<p>for anthropology/sociology/international relations/film</p>
<p>The advantage of Oxy is that it will be easier to get classes you want and to combine these interests in creative ways. The cost is the obvious disadvantage–but if you can compare them and put that variable aside–Oxy has great opportunities, a great community and is in the fertile crescent of film-making. They are strong in poli sci/international relations as well I think.</p>
<p>I am biased in favor of LAC for undergrad, just because I think developmentally the smaller community is optimal. And I am biased in favor of Oxy because I went there. My own kids both chose another LAC because LA didn’t appeal to them.</p>
<p>At the same time, I bet the UCSB honors program is tops and they have some very interesting work there in evolutionary psychology and other social science. </p>
<p>Seems like you can’t go wrong in terms of good choices, so I’d say which community fits the student is the key.</p>
<p>Not knowing your family obviously but I would lean toward Oxy also. I know of several students who were very unhappy with the whole culture at UCSB (puts on flame proof jacket here). I am NOT saying that UCSB is not a good school or that everyone is unhappy there. I am saying that I know kids from our smallish community were not happy there and ended up transferring out to smaller LACs.</p>
<p>These are three fairly different choices…small LAC, party school with good academics, completely a-social school with good academics.</p>
<p>Suggest you go with the school that <em>feels</em> the best for you. Where do you most feel that it is ‘like home’ and you want to be around the people who are there? The academic interests listed above are pretty broad, so it looks like you will be exploring and refining your major during your first year or two.</p>
<p>(I do believe UCSD has a strong international relations program)</p>
<p>I’d also look at the college offered at UCSD, since the different colleges have wildly different general ed requirements. Revelle, for example, has a GE requirement that might make it very tough to take on the kind of interests you’ve indicated. Other schools have looser requirements. UCSD is the ninth-ranked grad school for international relations in the US, and the first public school on the list. I’m not sure what that means for undergrad education though. (For example, UCSD is very highly ranked in marine biology, due to Scripps, but I don’t think that that has much implication for undergraduate students, since the Scripps faculty generally don’t teach undergraduate courses.)</p>
<p>I’ve heard UCSD has a very strong international relations department but I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of it. In general, UCSD is a pretty selective and strong university. Don’t worry about gross generalizations, UCSD isn’t really “completely anti-social” and is, in fact, filled with many thousands of fellow students who have hundreds of clubs and other activities although it does have it’s share of serious students (and some partiers as well). </p>
<p>I don’t know about UCSB or Oxy but I’m sure they can provide a fine undergrad education as well.</p>
<p>I agree to go check out the colleges first-hand and get a feel for them. Also, post on the UCSD forum on CC to see if you can get some first-hand info from students attending there but make sure it’s coming from actual attending students rather than the ones who haven’t started yet.</p>
<p>Are you sure you’re really in at UCSD?</p>