I wanted to find out if anyone else had done research on UCSB(CCS) Biology vs UW BioEngineering and Carnegie Mellon BioEngineering ? My D got accepted in to several universities and these are her top three choices. I wanted to find out if college of creative studies still has the option to do BioE ? If so how does it work. We are CA residents but UW has given scholarship to reduce the tuition. Carnegie BioE is not standalone program, you have to do another engineering plus BioE. Good weather, proximity to home, and beautiful campus by beech is all the pros I can think about UCSB and it’s top of our list. Partying is the only con I could think of, and is it a big thing even with stem major ?
How difficult is to major in two fields within the college of creative studies ? Do you need permission to register for different field if you want to try other interesting subjects especially in the engineering or music department ? Please give me your unbiased opinion. Thanks.
If you haven’t already, visit UCSB and make arrangements to talk to one of the CCS advisors. It is definitely a unique program with many benefits for the right student.
Thanks Ikg4, I went through the websites and looked at as much information I can find. I also asked some UCSB Alumni I know. Most don’t seem to know much about the program and seems to think it’s some creative or arts programs.
I am also told that this is very selective program, I wanted to know if the students who finish their degree from here get selected into good grad schools. Is there any statistics of how many students go to grad schools, medical school, or to work ?
@Rsm2019 too funny about the impression that it is an arts program. I did my undergrad at UCSB and lived in Santa Rosa (the dorm next door). There was always some unique structure in front of the CCS building (teepee, random painted house, etc.). For the four years I attended, I never knew what CCS was and assumed it was for creative artsy majors.
@Ikg4, my D’s music teacher is from UCSB too and I tried to ask her about college of creative studies and she didn’t know anything about it but answered saying “let her creative juice flowing”. LOL! I am like hope it doesn’t sound like a fake degree combining creative and STEM major when she applies to grad schools or employment.
@Ikg4ans, I also like to know more about residential situation. I saw that Santa Rosa, Anacapa, Santa cruz, etc are all nearby and convenient. Seems like students in CCS can choose to live in Manzanita village that seems slightly far. I wanted to know if there is any benefit of choosing Manzanita vs the halls that are nearby ? Have you ever lived in the Manzanita village ? any pros or cons ?
@Rsm2019 I lived in Santa Rosa my freshman year and San Rafael (near Manzanita Village) my sophomore year. Manzanita Village wasn’t around when I was at UCSB and San Raf was suite style dorms for non freshman.
I know a student who is currently in CCS and living in Manzanita Village. When we visited her, she was a little disappointed that she chose to live there as it is farther away from the center of campus. It really depends on what you want. The low rises (Santa Rosa, Anacapa, Santa Cruz) are your typical freshmen dorms with all the pros and cons that come with living with a diverse group of people.
@Rsm2019 my D19 also very similarly got into UCSB CCS and Engineering (Computer) as well as UW (Undeclared Engineering) and Carnegie Mellon (CS). Her top choice right now though is UCLA, even though I really wish she would take another look at CCS or Carnegie Mellon. One thing I found very helpful that I think will help you is that if you do a youtube search on CCS graduation you can watch the entire graduation ceremony for the past several years. It is around 70 students and a student speaker and they will announce what every student is graduating in and where they are going. It is pretty impressive. Many graduates have double majors, many in Engineering and CCS. Many of the students move on to Stanford, Google, or other very impressive places.
Following this thread since D19 got into UCSB CCS for Chem/Bio Chem. Right now UCLA is top on her list with Georgia Tech in second. I worry about UCLA being SO BIG, but it seems so hard for these kids to resist the siren song of UCLA. It has to be her choice so I’m careful about what I say, but I def worry about the little fish in a big sea issue if she chooses to be a Bruin.
I’m not too knowledgeable about current housing arrangements but I believe most rooms are triples. UCSB is slowly buying property in Isla Vista and turning those apartment complexes into university owned student housing. If you look here: https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/residences Tropicana apartment complexes are in Isla Vista and not on campus. Santa Catalina (aka FT) is also off campus and actually pretty far away.
As far as the on campus residence halls, the low rises -Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and high rises - San Miguel and San Nicholas are pretty typical freshman dorms. If you want quiet, I think CCS in Manzanita might be your best choice.
There are three main dining commons on campus - DLG, Ortega and Carrillo (which is near Manzanita). https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/dining-services Students can eat at any of the dining commons. As far as I know, there are no arrangements for dining outside of the university owned dining commons. If your student lived in Manzanita, he/she would most likely eat breakfast and dinner at Carrillo but grab lunch at DLG or Ortega. If he/she is staying at CCS late, DLG is close and offers a late night meal from 9 pm - 12:30 am.
@19parent, CMU is best school for CS, especially if the student is thinking about working after undergrad. Their BioMedical Engr seems more complicated not a standalone program as they require you to double major with one other engineering major.
@crknwk2000 if you have to compare public universities, I will go with instate university. In my D case, UW is very good school for BioE and even offered a merit based scholarship but it’s not on top of her list. With the regular public school, there will be always problem in getting the courses she might like and she might end up taking courses in summer to finish graduation in 4 years. Getting into research might be difficult until you are junior or even senior.
With UCSB being instate for us and with CMU with zero aid I am not sure it’s worth 300K just for a “brand” name.
