UCSB CCS vs. Stanford

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
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<p>UCSB's College of Creative Studies was my first choice this whole year. I fell in love with the program after visiting the campus and meeting with the professors earlier this school year. It automatically became my first choice. After getting accepted to Stanford, I'm becoming really torn to which undergrad college I should attend. I want to go to medical school in the future and I know you have to keep up with the GPA requirements of med school. I'm worried that attending Stanford might be detrimental since the competition level is so high there. My high school GPA was not impressive whatsoever, with a 4.15 weight GPA and a 3.78 unweighted and UC GPA. However, "Stanford is a once in a lifetime opportunity" according to so many people...I'm not sure if the brand name of Stanford is worth giving up UCSB CCS.</p>

<p>If anyone can give me any advice to help me with my decision, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!</p>

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<p>calidreaming- Sadly,I can’t answer your question for you but I have one of my own that I was hoping you could help me with. I have been accepted to CCS too and am having difficulty deciding if it is the right “fit” for me. Do you mind sharing what you liked about it and what made it so special in your eyes? Do you foresee any problems with the pass/no pass grading system when you go on to grad school? I attended an event that featured a panel of CCS students recently, and they struck me as really, really brainy and perhaps narrowly focused on their particular interest area. Could you see someone who loves his subject (mine is art) but also wants to explore other areas as being ill-suited for CCS? Or someone who is bright, but not a brainiac? Any and all thoughts would really be appreciated.
(I am attending CCS Open House this weekend.)</p>

<p>congrats on both CCS and Stanford, BTW. i live in the Bay Area and am not trying to pick a school for you, but I would agree that the Stanford experience is supposed to be unbelievable if you can afford it and can stand some stress from being surrounded by very intelligent people. Palo Alto is so cool and very multi- cultural…I love being surrounded by all the people and different languages being spoken there. Can’t imagine going wrong if that is your choice…you have visited, I hope! It’s a MUST. I’m not saying it’s a better choice than CCS…that’s why i need to ask the above questions! Thanks.</p>

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<p>Hi artysmom, </p>

<p>I don’t know how much the CCS Art program correlates with the CCS Bio program, but for me, the opportunities to skip GE’s and go straight into the courses for your intended major is what struck me the most. I got to speak with the professors themselves when I went up to visit and the individual support and guidance a CCS student gets is amazing. I also didn’t mind that CCS students get first pick in classes :wink: Actually, the pass/no pass grading requirement is extremely important to me and I see it as a benefit instead of a negative consequence. I would like the opportunity to take rigorous classes and not have that show negatively on my transcript since med school is in my future. I’m really against competition among peers, so I think that CCS is perfect for me. But what I like best about CCS is it’s ability to let students tailor their schedules to fit their own needs. </p>

<p>Stanford hasn’t offered me any financial aid yet and I’m thinking that the competition level at Stanford might take away from what is supposed to be an “unbelievable experience.” And yes, I have visited, not for that long, but I did like the Rodin sculptures. It’s extremely pretty, but so is UCSB…haha!</p>

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<p>

Have you actually talked to any Stanford students? Sure they’re smart and driven, but GPA is not really a worry. Stanford along with the other top schools is well known for its grade inflation. That’s not to say its easy (unless you’re an athlete; and even for them after a recent buzz they’ve stopped handing out a list of easy classes) but if you do the work, honestly put in the effort it takes, then the grades will take care of themselves.</p>

<p>I can’t tell you what to do, but consider that given the high percentage of kids from Stanford that get into med school (assuming that’s still what you want to do 4 years from now), it seems you’d almost have to try to <em>not</em> make it.</p>

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<p>I’m in love with ucsb but you’d have to be crazy to pass up Stanford…</p>

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<p>I don’t know if you considered this or not, but going to Stanford will open up so many doors. The alumni is insane and the connections you get, the people you meet, all that good stuff will help you in the long run regardless of what major. And if you go to Stanford you’ll get a job immediately and a well paying one. If you go to UCSB considering grad school is nice too.</p>

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<p>If you’re offered Stanford. . .well, I’d say you’d be crazy to pass Stanford (just my opinion)</p>

<p>Plus, you can always transfer from Stanford to UCSB if you end up disliking Stanford.</p>

<p>EDIT: you can ask UCSB to keep your admission spot open for one more year. . .</p>

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<p>go with where you WANT to go and can imagine yourself! i hear that stanford is very competitive and there is a lot of pressure on the students but i’m sure that students handle it in different ways. congrats on both, though! how exciting!</p>

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<p>I have no idea where have gotten the idea that Stanford is a competitive place. It is known for being quite the opposite. The grade inflation there is legendary; even in the premed classes (intro Chem, Bio etc…). Your chance of attaining a high GPA is much greater at Stanford compared to UCSB. And, unfortunately, a high GPA is the most important thing for med school admissions. I say this as one who has been a member of an med school admissions committee and had the misfortune of attending med school with a bunch of Stanford weenies (go Bears). If your primary goal is to get high grades in order to get in to med school then I do not think CCS would be a good fit for you and I would pack the bags for Palo Alto. But, if you are willing to take some risk and challenge yourself with a group of stimulating professors and motivated students then I would consider CCS. And, do not forget, there is no surf in Palo Alto!</p>

<p>Disclosure: my son is a Fr. in CCS (math) and loves it. My daughter will be attending there in the fall (Bio) and cannot wait to start. It was the first choice school for both. My daughter was rejected from Stanford (fools). This was an ego blow, but also a blessing in disguise as I am sure she would be in your position now: wanting to attend CCS, but struggling with decision to turn down the supposed golden ticket that is Stanford.</p>

<p>Do not stress too much about this. No one college is going to make or break you future. You will do fine at either place. Go with your heart.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone! </p>

<p>One of my major concerns was that Stanford would put too much pressure on me and that could harm my performance there. There’s a comfort knowing that CCS allows its students to take risks and offers a kind of cushioning if performance is below expected. </p>

<p>Choroidal - how does your son like CCS? I’m sure he had plenty of options to choose from when he was deciding among undergraduate schools, so I’d love to hear how his process went.</p>

<p>CCS seems like it offers so many opportunities for its students to succeed…but I understand that Stanford is Stanford and there’s no other place in the world like it. You could also say the same for CCS, though!</p>

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<p>I have actually met some students at CCS that have chosen UCSB CCS over Stanford, Princeton, and others (many choose it over Berkeley). In fact you should check this thread out and the post by someone who did in fact choose CCS over Stanford: </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/810670-college-creative-studies.html#post9236183[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/810670-college-creative-studies.html#post9236183&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you have graduate school in mind which I assume you do because almost everyone in CCS does, it is a great option and many CCS students do a lot of research and even publish papers as undergraduates which are a gold mine for graduate school. It is surprising where you will meet CCS students - one of my friends ran into former CCS Biology student currently doing a PhD at Stanford and though they had never met before, had a great conversation just from sharing the CCS bond. </p>

<p>CCS is also well known among graduate schools for producing some bright students so it isn’t an issue that “CCS is not well known so going there will not look good.” It is well known by “higher-brow” circles which is all that matters (unless you care what people think about you, and I think most CCS students aren’t that insecure). I also don’t think it matters that much where you go to undergraduate (or as much as people on this site place an emphasis on) as long as you do well. While you will have connections at a place like Stanford, I can say that at UCSB (especially as a CCS student) you will most likely have just as many if not more. In fact, I think something that may separate some of the better universities from lower tier ones is the peer group, but that isn’t an issue if you are in CCS as you’ll be working with some pretty bright people. Chances are by your 3rd or 4th year you will probably be taking graduate courses (some of the most brilliant CCS students finish all the undergraduate courses by sophomore year!) and the science graduate programs at UCSB are excellent.</p>

<p>You also work closely with a professor, and if you do research, will get to meet many more professors. Since the class sizes are small as well (you can take classes outside of CCS too though) and professors encourage research/going above and beyond etc., just by the end of your first year you probably will already know at least 3-6 professors pretty well (and letters of recommendation are HUGE for graduate school). Overall, a ton of CCS Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Computer Science students (I think Lit, Art, Music etc. students too but I’m more familiar with the science majors) do end up going to prestigious graduate schools and many I know don’t regret at all that they choose UCSB CCS over a university that may have a better “brand name”. In fact, since you mention you are interested in biology, the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Carol Greider, was a CCS biology alumna which was in fact where she first started her research 20+ years ago that won her the nobel prize.</p>

<p>Anyway, I just wanted to give some insight into what you may be stepping into, as I see far too often on this website that when people ask questions like UCSB CCS vs. (insert some university here like Berkeley, UCLA, etc.), others posting immediately discount UCSB based on “rankings”, without realizing what the College of Creative Studies is/how unique it is or how well it is known among graduate schools and even in the working world (or the fact that UCSB actually has some very top-notch programs in science/engineering). </p>

<p>Hope that helped, if you have any other questions please free to ask and best of luck in your decision (and congrats on both UCSB CCS and Stanford)!</p>

<p>Also one last thing, here is another great thread with more info about CCS:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/456028-ucsb-college-creative-studies.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/456028-ucsb-college-creative-studies.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Tzaziki,</p>

<p>Your explanation of CCS is exactly the reason why I am so torn. Were/are you a CCS student? I feel like I will always regret/look back on giving up CCS, which is a major factor in my decision because I don’t want to experience those feelings after I submit my SIR. </p>

<p>Looking past UCSB’s “party school” reputation and ranking, I see the wealth of opportunities CCS opens up. After getting accepted to CCS in late January, I developed some plans for what I want to study at UCSB - hopefully a double major in CCS Bio and Political Science to explore my two interests.</p>

<p>Although I’m pretty sold on CCS, my parents feel differently. They would prefer me to attend Stanford…for obvious reasons. It would be nice to hear CCS parents testify for CCS! Haha! They are stuck on the notion that I will walk out of Stanford with a Bachelor’s and automatically have a million dollar-making job…</p>

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<p>Based on your posts, it seems like you want to go to CCS, and if you flipped a coin you would rather go there than Stanford.</p>

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<p>I’m unsure where you got this idea that Stanford is super competitive and high pressure. It’s known for being extremely laid back. Sure, students work hard, but no one is trying to elbow anyone else out of the way. And others have already mentioned the notorious grade inflation. </p>

<p>Your parents are sort of right about the Bachelor’s degree. Not that you’ll be making a million dollars, but that an undergraduate degree from Stanford will open more doors than an undergraduate degree from UCSB CCS. But if you’re sure you want to go to grad school, then that won’t be as much of an issue. </p>

<p>That said, from what you’ve posted here, it’s very clear that you want to go to CSS. And if that’s what you want to do, go for it.</p>

<p>(Personally, I’m with StreetLights242 and The Hairy Lemon: you’d be crazy to past up Stanford.)</p>

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<p>Stanford. Unless financial is an issue, there is really no match between Stanford and ANY UCSB programs. This should be a nanosecond decision.</p>

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<p>You would be insane to turn down Stanford for UCSB, assuming finances are not a problem. Have you visited Stanford? Go try to get yourself to fall in love with it, because it is the right choice.</p>

<p>I so rarely give advice like this. I almost always say “fit is the most important thing” but…we’re talking about freaking Stanford here.</p>

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<p>Sorry to take a while to get back to you. My son loves CCS: great professors with small classes and most importantly a self-selected group of peers that are very motivated, but not overly competitive. His math classes have 12-15 students taught by professors who have specifically chosen to teach CCS students.</p>

<p>One advantage Stanford would give you over CCS is opening up doors for jobs if you left school with just a Bachelors. People at investment banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds are very obsessed with prestige and if you ever see yourself wanting to be in that world I would head to Stanford. THe other advantage I would give to Stanford is money. They have lots of it, and the UC system does not. </p>

<p>If you are SURE you want to head to grad school in biology I would give the edge to CCS. Not so much because CCS would be more likely to get you in to grad school, but I think it would better prepare you for graduate level work. The Stanford name may be enough to get you into a top ranked bio grad program, but I am not sure doing undergrad there would prepare you as well as CCS.</p>

<p>Your peers at CCS will probably be more “pure” in the sense that they came to CCS in the search for knowledge, not because of what the USNWR ranking said. I know that sounds idealistic, but it is really true. Unfortunately 99.9% of the outside world really cares more about rankings and you need to realize being “pure” has a real price. </p>

<p>Outside of CCS the caliber of students at UCSB will be quite a bit below those at Stanford. So while your peer group in CCS will be exceptional academically the same cannot be said about UCSB in general. This is probably what concerns your parents the most. Your peer group at Stanford will be extraordinary and that is what most of my friends remember most fondly in their years at the Farm. You will be surrounded by physics geniuses, olympic swimmers, Mt. Everest climbers, concert pianists, and 18 year old software prodigies. That can be good and bad depending on your personality. </p>

<p>Go check out both places again. Get a feel for what the students are like. And remember: when your in your 40s like me no one cares all that much where you went for undergrad. No school is a ticket to a successful and happy life. That is all up to you (cliche alert!). Good luck.</p>