<p>Hey, What are the good aspects about Santa Cruz? How is the student life, and housing. What are the Art and Psychology dept.s like? I'm trying to convince my sister to go to Santa Cruz, from what I have heard, it sounds like a really nice place. I'd just like to hear some first hand accounts from people who have either visited the campus or are students there.</p>
<p>here are some threads you might find helpful...</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54669&highlight=ucsc%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54669&highlight=ucsc</a> (pages 3-4)</p>
<p>Art is very good. My daughter just switched her major to Psychology and will start the summer session next week.</p>
<p>AFAIK, student life isn't exceptional but the climate and scenery are the best of all the UC's, or any other college in the state. Housing used to be a hassle but that has eased with recent construction. My son lived on campus for the past five years.</p>
<p>Commuting by car is an issue as the road infrastructure hasn't been improved since I graduated in 1971. ALL the vehicle traffic to campus goes through a single intersection. OTOH, the bus service is first rate.</p>
<p>There are few better colleges in the state for outdoor recreation. Downtown is reasonable for social life now. It's a decent place socially. UCSC is probably the #1 school in the state for experimenting with "alternative life styles". You won't believe how militant the militant vegetarians get until you live there. My son rejected Kresge College, and chose Cowell, after seeing what was stocked in Kresge's on-campus store. He said it all looked like it had been grown underneath the Kresge apartments.</p>
<p>I recommend you check out my post here - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=44529%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=44529</a> - for academics.</p>
<p>What are some of the "off hand" reputations of the different residence halls?</p>
<p>Almost all the dorm residents are freshman, so my guess is that there is not much continuity of residential culture for a given dorm from year to year. Sophomores, and those upper classmen who live on campus, tend overwhemingly to live in the on-campus apartments. Or the Village.</p>
<p>I live in this area, but am going away to a different place for college since I can't stand the thought of going to a place where the college chancellor steals all the money for herself and her live-in "significant other". </p>
<p>If you want the details, here's the short version. Diane Denton was hired from the Univ of Washington to take over the UCSC college president's job at $275,000 salary. Gets $60,000 for moving expenses. Creates new "Exec assistance to Chancellor job" at salary of $192,000, and moving expenses of $50,000 (hires lady she was living with in Washington to this job). Then after moving here spents $600,000 of college endowment funds to fix up the new Chancellor's Living Quarters (note: $200,000 was spent 2 years earlier to fix up this house already). When questioned by local paper and TV, states that she is being "persecuted" because she is a lesbian--and that it wouldn't be an issue otherwise. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the faculty and staff at UCSC haven't had a raise in 3 years.</p>
<p>All this can be substantiated by looking at the Wall Street Journal website wsj.com OpinionJournal piece of September 27, 2005.</p>
<p>TTTR, housing is great at some of the colleges. Cowell has new student apartments that are amazing, and the Crown-Merrill apartments are nice, too. The Cowell apartments are big, modern suites located in a central part of campus. The Cowell students I know tend to be easy-going and, generally, happy. I like the environment at Cowell. It's very social over there. </p>
<p>C-M apartments are older, but the complex is homey and comfortable and has the feel of a non-campus residence. There's usually a lottery in March for those apartments because of high demand, and sophomores get priority because the university guarantees housing for 2 years. D had a 4-single apartment there last year. It's on-campus housing in a bucolic setting with nearby forest trails and grassy lawns. The C-M apts are not far from Science Hill, if you have a lot of Science classes, but it's a hefty walk from the Porter side, where a lot of the Arts classes are held. You can always hop on the campus shuttle, or ride a bike (not fun in the Winter). </p>
<p>Even during the rainy, winter months, walking around this campus verges on magical. You expect to hear elves and fairies playing in the nearby ferns. It's indescribable, really. Students share the paths and sidewalks with gentle deer. They're gentle as long as you don't try to hug them, or hold umbrellas over their heads. A Cowell freshman did this a couple of years ago and got chomped. After a tetanus shot, he was fine, but it's a good idea to leave Bambi alone. :) </p>
<p>My D is a typical Crownie. There's always a mix of student majors at the colleges, but she's a BioChem major with a Physics minor. They tend to be intense about their classes, and they stay up all night fairly often. :p</p>
<p>Even though housing at the International Living Center at College Nine is roomy and new, there is an underlying binge drinking culture that is prevalent and accepted within the ILC community. If you don't mind blow-out parties in your apartment twice a week, it might be an okay place to live. D found this out the hard way this year. :(</p>
<p>Students sometimes make the mistake of focusing too much on the social aspects of on-campus living, and they lose their appreciation for what the university has to offer. Imho, it is the most undergraduate-friendly campus in the UC system. There are some pretty great opportunities for lower-division students to establish themselves and to advance in their field of interest early on. </p>
<p>The worst thing about this campus is the lack of administrative organization. You have to be patient with the pointy-headed, and sometimes, completely neurotic bureaucrats. To stay at UCSC and to get the most out of the educational experience, you have to keep your head out of the BS, stay away from the idiots, and stay focused on what really matters, which is what each individual student can gain from attending UCSC. The real key is to be patient, perseverant, and optimistic.</p>
<p>education wise, it's on par with other good schools. being in the top 100 is nothing to frown upon (out of thousands in the country). since it is a uc, you can't really go wrong academically. when a university becomes know for something, it is usually in graduate studies. in the case of ucsc; we're known mainly for linguistics and the astrological sciences. i am a junior transfer so i can't really say much about the general ed classes over here, but the entry level classes (classes that fufill requirements) that i am currently taking have under 100 students. if that is any indication, that means that class sizes are relatively small compared to other uc's.</p>
<p>socail wise, the students here are cool. i get along with everyone i've met. their background or interests don't really matter. if we share similar interests, great...if not, it's still good. we just accept each other anyhow. i don't know about other colleges, but that's the way it is here at oakes. it doesn't matter what racial background, sexual orientation, musical preference, major, or anything else one classifies themselves as...everyone's accepted as family regardless of differences. i think (hope) that is the same for the other colleges. as for stereotypes; they are just that. you'll find that most people you run into will shatter the stereotype of their respective colleges. there are no minority (not to be confused with diversity), jewish, nerd, or artsy colleges because in each college...you'll find plenty of people that defy the stereotype. not all of porter college is made up of arts majors. in fact, i heard that it was the opposite. the majority of people living there aren't majoring in some art field. basically tttr, don't believe the stereotypes you hear. might as well choose based on the core class being offered.</p>
<p>sluggbugg: i'm sorry your daughter is living in an environment that she doesn't care much for, but the ILC was created for international students. it's a place just for them and those that have the patience to get to know them. sad to say, but most people will just avoid foreigners rather than get to know them because of the language barrier. they are pretty much alienated from the rest of the university for their entire academic careers in the US. they bond easily because they are all strangers in a strange land. not only that, but alcohol is common in many countries. in their native countries, it is legally acceptable to drink under 21 years of age. they probably can't speak perfect english to each other, but when one is drunk...who cares? if a non-drinking roommate or having a quiet place to study is a priority for your daughter, she can easily apply for (and probably get) a residence that specializes in silence-enforced or substance-free living accomodations.</p>
<p>I dont know about ucsc going totally out of their way to accomadate students. The people with campus housing are real wierd. If you are a transfer they will try and put you in the village and than mock you by saying that it is important as a transfer to be affiliated with your college. if you want to void your contract to free yourself, dont plan on doing it with out mommy or daddy's help because those people at housing wont take Students requests and complaints seriously. </p>
<p>As far as the student body goes, well I really didnt get it till I started going here but it is a hippy school. The worst part is most of the hippies are from Marin or suburban San Jose so it defeats the whole purpose of being a hippy. They arnt real hippies we call the pseudo hippies. Every once in a while though you will meat a hardcore back woods bong tokin hippy.</p>
<p>And if you think its easy being some one of color try again. Just because a bunch of people dress like hippies doesnt make people hippies. You can take the college student out of Orange county but you cant take Orange County out of the college student. Im not saying its as bad as a school in the midwest or somthing, but lets face it racism is everywhere.</p>
<p>If you want my honest opinion, most of the kids at this school were probably dorks and made fun of in high school. somthing strikes me as odd about someone who needs to take all the way till they are 18 to discover who they are as person. i mean give me a break how cliche is that. </p>
<p>Oh if thats not the worst thing, i remember reading in some random collee site, that UCSC has a 41% unemployment rate for undergrads. And everyone smokes pot here so if you want to get into grad school so you can get a job, i suggest you pick and choose who your friends are. </p>
<p>Oh yea and the parking people are some punks man they ticket all day all night non stop.</p>
<p>im sorry my drunk venting is over</p>
<p>oh and the dinning hall food gives me this wierd soft gas</p>
<p>
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...in their native countries, it is legally acceptable to drink under 21 years of age. they probably can't speak perfect english to each other, but when one is drunk...who cares? --porcupyne
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So, you don't agree that there is an underlying drinking culture at the ILC?</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you want to void your contract to free yourself, dont plan on doing it with out mommy or daddy's help because those people at housing wont take Students requests and complaints seriously. --croberts532
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Absolutely true.</p>
<p>
[quote]
oh and the dinning hall food gives me this wierd soft gas
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</p>
<p>Hasn't changed in 35 years.</p>
<p>Once the gas from a meal was so bad the med center and local doctors thought I had appendicitis, but my white blood cell count hadn't increased. Finally a doctor gave me a small paper cup of Pepto-Bismol and, after a really weird sensation as it went down, I emitted a long loud belch and was fine. But I had already spent most of the night at ER.</p>
<p>
[quote]
So, you don't agree that there is an underlying drinking culture at the ILC?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i don't know. the only thing i can be sure of is that people drink over there. they do it in my college and the other colleges. how much of a drinking culture exists is what i am unsure of. they are international students afterall. i'm sure that being an international students comes with additional responsibilities that we natives don't have to worry about. we don't have to be worried about being kicked out of the country if we fail to maintain a certain gpa.</p>
<p>there's also the drinking culture in comparison to the other colleges. other than this message, i haven't heard anything about the ILC being a place to party. the college i hear about the most is porter college. not only do i hear porter referenced with drinking, i hear it being referenced with other drugs as well. there may be a drinking culture at the ILC, but i'm sure it is nowhere near as big as the party culture at other colleges.</p>
<p>I'm in Porter and I guarantee there are no more drugs here than any other college within UCSC. We just get all the publicity. That said, if you're looking for drugs, you can find nearly anything around here. But it's not like there's crazy peer pressure to do drugs and such.</p>