UC Santa Barbara or Santa Cruz?

<p>I am a soon-to-be history major, and I have narrowed down my choices to these two schools. Although my father wants me to attend Santa Barbara because Santa Cruz is not as prestigious, I really like both and I can’t decide, so I have a few details about myself and questions about these schools, which will hopefully give me more of an idea of what college I will attend.</p>

<p>Some details about me:

  • hoping to go to graduate school and get degrees in History and Education. My dream job would be to be a professor at either a public university or a community college.
  • I’m generally liberal-leaning, and I would like to go to a college with a good level of political involvement and counterculture.
  • I am not very athletic, but I am interested in becoming a better writer and increasing my fluency in foreign languages.
  • I would like to go to a school with a laid-back, supportive atmosphere where people aren’t always competing with each other.
  • I’m not too sure about Greek life, sororities are okay, but I don’t really know if I would want to join one.</p>

<p>Questions:

  • Are there a lot of history research opportunities available to undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz?
  • What kind of benefits does the Honors program offer at Santa Barbara?
  • As a northern Californian resident, would moving to southern California be a really big change culturally?
  • How hard is it to find jobs at each UC and their respective town?
  • How approachable are the professors at Santa Barbara?</p>

<p>HUGE difference between northern California and SoCal. I would say Santa Cruz because theyre the banana slugs and the school is much more laid back. SB is a party school.</p>