours are terrible, I definitely sympathize with anyone living there. I feel like even Porter/Kresge’s are better even though we don’t have breakfast hours and also lack weekends. But after not having a dining hall at all very close by, any hours at all are welcome and we get Friday dinner hours at the very least. I never eat breakfast anyways.</p>
<p>Banana Joe’s hours were changed back closer to normal dinner hours too (according to the website at least). No more late night service there this quarter ):</p>
<p>@Kender, not at all. I’m actually glad you posted the hours. I knew about C9/10’s new hours, but didn’t know about the new hours at the other dining halls.</p>
<p>I would be pretty mad at these types of hours if I still lived in the dorms. I do like the late nights for C9/10 because we all hated walking all the way to Crown for late night (the chicken nuggets made up for it). My condolences to any current Crown/Merrill students. I always ate dinner at 9, so I can’t imagine my dining hall being closed at 8 :/</p>
<p>Yeah it sucks living at Crown/Merrill because not only do we not get weekends we don’t have friday night as well. However Cowell/Stevenson and College 9/10 are pretty close by so I don’t see it being a major inconvienence.</p>
<p>Hey, i was recently admitted to UCSC and im trying to decide which college at Santa Cruz is right for me. Im pretty liberal although not to the extreme. Im a gay preppy/shopping/starbucks kinda guy but i also like jogging/hiking, redwoods, and the ocean. Im from socal and will be majoring in health sciences with the intention of going on to med school. I am not against smoking occasionally but i mostly stick the parties with drinking. Are there people like me at UCSC? What college would be the best fit for me?
Thanks</p>
<p>How hard is it to sign up for classes, because i’ve been hearing with budget cuts etc. it is difficult to get your classes?</p>
<p>How will Health Sciences prepare me for after college in comparison to major in Biology? I applied for a major in Biology but I am unsure if I should change it…</p>
<p>How are classes impacted with budget cuts? is it obvious around campus?</p>
<p>For freshmen taking gen. ed classes and having a science major ie. bio or health sciences, what are the classes like? how are the teachers?</p>
<p>and is there really a lot of white people? i come from an extremely diverse area (fremont, ca) where it is a running joke that caucasian is a minority here. will i experience a culture shock if i attend ucsc?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance to anyone who can get me feed back. =)</p>
<p>blacktofu, if you’re from fremont you will experience a culture shock, especially if you’re from the mission area o.o.</p>
<p>@blacktofu: Signing up for classes isn’t that bad, but sometimes you might have difficulty getting your 3rd course if you have low priority. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about your major right now. To UCSC, you don’t have a major right now (you’re technically Undeclared at this moment). During your 2nd year you actually have to apply and declare your major to make it official. You didn’t really say what you wanted to do after college, so I’m going to guess you’re thinking med school? If so, health sciences might be a better path due to its specific course structure.</p>
<p>In all honesty, the budget cuts aren’t that bad. If you want to see chaos, look at how some CSUs are suffering. Otherwise it’s perfectly fine here. Library hours are cut (possibility hours might increase next year), dining hall hours have been adjusted, and some courses might not be offered year long (1 or 2 quarters instead).</p>
<p>Gen ed classes at UCSC are great. You can encounter really passionate teachers and very interesting courses. Most of my friends are health science majors and they haven’t really praised any of their science professors, but they are content with their courses. It just becomes overwhelming sophomore year when you start taking organic chemistry along with your other science courses. However, that’s basically true at all universities.</p>
<p>It’s not really a culture shock. I grew up in Cupertino/Saratoga, so I’ve been around Asians all my life. When I began UCSC last year, I wasn’t phased at all of the amount of white students. There were even times where I saw more Asian students than whites. Even if the whole student body might have a large amount of a certain race, it doesn’t mean you will be around them 24/7 at college. You control who you hang out with. A bit of diversity is always good :)</p>
<p>Any engineers in the house? I am a proposed Neuroscience major, but after thinking things over I may be interested in becoming an engineer. I know I can’t just change my intended major since I wasn’t specifically admitted into Jack Baskin, so does anyone know how I might go about pursuing engineering at UCSC? Is there a special process or anything? Thanks!</p>
<p>thanks shibykin and midnight golllfer=] one more thing…does anyone know anything about how grades go at ucsc? like the non letter grade system and how it’s pass or fail or something…can anyone explain pls hehe.</p>
<p>Uh, what? Are you talking about the old grading system? Or do you just mean pass/no pass being allowed in general in addition to the letter grading?</p>
<p>Current grading system is a letter grading one (ie, A-F) just like most other schools, no more than 25% of your classes can be taken pass/no pass, and there may be restrictions with your major what courses can be taken as pass/no pass (a lot require letter grading). It was enforced for anyone entering after 2000 or 2001 as I recall.</p>
<p>In addition to your letter grade (or pass/no pass if you choose a class to be graded as such), you will receive a narrative evaluation. It evaluates you on how you performed in the class.</p>