<p>I'm a junior going into my senior year of high school at a competitive public high school in California and flipping out about college right now. I've been doing the research a lot lately and with my 3.6 Unweighted UC GPA (3.7 or 3.8ish unweighted haven't calculated that yet), 2080 SAT, 30 ACT, 5's on my AP English Language and APUSH tests and the best personal statement in said AP English class as graded by my teacher, I'm hoping that UC Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz will all be reasonable goals for me to achieve when I apply very soon.</p>
<p>But I'm concerned about those last two schools. I've done the research and on paper, I like certain parts of both schools. But I'm worried about attending either if I get into either based on their reputations as huge party schools.</p>
<p>I for one have never used "substances" in my life and while I consider myself a little geeky but very social and always eager to try new things and meet new people, drugs and alcohol are not on that list.</p>
<p>So give it to me straight; how bad is the party scene at UCSB?
If I'm not into drugs and alcohol, would I become an outcast?
Do the schools bad reputations ever affect social status and/or grad schools/job opportunities?
If the answer to the second question is no, what are some other ways to have fun and get a good education at the school?</p>
<p>I personally have nothing against people who like to party hard, I'll admit I've even been to a rave once on a friend's behalf; nor am I ignorant enough to suggest that everyone who goes to there is a pot head or that UCSB stands for U Can Study Buzzed as so many others refer to it. I just want to make sure that wherever I end up, I am able to obtain a great education and have fun at the same time.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. Most people in my friend circle don’t “do substances” either, including myself. It means you fit in less with the mainstream of UCSB, but with 20,000 kids, there is plenty of diversity. I mean, if you consider yourself geeky, chances are you didn’t fit into the mainstream anyway And that’s okay.</p>
<p>Without partying, you meet people through clubs, classes, friends, random encounters, etc. It sounds typical and cliche, but magic bullets are hard to find.</p>
<p>I’m a “nerdy” freshman at UCSB now, and I absolutely love this school. I study for 2 hours+ each day, sometimes for each class, but I still go out to IV on the weekends. Plenty of people don’t drink, and it won’t be weird if you don’t make a big deal about it. I haven’t met many “intellectual” students, but they do exist, and you’ll defibately find like-minded friendly people soon enough. It’s easy to get away from noise by studying on the beach or in the library, which has a beautiful view of the ocean/ mountains on the upper floors. And pretty much every night people are working in the lounges, so study buddies are easy to find. UCSB is the most beautiful campus, it’s almost a surreal experience living here.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it man, there’s so many other things to do there and so many different kinds of people, there is no way you will be left out. I can’t speak from my own experience though, I’m going to be a freshman there, but that’s what I’ve heard so far. And to suit your “geekiness” (I’m a geek too!) UCSB is ranked pretty high academically (#10 in Physics and #21 in Engineering) so you will definitely meet others like you. Don’t make a school’s party rep throw you back! :)</p>
<p>Yeah I just wanted some more clarification. I knew some pretty intellectual people must attend the school, it wouldn’t be ranked one of Cali’s top public schools otherwise, but it’s just a little bit more comforting that I won’t completely be left out if I’m alittle shy and I go there :)</p>
<p>I actually know someone who is going there and is very intelligent and says basically the same thing; The party scene is there but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you want you can even avoid it entirely.</p>
<p>But still thats comforting for the insight. Maybe I’ll see you guys there! What majors are you guys?</p>
And that’s okay.</p>