<p>Hey guys, I did the campus tour a yesterday, heck maybe you saw me, but I have a couple questions regarding the 10 college system.</p>
<p>First, I should start off by saying I loved the campus. I've toured Berkeley, Davis, UCLA, and Cal Poly SLO, but Santa Cruz is by far my favorite. Anyways, what are your thoughts on the college system? Why do you like it, why not? Specifically, what college do you go to and why do or don't you like it? I did manage to grab a pamphlet about the different colleges but it didn't do much to differentiate them. Can you give me any ideas about the different colleges and what really makes them different? From the student's perspective of course. Any insights would be welcomed really. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I really like the 10 college system. It offers a closer community and college-specific events. I absolutely love it. The only downside is that some students will continue to judge based on stereotypes of each college, but for the most part that goes away after quarter one.</p>
<p>I reside in Crown. I love the community, as most of us are nerds/scientists of some sort. I don’t like it because we also seem to attract a lot of “unstable” types. Not overwhelming, but noticeable.</p>
<p>College differences are mostly defined by the students who reside in them. There’s a good mix of people in each college, but certain types are drawn to certain colleges because of stereotypes or location. Jocks at Cowell, humanities majors at Stevenson, nerds at Crown, stoners at Merrill, Asians at 9/10, artists/stoners/hipsters at Kresge/Porter, SoCal kids at 8, and ghetto kids at Oakes.</p>
<p>There is SOME amount of truth to each of these. But IMO, the only colleges you will want to be careful about are Crown and Porter. Those are both very polarizing.</p>
<p>Huh… that’s funny because when I visited, Porter and Crown appealed the most to me. I’m a prospective Computer Engineering major, so I liked the science theme at Crown. I also liked Porter because of the view and a bunch of other stuff on paper and what I saw during the visit. I’m wondering what you mean by ‘polarizing’. I also liked Kresge and Merrill. Again, any insights would be awesome.</p>
<p>Most people either REALLY like Crown or want to get out as fast as possible. That’s what I mean. The opinion of non-Crownies tend to be that Crown is too quiet and has too few parties. </p>
<p>I have to admit that the Porter field is absolutely amazing and that I wish I lived there at times. But they definitely have a certain type of culture there that involves way too much weed for my tastes. Have you been in the dorms? Porter recently finished a bunch of construction. The inside of their dorms were very…industrial, for a college centered around the arts. The rooms I went in only had a single ethernet port on the right side of the room, meaning a lot of student had a trip wire of sorts across the floor. </p>
<p>Crown dorms are on the old side. They have notoriously squeaky floors, but otherwise have held up well. I admit they look dingy next to 9/10’s nice new dorms, but if you ask me the community is more important than the size of the shower stall. And it’s pretty cool, the main stairwells have tons of murals painted in them. Being right next to upper campus is great if you love hiking or stargazing. Not to mention the games of Humans Vs Zombies! </p>
<p>I can’t give much insight into Kresge/Merrill, but they are kind of like toned-down versions of their sister colleges. Kresge has a lot of the same stoner/art culture, but not as strongly. Merrill gets all kinds, but does have a subset of nerds.</p>
<p>Have you looked into themed housing options at all?</p>
<p>Crown and Merrill seem so far out of the way of everything. I haven’t even been there yet and I’ve been going here for a quarter and a half. I live at Porter and love it. We have the meadow, the squiggle, the best quad by far, a totem pole for gosh sakes, an alright dining hall with a great view (although Cowell/Stevenson’s edges it slightly), parties, close to college eight for weekend/late night dining, it just got remodeled, and its just awesome.</p>
<p>Similarly, Crown is close to 9/10 for late night. It’s not remote in the least, not any more remote than Cowell/Stevenson really. It just feels separate because of the incline. Porter and Crown are about equidistant to Baskin.</p>
<p>Does Porter dining have a nice view? I’ve only been there past dark for events.</p>
<p>It really depends on the side of campus you live on. I can’t say I ever really visit Porter/Kresge/Oakes/8, unless there’s an event. They’re far off yonder from most of my classes.</p>
<p>I can already tell it’s going to be a tough decision. As for the themed housing options, I haven’t heard a thing. Also, I’m thinking about adding a double majoring, adding Physics, bioinfo, or maybe even music. Not sure which or even if, but I’m thinking about it. About Crown though, do the people there not go out much? It sounds like the general impression is that they don’t socialize much… I’d like more of a community feel so I’m favoring Porter a little (don’t have a problem with pot), or maybe Kresge. Crown still sounds awesome though. Like I said, it’ll be tough.</p>
<p>Has UCSC already sent out admission decisions? </p>
<p>I’m an old Crownie from WAY back (though it’s not his first choice of schools, my son is awaiting his admission decisions).</p>
<p>I have very fond memories of living at Crown – my husband (we met at Crown) and I made many lifelong friends there. Back in the 70s/80s it was considered to attract kind of a blend of scientists and artists (but not “crazy” artists… they went to Kresge) ;)</p>
<p>Yes, the hill (we used to call it “Cardiac Hill”) isolates it a bit – but we liked that as it created a more intimate feel for those of us who lived there. </p>
<p>We both graduated as “scientists”… I went on to UCD for grad/professional school.</p>
<p>All in all, we loved the town, loved the school, loved Crown… and, most of all, STILL love the friends we made there 35 years ago. :)</p>
<p>Doing any double major including CS/CE is tough. You have to have a good overlap of classes, and then be willing to take a lot of upper division classes at the same time. A recipe for disaster unless you are extremely motivated.</p>
<p>Crown kids go out and about plenty. A lot of us seem to have a certain spirit of adventure. When there was a campus-wide capture the flag game, the majority of people who showed were from Crown. It basically became a case of Crown/Merrill vs everyone else. I’d say that’s a testament to our sense of community.</p>
<p>Even those who don’t go out and about as often certainly socialize, there are people in the dorm lounges until all hours of the morning having fun. I can hear them from my room. It seems like every dorm building produces a new “family” of close friendships each year.</p>
It seems like every dorm building produces a new “family” of close friendships each year.</p>