<p>I am currently a senior going into college. The problem is out of both these UC schools which is an easier college in terms of general education classes like physics, calculus, chem and bio classes. I want to major in bioengineering but I want to transfer into UCSD or UCLA. I dont want to attend community college cause my parents wont let me and I want to get the college experience. </p>
<p>-WestSide</p>
<p>help me please....</p>
<p>UCSC is higher ranked so I'm assuming it is more difficult. Also since there is absolutely nothing to do in Riverside, I'm sure you can get way more done. I would pick Santa Cruz because it has a better location and campus, but however you choose your college is up to you.</p>
<p>For sure go for Santa Cruz because not only is it higher ranked, but it is in a beautiful campus and the people there are very welcoming. Riverside is right around the corner from my home, and I see Santa Cruz as a place where you would most enjoy receiving your education.</p>
<p>UCSC has a new engineering building and a strong program in sciences. we also have the 3-2 program with Berkeley, 3 years at SC and 2 years at B, graduate with your masters degree.</p>
<p>kewiekid i would like to transfer from UCSC to UCSD for my field of biomedical engineering. I wanted to know how hard it is to get a 3.5+ in UCSC.</p>
<p>Can anyone confirm the common and availabilty of drugs and uses in UCSC that is highly accused? As a parent touring both schools, we like UCSC much better than UCR as far as the confortable and academic rankings factors. Probably will send son to UCSC but still very concern about the drugs accusation and stories.</p>
<p>I think of it like this. . .the desert or the beach?</p>
<p>Seriously though, I think UCSC is a better school overall and is set in a beautiful location. However, UCR might have things that UCSC doesn’t have. . .off hand I can’t think of what they are but. . .</p>
<p>As for the drugs. . .those are EVERYWHERE. Even UC Davis where drugs are practically “non-existent” still has small drug use. I think it is up to the student to not get involved in the localdrug scene. </p>
<p>I once visited UCSC and I was at a phone booth (long ago, sigh) and a gentlemen walked up to me. I said hello and his response was, “The big ship is coming.” Concerned, I looked toward the beach and saw no ships in the distance. He then said, “I’ve been waiting five years for this.” I glanced at his face and his eyes were so glassy and vacant looking that I figured he really was “seeing ships” so to speak. I wasn’t scared and had no fear of my life. </p>
<p>It’s hard to run away from the drug scene, but I think that will be a problem for almost all universities, unfortunately.</p>
<p>The only thing UCR has that UCSC doesnt have is a business school…and it is higher rank in engineering apparently.</p>
<p>However UCSC has a much stronger bio program and I’m assuming is alot better in bio engineering since its well bio XD.</p>
<p>UCSC is a much better looking campus, better city, next to a beach :D, and bay area is just a cool place to be, with better temperature :D. UCR was hot as -.- when i visited it :(.</p>
<p>In my opinion, UCSC is the second most underrated UC, behind UCSB, because it is a generally small campus :(.</p>
<p>Actually, for most of PHD programs, UCR ranks higher than UCSC.</p>
<p>Both probably have the same difficulty level more or less.
It probably won’t be super easy, so if you want that just go to a community college and transfer. Plus it is easier to transfer from a community college. If not just choose the UC you like better, but if you work hard of course you can get a good gpa.</p>
<p>Oh and in my opinion UCSC is better for undergrad. 
Lol I keep editing this, but…you know what’s weird?
I noticed UCSC is ranked pretty good in the National Public Schools. It is better ranked than a lot of other state schools. I guess sometimes it is just not seen as really good or as a “back up” because it is a lower ranked UC. But overall it is ranked pretty good in the state school category.</p>
<p>@UCR</p>
<p>Why would an undergrad care about which school had the better grad programs?</p>
<p>@Westside</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that all the UCs (minus UCB/UCLA) are taught at the same difficulty. It is also not too hard to transfer to UCSD. Many, many kids do this, far more than this forum would believe. You just need to really focus in your first two years and you should be fine. I still would recommend going to CCC if you honestly don’t want to attend either UCR or UCSC. </p>
<p>How hard is it to get a 3.5+? Honestly, not too bad. It really depends on the effort you put into your classes and how quickly you can grasp the concepts.</p>
<p>to Cali Trumpet,
the quality of the grad program generally translates into quality research opportunities for undergraduate interns. there also tend to be better TAs and more interesting advanced coursework in programs with good grad programs.</p>
<p>From a parent point of view, I offer the following. We have known several families whose children left UCSC because it felt remote to them (its incredibly beautiful, but far from SF) and they felt incredibly isolated. And yes, the drug issue is big there-but where is it not?</p>
<p>UCSC!! UCR is in… riverside. Overall I think students are much happier at UCSC than UCR<br>
(**************.com) and UCSC provides a true college experience in a great town. Oh and parents, if you don’t trust your kids with drugs then send them to BYU… seriously pretty much every college in the nation has drug use and you will never really be able to control it, and you shouldn’t try to (within a reasonable extent).</p>
<p>@ Cali Trumpet</p>
<p>No, an undergrad wouldn’t care much for phd program. But it doesn’t seem like the OP cares much about these two schools anyway as he plans to transfer after two years. </p>
<p>My previous post was directed to Shibykin, who claimed that UCSC has much stronger bio program. Neither school’s bio program is ranked on the undergrad level, but if we go with grad ranking, both rank 56th according to US News.</p>
<p>uhh like who cares about the grad level right now :O? UCSC is still a better school overall and thats a fact -.-.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to say which school is better. I was just saying UCSC’s bio program isn’t necessary better than UCR’s.</p>
<p>Ok, Here are the FACTS that you guys are looking for:
<p>So in my opinion, there are no such thing as, “UCSC is better than UCR” or “UCR is better than UCSC”. It really all depends on your major. Ranking is just a ranking. It doesn’t tell you whether you are going to have a great education at great college or not. College is WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT. If you think you can make the most out of UCSC, then go to UCSC. If you think you can make the most out of UCR, then go to UCR.</p>
<p>resources:"<a href=“http://www..com">www..com</a>”, “<a href=“http://www.wikipedia.org”>www.wikipedia.org</a>”, People who graduated from college</p>
<p>@linoch</p>
<p>In terms of prestige, UCSC is a better school and thats a fact. It’s always been consistently ranked higher than UCR</p>
<p>@Shibykin</p>
<p>You are so brain-washed about the b.s. ranking system from those websites like U.S. & World News Report. I already know UCSC is a better school than UCR overall in terms of ranking. You are basically stating a fact that everyone, including me, already knows.
The reason why I put the information above is because I just wanted to let people know that UCSC and UCR have their own impacted majors. So you don’t have to state the same thing over and over again. But in terms of bioengineering, UCR is better than UCSC.
So it’s really up to him about making choices. He could choose UCSC over UCR because of the location and the ranking or he could choose UCR over UCSC because of their good engineering program.
o btw, both UCSC and UCR have a good bio program (not bioengineering) but UCR has a better bioENGINEERING program.</p>