I really dislike partying and I dont want to surround myself with partyers; however, I heard that UCSB has a better Computer Science program than UC Davis, but is the difference big? Thanks
I applied to both schools (and got into UCD, still waiting on UCSB), and to be honest I don’t think the difference is large enough to concern yourself about. If I really hated the party atmosphere, and every other factor was equal, my personal preference would be UCD since the programs are so similar in quality.
I’d love to hear from someone who has attended UCSB though. The partying may or may not be something you can distance yourself from.
Every school has parties, and every school has students who avoid the parties.
First year and honestly the party scene hasn’t affected me at all. Either you party or you don’t, and no one really cares.
Nobody is going to drag you to parties. However it appears your dislike goes deeper than this, you don’t seem to want to associate with people who do enjoy parties. A lot of college kids, relishing the freedom of living away from home, go to parties. I don’t know that you’ll find that much less of a party presence at Davis but my gut feel is you’d be more likely to be happy there.
As a current first year UCSB major studying CS, all our engineering programs are awesome! That being said, Davis/SD/LA/CPSLO are all academically on par, as far as their engineering programs go. The difference between Davis and SB is the campus life: UCSB is so much more beautiful, the people are so much more friendly, and the weather and food are SO much better. My friends and I aren’t partiers at all, and I wouldn’t say that the huge party scene has really affected usl. All the partying happens off campus in Isla Vista, which is on the opposite side of the campus from the Freshman dorms. All the UCs are big schools – at any UC there are going to be LOTS of partiers and LOTS of people who don’t party, the people you end up spending time with are going to be the people you want to spend time with.
I would greatly recommend UCSB (for engineering/CS)!
Parties happen in IV, you would be in the freshman dorms far away from it. It is anyone’s choice to surround themselves with parties and go out, but you don’t have to. However, if you have a problem with people that party, then perhaps UCSB isn’t your best bet. You don’t have to make friends with them, but you will be surrounded with them, and limiting yourself to a friend group that doesn’t go out is going to severely cripple the amount of friends you can make if you are that picky.
How do you know that the food is better and the people are nicer at Davis . It sounds like you haven’t been there before because that’s all off . The only plus I would say about Santa Barbara would be the beach .
I also had a very difficult time choosing between Davis and SB. If you are looking from a partying point of view, then I I assure you there is nothing to worry about. It is college, you choose whether or not you want to party.
Academically, while you can say these schools are very close academically in CS, I assure you SB is still known to be better in the industry compared to that of Davis. This means better companies comes to career fairs to find CS students.
It really depends upon your perspective in regards to the industry. UC Davis is near Silicon valley so there are many internships/job opportunities available along with access to many companies in the Sacramento and Bay area. I really do not think one school is better than the other, since many companies recruit from many of the UC’s. I would pick the best fit based on academics/social life and your financial situation. If you feel comfortable at a school, you have a higher chance at succeeding.
I don’t think there are 2 perspective regarding the industry. The industry is the industry. A school closer to the Silicon Valley does not at all mean you will get more job opportunities. Do you think someone in MIT will get less job opportunity because they are thousands of miles away from the Silicon Valley? And yes, you are right, in the long run it doesn’t matter that much as to what school you are from but what you know. As in Google recruiters will not care that much as to what school you came from but projects you’ve done and what you know.
That said, there IS a big difference in the beginning where they have nothing to look at but your schools and GPA. Companies knows which school is better hence getting an internship during school and a job right out of school is very impacted based off of which school you are from, and in that case, UCSB is better. Just go to the career fair for example. Microsoft, Oracle, Intel always comes to UCSB. I checked the career fair for UC Davis and the same can not be said. UCSD’s Computer Science program is much better than that of UCSB. Facebook, Apple, Salesforce will often go to UCSD but not UCSB. So what school you come from does make a huge difference. Though I do agree it is very important to choose a school you feel comfortable in. So do explore both schools.