<p>Now please please please do not take this the wrong way but I am trying to narrow down my options for schools and UCSB is on my list…I visited this weekend and had some questions:</p>
<li><p>Given the frat surfer+skater boy and//or sorority cali girl majority, is there still a bit of all types at UCSB? Intellectual, artsy, goal-oriented, etc?</p></li>
<li><p>Generally speaking, how accepting are UCSB students of others? Homosexuality, vegetarianism—I dunno just anything that isn’t very mainstream…</p></li>
<li><p>What is UCSB’s retention rate?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>PLEASE I am not trying to incite revolution, I just want to know before deciding where to send in my SIR…</p>
<p>I can't answer most of your questions but when I visited UCSB I got the feel that there was a large sorority presence, but it didn't..hang over the school, if that makes sense. As in, definitely there, but you could also definitely avoid it. The other thing was that it was very, very white. I'm a white girl, I go to school with mostly white kids, whenever I've lived abroad it's been with white people, but I really <em>noticed</em> it, for some reason. Also, at a school as large as UCSB I wouldn't be too worried about there not being enough types.</p>
<p>Well, I am not white, but hispanic and valedvictorian of my high school so I guess I am goal orientated LOL if that makes you feel better! I know there are a lot of white people in sb, but it all depends if you feel comfortable there!</p>
<p>xorwat be nice!
lecorbeau you might want to look at princetonreview.com. You can do a comparison of the different schools you are interested in there. Also try
C A M P U S D I R T . C O M</p>
<p>Hey I am sure there are a variety of people at UCSB, it just depends on who you talk to! I have heard you also have to have your priorities in order to be successful at UCSB since there are plenty of distractions. Good luck with your deciscion!</p>
<p>I can elaborate more tomorrow maybe, but I've found there's a wide range of people on campus. It's pretty large, so you should be able to find the groups you want to hang out with,</p>
<p>i just visited the campus yesterday and i'm not too happy w/ what i saw. lots of white muscled up guys playing firsbee and white girls lined up on the floor tanning. ummm... that's pretty much it for the student body, and as for the campus, it's pretty small. a 5 minute walk (seemed like 5min) got my cousin and me from the visitor center all the way to san nicolas hall. we weren't able to explore beyond that cuz our parking permit had already expired :P</p>
<p>ohhh and about question2, apparently the guys aren't too accepting of homosexuals. on the off campus rental listing service, if you go to search roommates needed, you will find that all of the guys unchecked "Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Friendly". that option is automatically checked when you submit a listing, but the guys went ahead and unchecked it.</p>
<p>Sharp is right when they write about the white people! But you have to expect that when its 57% white lol. But there were other people there too right sharp? Like hispanics? LOL I dont want to go and be the only brunnette in my hall :-(</p>
<p>While 57% of the students are white, minorities are all over the place. I don't really understand what kind of diversity you guys are looking for. More asians or latinos than white? If that's the case go to school in China or Mexico. You'll "fit" there.... But seriously, there's no racial tension or whatsoever here at UCSB. You're accepted for who you are. And yes, there are gays here too... there's even a Rainbow House in Manzanita and it's never been vandalized with some slur. </p>
<p>Please remember, you're no longer in high school. You're expected to respect and be respected in college. You won't see students throwing papers in the classrooms anymore. That's what I miss about high school ...College students are expected to act as adults. Off campus, you can get wild and crazy but no one's going to bother you unless you're bothering them.</p>
<p>Sharp...DUH, did u even realize that San Nicholas is 2 buildings from the UCEN? You haven't even seen a 10th of the whole campus. Here's my advice....bring some money for parking meter next time!</p>