<p>and jackchen…I’m sure I probably saw you then. I was looking around for other girls haha.</p>
<p>How much programming experience do you have? I’m going to take the first intro class…but I’m still nervous.</p>
<p>TWSA50: You’re dad is right. UCSB has an excellent Business Econ with Emphasis in Accounting program. The Big 4 and a lot of the mid size accounting firms come here to hold info sessions for the students and of course the internship they offer for juniors and the leadership programs for sophomores. All the prof/lecturers I’ve had for accounting have outstanding background experience working for big accounting firms. They are very knowledgeable and helpful towards the success of their students. Currently, the department has put in a new class, International Accounting, which is new at UCSB and is not offered yet in most schools, due to the new economic times and changing rules that the industry is acknowledging. </p>
<p>I’m not into big parties and getting drunk and wasted as well. However, we at UCSB frowns on people who thinks this is a big party school. One reason that a lot of people might think of that is because the town (Isla Vista) is so close and adjacent to the school. So any event that happens in there are automatically associated with UCSB. However, one big advantage is that students can actually choose to live in the dorms/residence halls or get an apartment of their own and still be close to the school. But what most people don’t understand is that Isla Vista is a town that has families and residents who has lived there for a long time. It’s not all students and it’s not all “parties” there. As I’ve said earlier, everybody has a choice. If you chose not to drink/smoke/party, that is your decision and nobody can or should dissuade you of that.</p>
<p>As far as things to do. SB itself is very outdoorsy. The school offers field trips and such for students in one of their programs, last summer we went sailing with a bunch of students for a fairly cheap price. If you’re looking for things to do at night, there is The Magic Lantern nights where they offer free or very cheap movies in the school’s theater every weekend (we take advantage of that a lot). They also have the Improv at Embarcadero Hall which is free for students. We have a nice Rec Center and a lot of the students partake in sports activities and joins the intramurals. There’s also a lot of parks in the SB area that are quiet and family friendly. There’s also the Sandspit/Goleta beach where you can hang out (we do that a lot during warm days). It’s far quieter than the one below DP. in As you can see, there are tons of activities that you can do, if you just look for it. I hope this info helps you out in making your decision.</p>
<p>“The Magic Lantern nights where they offer free or very cheap movies in the school’s theater every weekend (we take advantage of that a lot)”</p>
<p>^Can you take non-UCSB students and still be able to get the discount?</p>
<p>^I’m not sure but I would say go for it. I don’t remember getting my school ID checked since most of the people who goes in are students. It’s worth a try (where can you get a $4 movie ticket nowadays?) =)</p>
<p>Thanks byla and dissonance for reassuring me. I think my remarks might have indicated that I have eliminated UCSB, but rest assured I have not. I’m keeping an open mind. UCLA and UCB are the other schools I plan to visit this week and am considering (for obvious reasons), and I have lots of reservations with them too.</p>
<p>"(where can you get a $4 movie ticket nowadays?) =) "</p>
<p>^Yeah seriously. It sounds like a really good deal. Thank you!</p>
<p>I was disappointed to find there was a scholars reception. I looked on the UCSB website and couldn’t find anything about it and my D went yesterday and missed it, even though she received the Regents scholarship. Too bad. What time was it? All her letter said was to come to Spring Insight, but nothing about a special reception.</p>
<p>^It was from 1-2 in the Mosher Alumni House.</p>
<p>(You didn’t miss to much though. Just some food-cheese, crackers, cookies; a ribbon-only if you were one of the first to come though because they ran out; and we saw the Chancellor.)</p>
<p>Wow, a lot of information to respond to… Here’s my take on everything. As a little background on myself, I transferred to UCSB in the Fall of 2005. I went to the [#54</a> ranked high school in the nation](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380]#54”>http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380). Going to Spring Insight years ago was quite a culture shock, as the school was highly different from the environment I was used to. </p>
<p>Manzanita Village: konakai27 is correct about Manzanita being RIGHT next to DP. It’s a 2 minute walk if even that much. However, since the buildings are new (constructed in 2003), they do a great job keeping the noise out from DP. Please see [this</a> map](<a href=“http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/hchoices/hchoices-images/pdfs/manzanita-village.pdf]this”>http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/hchoices/hchoices-images/pdfs/manzanita-village.pdf). For reference, Cienega House (at the top left) is the one that faces DP and the one that you see walking down DP. I lived in Tecelote, also facing outward (I could see the first house on DP from my window). I got virtually no noise from DP, save for the occasional music coming from DP Friday and Saturday nights, and that’s only if my windows were open. Trust me, unless you live in Cienega on the side facing DP, the noise will be a non-issue (and that entire Las Encinas quad is typically not for freshman).</p>
<p>Students: Despite konakai27 thinking the opposite, yes, in fact we do have very bright students here 
We’ve just learned to balance our social lifestyles and our academic lifestyles, and we’re certainly not “delusional” for doing so. For example, one of my friends drank and smoked and was in a sorority and everything, but she also had the lead role in a major school play, was a Gaucho tour guide, and is now applying for grad schools for language pathology. I’m a firm believer that the happy students do well. And almost everyone I knew in UCSB was happy. </p>
<p>Isla Vista: The great thing about Isla Vista is that it is a tight-knit community of mostly students? Where else are you going to find that? You have almost all your friends within a mile away. No other UC has a community like this? UCSD? Good luck there. Once people move off campus, everyone spreads out through La Jolla and Pacific Beach and commute by car or bus to campus. The lack of Division I sports hurts the community too. And there’s plenty to do besides drinking too! Take a run along the lagoon; go see the $4 movies at Magic Latern, go see Improvability at Embarcadero Theatre, go to the rock climbing wall on the 6600 block of Trigo, etc. There’s no other campus in the UC system where you can do so much without getting on a bus or getting in your car. Everything is close!</p>
<p>imgoing2college & jackchen
i was one of the girls who went to the CS presentation too! i actually did not notice that there were only about 3 girls in there…but ive already been prepared for that since CS seems to be a very unpopular major for girls. i thought the presentation for that was pretty informative and the student panel portrayed it as a lot easier than i thought it would be which makes me a bit relieved… =)
i didnt get to take a look @ manzanita but you said you visited the women in science&tech building? i was actually considering that since one of the CS girls said she lived there…but i dont want a completely dead community… or maybe anacapa? im just blindly picking…</p>
<p>i’ve never had a drink/smoke in my life and even though i saw isla vista for myself yesterday, i didn’t think it was THAT bad as everyone’s making it to be. just dont live on that street, im sure theres many others out there. SB overall seems really nice; the party scene is just overplayed so no one sees the positives about the school.</p>
<p>hey imgoing2college.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about missing the financial aid presentation. They only talked about stuff that you probably already know like EFC, FAFSA, and the unofficial award letter.</p>
<p>^merely, my first choice for housing is Manzanita (scholars, then women in sci/tech.) and my second choice is anacapa (scholars). I’ve heard that Manzanita is usually one of the quieter dorms and that it’s somewhat harder to make friends, but I’m doing FSSP so I figure I’d make friends there anyways.</p>
<p>And yeah, the students there answering questions seemed pretty “normal,” which to me was a relief. I don’t have that much programming experience at all, so prior to the talk I was pretty nervous about going into this major. But now I know that I’ll just take that really basic class where you learn Python first. (I know BASIC language, but that’s it.)</p>
<p>“i’ve never had a drink/smoke in my life”-ditto, and I completely agree with what you said about IV.</p>
<p>Thanks shabamm. That’s what I figured they would talk about, so I went to other talks instead.</p>
<p>To everyone: I want to apologize for my comments. I didn’t realize that the events in Isla Vista were because of Floatopia/Spring Break. I personally do not want to attend UCSB but I should not have tried to persuade others from doing so. I hope no one makes a decision based on my comments and I hope that you guys visit the schools first.</p>
<p>Well, while Floatopia probably added some people to the mix, spring quarter in UCSB is still probably similar to what you guys saw. That means people going to the beach, partying along Del Playa on Friday and Saturday night, drunk revelers taking Bills Bus to the clubs downtown on Thursday nights, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to apologize for your comments, you didn’t feel right in the school and that is a perfectly legitimate reason for wanting to choose to attend a different school. My point was just because the school is stereotyped as a “party school” doesn’t mean that academics are compromised. Just look at UW-Madison, one of the top publics in the country yet also ranked higher than UCSB in many party polls. No one can claim that UW-Madison is a bad school.</p>
<p>The partying atmosphere is great for building strong bonds between UCSB students and enhancing school pride and feel of the community. And if you don’t like partying, there’s plenty to do otherwise. I challenge anyone to find another UC where there is so much to do within walking distance (My brothers went to UCB and UCSC, I lived in Davis for 3 months, and I’ve visited friends overnight at UCLA and UCSD, so I do have some experience with UC schools). This is reflected in the fact that UCSB has one of the lowest (possibly the lowest, but it’s hard to find data) suicide rates among the UC system.</p>
<p>I agree. I shouldn’t have said that academics would be compromised. And I know there are plenty of people who don’t get drunk all the time. There are probably a ton of students like me. I think that I would thrive in a different environment, though, because I didn’t like what I saw on DP. I heard about the stereotypes and was afraid that they were true, but I went into the school open-minded. At the beginning I was expecting to attend to UCSB because of the scholarship, but I wasn’t impressed by the presentations and Isla Vista is too close to the school for me. I know that I can avoid that area, but I’ll have to move to off campus living eventually and don’t want to take the chance. I’m very disappointed to give up my regents scholarship and my dad is too, but we both know UCSB is not the school for me.</p>
<p>you can apply for UC apts which is on collegio which is like on the other side of IV from DP and if you dont get those, the farther you get from DP the less parties and it gets much quieter as families being to live in that area.</p>
<p>I’ll leave UCSB an option, but right now I’m considering UCSD and Cal.</p>
<p>konakai27:
why are you even leaving it an option? reading every one of your posts in this thread tells me you don’t want to go. no one is asking your to go, and to the contrary, i’d rather you don’t go for the sake of the school and yourself if you’re going to be miserable and regretful for not having chosen SD or B.</p>
<p>On a different note:
“Just don’t leave campus, haha. But seriously, avoid DP and Manzanita.”
My understanding was that Manzanita is the more quiet and secluded dorm that houses more of the academically-focused students. comp sci students for example. </p>
<p>I’d never been to UCSB so visiting yesterday for the first time was a great experience. </p>
<p>pre-med
student panel
computer science
lunch/walk around
how to succeed
housing</p>
<p>I’m leaving it an option because they gave me a Regents scholarship. They’re giving me $12,500 a year as opposed to UCSD’s $1,500. I know I need to go where I’m comfortable, but money is a big issue, especially since I want to get a PhD which will not help me when paying back loans.</p>
<p>Manzanita is secluded, but it’s also closest to DP, the main party street.</p>