UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I am a transfer student majoring in sociology who has the opportunity to go to either one of these fine schools. I hope to enter law school in the future, and am not sure which one to pick. I would most likely be dorming if i attend these schools. The only real factors for ucsc for me right now is that it is close enough to home for me to visit and i have a few friends who attend there, while i believe that davis is a better school for my major. Where would you all suggest?</p>

<p>Have you visited both? Don’t pick UCSC just because you have friends there. Make sure you choose the school that fits your personality better.</p>

<p>I’ve visited both campuses many times. UCSC makes me feel like its a park that swallowed a school, and has a really relaxing air to it and is close to the beach. UC Davis feels like a small town, which it is. I get the same relaxing feel in Davis because of all the open space.</p>

<p>I like both campuses, however Davis has more prestige. I’m not certain if its better for my major, because if it is then id go there and still enjoy it. However, SC also lets me stay relatively close to home, which affects my choice because i live in a single parent household.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t dwell on the prestige aspect. Both schools are well known in different fields, and you can get a great education at either one.</p>

<p>Look at which one has the better program in which you’re interested (often as not, it’ll be the less “prestigious” school). Also, and perhaps just as important, what’s your gut feeling as to where you feel more comfortable?</p>

<p>In terms of atmosphere, I don’t know how UCD and UCSC rate relative to each other, but both seem to have reputations as being more relaxed than, say, Berkeley. To me, UCSC feels like a much smaller campus than UCD. Partly, of course, because it is smaller in enrollment, but I think that the forest helps it feel even smaller. Is that important to you?</p>

<p>Since you’re interested in Law school, another factor could be the relative law school acceptance rates are from the two campuses. Sorry, but I don’t know offhand where to find those statistics. If you haven’t already, you might try doing a search on “law school admission rate” on their websites, but I don’t know if they keep those numbers the way they do for med school applicants.</p>

<p>If you <em>really</em> can’t decide, there’s always the coin toss. Decide, for example, that heads=UCSC and tails=UCD. Toss the coin. If you’re happy with the result, go for it. If you aren’t, then you just found out where your heart really wants you to go.</p>

<p>i agree with lostcoast’s advice. another consideration would be money (for room and board). if that matters to you, it’ll be less expensive to go to sta. cruz and commute from home. that could make a real difference in your household. if money isn’t a concern, then a coin toss sounds good to me!</p>

<p>either way-- congrats!</p>

<p>For law school, Davis would be a great choice because of the vast amount of internships it provides. Also its 15 minutes away from Sacramento, which would also help you with law school in the future.</p>

<p>I agree with LostCoast on the gut feeling. Choose the school where you feel most comfortable. When I was living in silicon valley, I would visit Santa Cruz often and didn’t particularly care for the the atmosphere. I love the beach but just didn’t feel that UCSC was right for me. I chose UCD since I wanted to remain in a city-like atmosphere (I live in Sac) and for my major (Statistics). </p>

<p>I know a few students who turned down UCB and UCLA to come here because they just didn’t feel comfortable at the other schools. A school can have all the prestige possible but there is no point in wasting time and money knowing each time you walk into a lecture hall you wish you were somewhere else.</p>