<p>I applied to ucsd, ucm, ucr, ucsc for the winter 2010 quarter, and political science major. However I read some fine print about ucsd winter admissions after I had already applied, and they stated they were only accepting students who had signed a tag. I'm hoping there is still a chance that they might offer me admission, but I realize that's probably not a possibility. So now I'm stuck with UCSC( I'm not interested in living in Riverside or Merced) but I've read that their Politics department is pretty bad. I'm really stuck in a bad situation because theres no way I'm going to wait till fall next year to transfer. So I wanted to see if there were any other Politics majors who could let me know how the department is at UCSC, and if it's a mistake to attend UCSC for undergrad. My thoughts are now that I will just plan on going to really good Polisci school for my masters, and then my undergrad degree won't really matter anyways. Give me some Input please!!</p>
<p>Yah UCSC has a pretty horrid political science department. Probably the lowest (or tied for) ranked among the UC campuses. If you do really well there though you should be able to get into a decent graduate program which will kind of negate your undergrad. If you are very serious about your major though, waiting might not be the worst option.</p>
<p>yeah I’ve already spent 3 years in cc so I really don’t want to push this off any longer since I do plan on going to grad school. And do you go to UCSC?</p>
<p>David Horowitz named UCSC “The Worst School in America” (politically speaking)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y676GIDIJI[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y676GIDIJI</a></p>
<p>damn… I guess i’m kinda screwed then</p>
<p>No I don’t go there, but I know that all the kids who I took political science with at CC that couldn’t get into any good school ended up at UCSC 
Most of them were buffoons.</p>
<p>Oh David Horowitz was on Hannity & Colmes, well i guess that must make UCSC the worst school…</p>
<p>yeah if I don’t get into UCSD I’ll probably just change my major to something else at UCSC</p>
<p>From what I gather, the UCSC politics degree is sorta worthless. My best friend majored in it along with Econ and agreed it is fairly worthless. The politics major won’t get you anything many other degrees couldn’t. </p>
<p>Lets not forget, a degree still a major step in getting a job and all, but the major itself is 1. very short and 2. mostly theory. It will not make your career or get you a great paying job.</p>
<p>While Horowitz makes a convincing argument, he managed to get a whole bunch of facts completely wrong in his book, and the UCSC faculty and students didn’t seem to take his claims lightly. I stayed out of that mess, but I think UCSC certainly defended itself well.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the history major at UCSC is any good?</p>
<p>Are you really put off of UCSC’s political science program because of faux news?</p>
<p>No its not that at all, I didn’t even watch that video when I saw what it was lol. I was just had my heart set on UCSD because they offer the Polisci/int’l affairs major. All UCSC offers is politics and I’m not very interested in a domestic politics related studies, I would much rather study history than that.</p>
<p>fox news extremely conservative, and yes UCSC is liberal and so is berkeley. </p>
<p>And David Horowitz is simply a very biased writer… UCSC is not the worst school, he mentioned the stellar academics in the beginning, and made a big fuzz on elective courses that appear liberal. Courses that no one is required to take… and are there just for fun. </p>
<p>David Horowitz is not a credible source for academia.</p>
<p>I totally agree I’m just worried about committing to something that might not be worth my time.</p>
<p>lol @ faux news. I like how liberals hate fox so much. Somehow it is the biased network, but the news they prefer like MSNBC isn’t biased.</p>
<p>Edit: However I would agree Horowitz shouldn’t hold much water. Even if I agree that their political science program is a joke, doesn’t mean he is the foremost authority on the topic.</p>
<p>UCSC Politics is my first choice. That campus and town is incredible. Also, it’s one of the more politically active campuses.</p>
<p>It’s your first choice? What was your GPA? I have never heard anyone say UCSC is their first choice, except when their only choices are UCSC and UCR.</p>
<p>Lol@politically active campus.</p>
<p>Yea, UCSC is a politically active campus, if you like fighting police to save some trees
[YouTube</a> - UC Santa Cruz Students Protest Development Plans](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lT5gqPI34g]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lT5gqPI34g)</p>
<p>Guys, get off your high horses.</p>
<p>UCSC was MY first choice out of hs and I had decent stats, so don’t give me the bs that everyone who attends UCSC were rejects of everywhere else. </p>
<p>It is probably the most politically active campus of the UCs, if you are into that stuff. Just because you don’t agree with what students are doing doesn’t mean it is all bad. Students sometimes put their minds to good uses, such as protesting the war in Iraq and working to remove products coming from sweatshop labor.</p>
<p>Yeah a small minority of “hippies” have some pretty ridiculous causes, like the whole tree sitting deal. But in reality, this is a small minority and these people (most of which who do not even attend the University) should not detract attention from the purpose of UCSC and all the other UCs, providing a space for learning. The overall student body of UCSC and professors alike pretty much point and laugh at the protesters and move on with their daily activities. No one except the media looking for filler have any idea nor care what the protesters are up to. They are in many ways separated from the University. </p>
<p>BTW, this same exact stuff happens at UCB. Right now, there are ‘students’ camped out in Berkeley hills protesting the space being used for University expansion. Are all of UCB’s students like this? Obviously not. Again, just a small minority. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for the school, a small minority of crazy people ruin the overall image, but in academics, the school is top notch. The overall student body who major in the sciences or hard liberal sciences imo are very comparable across University lines. This is from my experience of attending UCSD summer session for two quarters of which 90%+ of my class attends UCSD during the academic year. The material is actually easier than UCSC’s courses and the class averages are the same. </p>
<p>P.S. May I remind you all that UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCI accept all transfers with a 3.0. Every UC with the exception of Cal and UCLA accept just about all living transfers since a 3.0 in Community College is considered pretty damn easy. UCSC is not the only school where the ‘baboons’ go.</p>
<p>Princeton review actually rates UCSC’s academics higher than UCSD so apparently it’s not that bad of a school. And I actually have the GPA to go to UCLA it’s just with this ****ty economy no schools are admitting mid year and I really don’t feel like waiting till next fall.</p>