<p>Hey guys, I was recently accepted to UCSB but I was just warned of something really serious and feel the need to share. You can take this information however you like, this is just for you to have more knowledge of UCSB and what goes on there. My friend currently attends UCSB and was just raped. She had been warned beforehand by all of her friends that UCSB is known for date rape drugs being very prevalent amongst parties, but she didn't think much of it. Obviously, it affected her. To be honest, UCSB is an amazingly beautiful school but I have chosen not to attend. This story she shared with me is part of the reason in why I decided UCSB is the not college for me. Ever since this experience, my friend hates UCSB. She is currently trying to transfer to UC Irvine. I feel for her and I want to make sure you all hear this story and take it into account when making your college enrollment decisions.</p>
<p>My heart goes out to your friend…a truly devastating and ugly event. I hope she has lots of support and a soft, safe place to work through her pain. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, sexual assault is found, in varying degrees, on every single college campus. While I completely understand and respect that the event would impact your personal decision…I would hope that the thousands of students who were accepted to UCSB this year will continue to feel proud and excited about their accomplishment.</p>
<p>so sorry to hear that.
never go out alone; stick with friends.</p>
<p>@JoBenny I completely agree. It’s so exciting to be accepted to UCSB. I guess this experience just hit really close to home so that is why I have made the decision to not attend UCSB. Everyone takes stories and others’ experiences differently - to each their own. Thanks to you guys who are being so empathetic. I’m sure my friend would appreciate to read that people care.</p>
<p>I am sorry of what happen to your friend, and hope she will fully cover.</p>
<p>I have to note sexual assaults occurs everywhere. UC-Irvine also had a sexual assault (rape) incident not too long ago.</p>
<p>::EDIT:: 1.) Party with people you know, if you are the type of person to party at random people’s pads then the chances are higher for sexual assault.
2.) Be with your trustful friends at all time.
3.)Sexual Predators do not discriminate based on Universities–they are everywhere.
4.) Don’t let anyone give you a drink. Pouring your own drink decreases your chance of the date rape drug.</p>
<p>I’m very sorry to hear that. Sadly most instances of rape at every college campus are hush hush, so that is good that your friend had the courage to tell you. I hope she’s able to transfer and live a happier life. I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors wherever you choose to go. Like what the other posters have said, always stick with friends and never take drinks from strangers, this applies to wherever you are. Those are the big two. Again best of luck and I hope you and your friend are happy wherever you both end up staying.</p>
<p>I’m appalled… I thought I’d just share this with you all. A bit advice for the future. Don’t accept a drink from anyone else (even your friend, maybe he/she took it from someone else) and always hold the drink, with your hand over it.</p>
<p>Wow…I’m so sorry to hear this. Did she report what happened to the police? This has to dealt with, there’s plenty of harm in just letting this go. Your friend needs to get counseling and the authorities need to get involved here. You MUST convince your friend to do this! Her future relationships and mental health will depend on the type of help she gets, and if she doesn’t get help, then it will all be bad.</p>
<p>On another note, I am upset that you seem to target the entire school here, or at least imply that the school or the surrounding community is some sort of haven for sexual criminals; it’s not. Do realize that this kind of stuff happens at every school. Just because this happened at UCSB doesn’t mean UCSB is a bad school; sexual assault rates here are no higher than the national average.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these things do happen here; but again, please please ask your friend to seek help and notify the authorities (if that hasn’t been done already). We do not want a rapist in our community and we want your friend to have a happy and fulfilling life in spite of what happened. Again, make sure she gets help!</p>
<p>Since the OP seems all for getting knowledge out there, I presume the OP would want to make everyone aware of the campus crime statistics for UCSB and UCI.</p>
<p>Turns out a law on the books for about 20 years requires colleges to report this information. Wikipedia says
</p>
<p>You can go tohttp://ope.ed.gov/security/ and get the data on these 2 campuses. Here is what you will find reported for 2008 thru 2011</p>
<p>UCSB had 1 forcible sex offense in the 3 year period</p>
<p>UCI had 19 forcible sex offenses in the 3 year period</p>
<p>That is horrible, but to be frank last year uc irvine had a rape case and calpoly had 3 rapes but one was cleared. that can happen at any college as horrible as it sounds.</p>
<p>That is f***** up. But as bad as it is, it happens everywhere. I really don’t think you should base a horrific event like this on attending a school or not. There are always going to be nutcases at every school. I can see why should would hate it and would want to transfer out, but…idk. But I’m a guy. So I shouldn’t be talking. :/</p>
<p>Our Women’s center here located at the student resource building work very hard to promote awareness and prevention here on campus. Please don’t use this one incident to judge and make a decision. And other students from other college live in IV as well, so he might’ve not been a UCSB student. I’m sorry for your friend and I hope her recovery goes well.</p>
<p>I thought that this was going to be something along the lines of “UCSB will cheat you out of an education”, “blah blah blah” or a huge heads up about misdealings and whatnot(if there were any). Like something that would make me have major doubts.</p>
<p>Rape is a serious issue but it isn’t won’t necessarily deter me from attending the school. Bad things happen occur everywhere unfortunately. I am sorry that happened to your friend. Hopefully those who view this will learn from it.
I plan on taking the advice from this thread.</p>
<p>If you are not responsible, Do not attend UCSB!</p>
<p>Prayers go out to your friend <3 So sorry to hear about that 
People really need to be careful! Every campus is dangerous. Never EVER go alone to a restroom. Always make sure you have a friend with you standing outside. Rapists hide in stalls of restrooms. People are crazy. Buy pepperspray off ebay or something. It’s like 10 bucks! or 8 dollars at CVS. Best of luck to everyone <3 xoxo</p>
<p>My sympathies go out to your friend. Date rape drugs are a prevalent problem at almost any university, though. Even if you do not choose UCSB, party wisely anywhere. Party with people you know, and DO NOT. DO NOT accept drinks if you think they are shady. Be vigilant and be responsible for yourself. Do not throw yourself into the party scene defenseless, though that may seem to be the whole point. Be safe, and good luck in your university choices!</p>
<p>I’m so sorry to hear about your friend’s experience and feel for her and her family. I agree that the violence in Isla Vista is downplayed during orientation.</p>
<p>UCSB was my son’s first choice for an excellent department (UCSB has a few departments that are better then the corresponding departments at Berkeley or UCLA, and I don’t want to start a range war over that statement - thanks). </p>
<p>Early in the morning after Halloween he called to say he had been taken by ambulance to be treated for assault. Several young men beat him up and knocked him unconscious and left him on the beach, minus his backpack, bicycle and wallet. I was horrified.</p>
<p>I set up crime alerts on my phone and received at least one every Saturday night - assault, knifings, robberies. I had to cancel the alert so I could sleep peacefully. Isla Vista, or IV, is one densely populated square mile of partying students and outsiders looking for trouble. UCSB realizes they have a problem there and that’s why IV Foot Patrol was formed.</p>
<p>My son has had a tremendous education and experience in the classroom, on the campus proper and in Goleta. The crime in Isla Vista is not a reason to forgo going to UCSB. It’s a reason to leave IV before sundown.</p>
<p>Statistics will always have bias. The reason why UCSB has so little reported sexual assaults is probably because it is almost a norm here. I’ve had a few friends who were also raped. Things get crazy when theres thousands of drunk people within one square mile</p>
<p>^^Colleges have a lot of unreported rape incidents. Usually, the university try to cover it up and ‘hush hush’ the incident because who would go to their school if news of a rape breaks out constantly? The whole social scene of partying and getting laid is the norm in college–all colleges (except for hardcore fundamental religious colleges, they might be lower). Not even UCI is safe. It doesn’t matter how prestigious your University is, the students that attend there are human. Humans are animals(Don’t mean in a negative way, we homo-sapiens are indeed categorized under the Animal Kingdom). Don’t forget that. Be aware and be safe, don’t do anything stupid and be naive. Also, don’t underestimate what people are capable of.</p>
<p>Quote MikeMac, "You can go tohttp://ope.ed.gov/security/ and get the data on these 2 campuses. Here is what you will find reported for 2008 thru 2011</p>
<p>UCSB had 1 forcible sex offense in the 3 year period</p>
<p>UCI had 19 forcible sex offenses in the 3 year period"</p>
<p>These stats are for the campus. Isla Vista (UCSB’s off campus “party ghetto” is whole different story. Young ladies need to be super savvy.</p>