<p>Okay so I got into all of the UCs except for UCLA and Cal.
I've narrowed it down pretty much to UCD and UCSB. </p>
<p>SB is an hour and a half away from home, not too close yet close enough for me to be there for my 9 year old sister. I've always lived by the beach, so it's a plus that it'll still be with me. I have NO idea what my major is or going to be, so choosing a college off major seems pointless to me. However, I want to go to grad school and was trying to find the stats for undergraduates and their successes at UCSB vs. UCD, but i couldn't find any. I love the area and of course the social life because I am a VERY social person and as of right now i think i'm leaning towards SB just because it is a great school, and any UC is good for grad school.
HOWEVERRRRRR....</p>
<p>UCD is offering me more money than UCSB (not by a lot, about 3K) but is extremely far from where I live (7 hours or so) making it impossible to be there for my sister. It's in the middle of nowhere, but I feel as if I'd be better prepared for grad school, although I am very driven so I'm not sure if it even matters because I don't want to be miserable there. It doesn't feel like myself. BUT I DONT WANT TO MAKE THE WRONG DECISION! I really liked Davis's campus. </p>
<p>I just need feedback... on anything really. UNdergrad success possibly? Anything will help. Thanks.</p>
<p>It already seems like you’ve made your choice. UCSB offers the best “college experience” and you’ll be able to meet a lot of people. Do you like to party a lot? Drink? because majority of the school loves to party and drink. And most likely that’s what they’ll be talking about 24/7. </p>
<p>UCDavis is not technically “middle of nowhere”. it is close to SF and Sacramento and it gives the best college feel out of the middle tiers. (UCD, UCSB, UCI) It is very clean and calm unlike Cal. I like UC Davis more because it is undoubtedly known for being prestige which people quickly assume UCSB is a “party school” Davis is ranked same as SB, but I feel Davis offers better education and studying environment. When I asked people in SB about the difficulty of some of the classes everyone just seem to shrug and not really give a damn about it. Which to me was very unattractive, I asked kids in Davis and they gave a direct answer rather than trying to avoid it. </p>
<p>Money should never be a decision factor when it comes to college. I mean if one is heavily dependent on financial aid, it’s a whole different story. In your case 3K is not enough for you to make it as a determining factor. Overall it’s Nor Cal vs So Cal, I grew up in So Cal, yet I’m going up to Nor Cal for my undergraduate studies. It’s just getting out of your comfort zone and it’s really what you make out of the college you attend.</p>
<p>Grad school doesn’t really look into your undergrad. Well they do, but UC’s are view prestige in general so you’ll be fine where ever you decide to go. It’s really what you do in your undergrad, what internship you did, which professor you worked with, etc etc. People say you’ll get a higher GPA at UCSB but I highly doubt it’s any different than UC Davis and UCI. It really depends on your major and all. </p>
<p>Davis is a nice friendly college town, the community and the family who live in Davis are well connected with the school and there is a lot of school spirit.
Santa Barbara has a gorgeous beach right there and there are on going parties. The neighborhood in SB, IV is notorious for their parties. IV is where UCSB kids move to when they don’t want to dorm and being that dorm cost at SB is more than tuition many leave the campus. It’s not just UCSB students in IV, it’s also SBCC kids who are apparently “****** bags” It’s always crowded but it has a good atmosphere in that sense. </p>
<p>I just had more doubts about SB, I felt like I had to tell myself that “it’s a good school, don’t worry about parties and all that” While I didn’t question Davis. Why aren’t you considering UC San Diego? It’s a very good school just quiet at times. UC Davis is in some ways the social version of San Diego.</p>
<p>Well good luck on your decision process! & Congrats on your acceptances! It was tough this year man.</p>
<p>I had the same decision to make so I know how you feel. Davis IS in the middle of nowhere. SF is about 1.5-2 hours from Davis and Sacramento is not exciting at all. UCSB becomes more prestigious every year and is ranked the same as Davis now. Davis is a much more spread out campus than SB making it a lot more difficult to get around. Ultimately, even though Davis is giving you more money, it seems like you’ll be more comfortable being closer to home. Just consider which is going to be best for you. Davis may be a little better for medicine, but SB is better for Physics and they’re about the same for everything else. It’s about how what each schools offers matches up with what you want =)</p>
<p>SB has it’s own little thing like Davis though. SB just has an active college community - IV. There’s really nothing around SB either. When people think of Santa Barbara it’s usually UCSB and so is Davis. College is really what you make out of it and if you sit in your dorm in any college you’ll have the worst experience ever. Kids in Davis go to SF with their friends, visit Berkeley, visit Sacramento, etc etc. You just need to find your own thing to do even if the college doesn’t provide it. It’s college… there’s really no limitation of what you can and can’t do. </p>
<p>SB’s party scene is going down compared to the last 10 years. Floatopia has been cancelled 2 years in a row because of deaths in 2009. So in 5-10 years SB will finally not be known for “party school” and be recognized for their academic excellence. SB’s engineering overall is really strong and Davis is really strong in environmental fields and ecology, vet program, medicine, and biology science courses. I do feel like Davis offers more in general though. From internship opportunities, college experience, more fun elective classes (Davis offers introduction to wine making classes! and Davis is known world wide for their wine program!). I don’t think parties shouldn’t be a worry in Davis either. Theres plenty if you want to go and it’s there when you look hard enough. I heard you need discipline in SB. well you need discipline in life, but SB is true test of your will. And just by that I was turned off by the idea I need to control myself because of the environment :/</p>
<p>Actually Helpmeplease, I shared many of your doubts when I was making my college decision because I wasn’t a very “party” type person (Davis was one of the schools factored into it). I did end up choosing UCSB and I’m very happy with my choice. Contrary to popular belief, the partying is not “shoved down your throat” and that is not everything that people talk about. Lots of people stay in on weekends to do homework, etc. (for example last week I believe there were very few parties going on, it is also around midterm time) and you will meet lots of people who don’t party (and the people who do are not extreme, and will only party when they get their schoolwork done). The physical science and engineering programs at UCSB are also very good and I think some of the research opportunities I’ve gotten and looked into would not be as readily available at schools like UC Davis. Anyway, I’m just giving a more balanced view of UCSB because I know I had doubts/worries going in (similar doubts that I see posted on this forum) but doubts which were all cleared up pretty quickly. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!</p>
<p>@justan How balanced is the student body regarding race? I’m Asian and when i went to spring insight it was majority Caucasian and it was a bit intimidating. It’s not like UCI where majority goes home. To be honest, I never did like the idea that there are parties and I felt like I would end up with a roommate/ floormates who would like to go party often.</p>