<p>My daughter got accepted to UCD, College of Biological Sciences and to UCSB, CLS, undeclared major (was afraid to declare biology everywhere due to increased competitiveness). She (and I) had heard that UCD is somewhat better place for majoring in biology … (but some people we talked to claim all those bio studies there are too “agriculturally inclined”. What would be the prospects for possible pre-med student there?). The problem with Davis for my D, on the other hand is … its location. :)</p>
<p>The UCSB is located more attractively, but we don’t know how hard would it be to declare a bio major there. Is it impacted? Now that she is accepted to CLS, we found out that there is also possible (and, probably, even much better) to major in biology in CCS … But how hard it is to transfer from one “college” to another in UCSB?</p>
<p>Since it looks like she will have hard time deciding between those two institutions, could anyone tell us how they are compared in other aspects such as difficulty getting into classes, summer research, getting to know professors? What about grade deflation - where is it harder to get a decent GPA?</p>
<p>What about living conditions, food etc. - where is it harder to get decent housing, how good/bad the food is? Any other considerations we could compare?</p>
<p>CCS at UCSB is a separate application - I don’t know if there is a process for applying when you are already at UCSB but you could call admissions and ask. On Biology you should ask as well. My own thought is that they weed people out through the lower division courses, and that she’d probably be able to change to ‘pre Biology’, but you can get the real answer by asking admissions. My niece was pre med at UCSB and really liked the opportunities there. She is now graduating from medical school and will be going to her residency back east at a hospital associated with an Ivy after graduation. </p>
<p>However, I know Davis is also strong in Biology, and I find it hard to believe it is all about animals, personally. I think they would probably both be good. The food at UCSB is said to be quite good on campus, the dining hall for Santa Catalina towers dorm off campus (previously named FT) is supposed to be not so good. My sons are deciding between the two schools and are looking at some of the same issues. I suspect the difficulty will be similar, to be honest. My knowledge as a long ago alumn is a bit dated, but my niece absolutely loved it there, and we will be going to Spring Insight at UCSB this Saturday.</p>
<p>UCSB has an excellent science program, but Davis’ biological majors are ranked higher/ more versatile. Davis is naturally strong in the agriculture and environmental sciences because it’s a historically agricultural school. However, they have other science majors that aren’t necessarily agricultural-based. Some of those majors include aerospace engineering, animal biology, biochemistry, biomedical/ electrical engineering, neurobiology, nutrition science, etc.
UC Davis is rural, but it’s close to San Francisco and Sacramento. </p>
<p>well, if you get into biomedical/electrical engineering and neurobiology, I’d have a lot more to say about UCSB. They have a lot of cool research going on there in those areas.</p>