Ucsc or Ucd (this is killing me)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
1

<p>Yeah I know there are a bunch of these topics on this forum, but I am considering these schools and they are neck and neck with me. Furthermore, I have only a vague idea of what my major will be. </p>

<p>My major is either going to be a biological science or physics. I was mostly leaning towards physics as my major, but evolutionary & ecological biology also interests me, as zoology was my idea of a major for a long time. However, I took AP Physics this year and had quite a bit of fun, in addition to beasting it. I heard that UCsc has a boss astrophysics department with lots of funding and an observatory, while UCD is stuck with telescopes. On the other hand, UCD has well-funded bio laboratories, as well as a reknown bio departpment. I guess the question is, if i'm 50-50 with these majors which school is better?</p>

<p>Onto the atmospheres of each school, I've visited both and liked both. However, UCsc has a significant edge over ucd for me here. Ucsc's redwood forests are absolutulely nice, and while UCd with its abundence of trees is a vast improvement over my existential SoCal suburb, it still does not compare to ucsc. In addition, I prefer UCsc's hilliness over ucd's flatness. More importantly, UCsc feels more spaced out, relaxed, and less hectic. Ucd seems to have people all over the place, and for someone who is trying to deal with social anxiety this seems like it can be a problem, just like my overcrowded HS all over again.</p>

<p>As for the people, UCSC interests me because of Crown college which seems like a place id fit in great, while ucd seems to just have nice/quite ppl overall. I guess either college could work if I put in the effort to find new friends, but im kinda leaning towards ucsc as everything is more spaced out and relaxed.</p>

<p>And finally, just a quick question about the outdoor activities. Ucd seems like it has a lot to do, but to me a problem seems to be that for all of the hiking, you have to drive to go everywhere, while for ucsc there are great trails right in the backyard. Are the hiking spots for ucd like really close or is driving there not a problem?</p>

2

<p>UCSC also has a very good bio program. For gosh sakes, UCSC houses the Human Genome Project. UCD would be ideal if you wanted to do zoology, but if it’s evo/eco biology, UCSC is probably on par. UCs being UCs, you’re guaranteed a great education at either school.</p>

<p>I’m a resident of Crown, so feel free to ask about the community here.</p>

3

<p>Proposed physics major here (well, astrophysics). I also had to decide between UCSC and UC Davis. I went with SC because while both schools seemed to have strong science departments, the atmosphere at SC was much more serene.</p>

4

<p>Thans for the replies. About crown, do the people there like to go hiking and do outdoor activities as well at playing computer games (which is something I do too alot) ? I may be making assumptions, but its important that I can get some exercise while having fun with some friends.</p>

<p>Also, as an astrophysics major is it easy to get a lot of internship opportunities and research opportunities with ucsc’s resources?</p>

<p>This has just come to my attention again after I forgot about for a long time, but is there a prevalent drug scene at ucsc? I heard that it was mostly porter college or something that did drugs though, so im not terribly concerned.</p>

5

<p>In my experience, absolutely. Crownies are maybe not as active as your average Cowell citizen, but most of us have a love of adventure. We have a “crownies on the run” program every saturday, as well as many hiking/beach events. And if it speaks anything about our spirit too, when the school held a campus-wide capture the flag game, almost half of the students who showed up were from Crown. Not to mention we almost-monthly have games of Humans vs Zombies at Crown, which is like tag + nerf guns.</p>

<p>Don’t know about astrophysics internships, but I’ve heard that there is plenty in the way or research.</p>

<p>Mostly weed. It’s not super obvious, but it’s easy to find if you want it. I haven’t met a single student who has tried to pressure me into joining them in smoking, so the attitude about it seems pretty lax.</p>