Questions about SC answered by a former student

<p>Are there a lot of mosquitoes at night? I can't stand bug bites and I get allergic sometimes.</p>

<p>I hear ya, degeneres; When it comes to insects, I am actually a buzz-a-phobe :(</p>

<p>I wouldn't say there are a lot of bugs at NIGHT, but there are a lot of bugs in SPRING. Right now there are gnats everywhere. This is a forest, there are a lot of living things, you get used to it. If you're really worried, put on some insect repellent. I used to get bug bites all the time at home (LA) but rarely get bitten here - and I walk through the forest every day.</p>

<p>Is there a certain college on campus where transfer students tend to go to? Or a college where most of the juniors/seniors stay at? I'm a transfer student after one year at community college and I want to have the college experience. I'm a Community Studies major if that helps.</p>

<p>I know that UCSC has some classes that you can take "pass, no pass" and I was wondering how that factors into your GPA, and how grad schools look at it.</p>

<p>Is it true that I can take 25% of my classes this way (pass, no pass)?</p>

<p>What schools did you reject in order to go to UCSC? Why?</p>

<p>I plan on either going to a law or medical school for graduate studies, by going to UCSC will this affect my eligibility? (asking this because Cal students and other students are considered "superior" based on the prestige of the school)</p>

<p>How hard is it to maintain a 3.5 GPA? </p>

<p>How is campus life on weekdays? Studies, social life, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for answering these questions!!</p>

<p>GO SLUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Transfer students hang out everywhere, no particular college more than another.</p>

<p>You can take 25% of your classes P/NP. Some departments restrict how many P/NP you can take toward your major, others don't care. It doesn't get factored into your UC gpa, but some grad schools factor it like a "C" for GPA.</p>

<p>How hard is it to maintain a 3.5 GPA?
- How hard do you study? </p>

<p>How is campus life on weekdays? Studies, social life, etc.
- There is plenty to do, really, that's the least of your worries.</p>

<p>Are we allowed to use scooters ( like razors) or skateboards? Or only bikes?</p>

<p>^ When I went on the tour, I saw a few skaters.</p>

<p>lol, I am a 'beginner' and i do not want to end up with a broken torso because of my stupidity of using a skateboard. UCSC, isnt very "even grounded"
=p</p>

<p>Actually, our tour guide said that skates and skateboards aren't allowed on campus. I'm guessing that scooters are out too...</p>

<p>thx! i guess its a bike or on foot for me then =]</p>

<p>Yea they're technically not allowed, but that doesn't stop plenty of people.</p>

<p><em>evil grin</em> or really?</p>

<p>Do students download shows through torrents? I know it's illegal, but some students do it anyways. I heard some schools built firewalls against these illegal downloads. y/n?</p>

<p>There's no firewall explicitly against torrents, but i'd be wary. the RIAA sent out 17 letters to UCSC students within the past month. If the university catches you uploading copy written material, you're kicked off the network for 2 weeks and face possible sanctions from your college. Also, there is a bandwidth upload limit of 2 Gigs/day, which can inhibit torrents. If you go over that you're kicked off the network for i <em>think</em> 3 days.</p>

<p>that said, a lot of people download anyway. be careful, take precautions, and know the risk you're taking.</p>

<p>Hm. Well I never upload anything...but I do download a lot of shows. Who cares? hahaha</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>If you use bit torrent you ARE uploading, that's how it works.</p>

<p>"seeding" huh :/
If it's only 2 Gigs/day, then I'm fine. Do you know how much those students download each day (to the extent that the school caught them)?</p>

<p>I don't know if I should risk it or not though. I live on some shows and they don't broadcast on U.S. networks.</p>

<p>Besides eating at the dining hall or at the other restaurants in UCSC or at Santa Cruz, are we allowed to cook our own food? (Besides microwaving something in the dorms) Are we allowed to cook in the lounges or are there any facilities that allow us to?</p>

<p>Some colleges have communal kitchens, some don't. Don't plan on doing a lot of cooking if you're not in an apartment, there aren't a lot of options for it.</p>