<p>UCSB is the college experience. I live in San Diego and have many friends that go to UCSD and absolutely hate it. Yeah, the science program may be better, but who the hell cares? Not me. Why? Because people crack. I want to study hard then play hard, not just study hard.</p>
<p>I want the experience. I want to live life. I want to have fun. I want so socialize. I want to network. And yes, of course I want a great education.</p>
<p>I could not agree more with your decision :-)</p>
<p>I live in SD, and all my friends want to go SD, I also want to go SD pretty bad..but got rejected by SD, so I am going to SB and now i hated SD</p>
<p>I would have made the same decision you did.</p>
<p>I feel that SB has a LOT more character than SD , if that makes any sense.</p>
<p>I'm actually still struggling over this between SB and SD.
SD pros: Great engineering program for me, beautiful, higher prestige/ranking than SB, lack of partying wont distract me from work
SD cons: Apparently there is no social life there, lack of good looking women, division II sports (thus no one cares about sports and theres no school spirit), no parties when I want one (im not a huge partier, but it would be nice), six college system seems weird, and most people who go there seem to agree that "no one loves it there"</p>
<p>SB pros: Division I sports, decent engineering program, good looking girls, right on the beach on a beautiful campus, tons of parties and great social life, the people tend to be very relaxed and easy going, and everyone seems to love it there.
SB cons: Not nearly as good rank/prestige as SD, not as good of an engineering program, sometimes the partying might be a bit too much with pressure to drink 5x a week, etc.</p>
<p>So basically, I'm trying to fight that battle myself right now and I've got two sides tugging at me. One is saying, "college is about learning and education, and its what you make of it and come out of it with -- a UCSD engineering degree will open many more doors and lead to many more connections than a UCSB engineering degree." And the other part of me is saying "hey, you only live once, just go to the less prestigious school and enjoy those four years... maybe what you come away with won't be as good for the future as what you would have come away with had you gone to UCSD, but UCSB is still a respectable college; living an enjoyable four years is more important than enjoying yourself less and having a more important degree."</p>
<p>I feel I could still make the best of UCSD and have a great time, but I just keep hearing so much negative stuff about it... and its not easy for me to decide which is more important: the four year experience or the degree that follows it.</p>
<p>Help? heh heh =)</p>
<p>WOW...thats a LOT of assumptions.</p>
<p>First off - half of your opinions of UCSB are stereotypes from the early 90's. UCSB Is not a party school - Isla Vista is where the partying happens. The campus isnt going to be full of parties skipipng form place to place - making it impossible tos tudy. Sure, in the dorms there may be some hanging out and loudness, but that's at UCSD too.</p>
<p>UCSB's Social life is a product of Santa barbara. Santa barbara is BEAUTIFUL and people go there to hang out and have fun - I do it quite a bit. If you're worried about your roomie getting in your face about it, get a substance free dorm. When it comes to partying, people are usualyl respectful about your decision whether to do it or not. </p>
<p>UCSB has an AMAZING engineering school. They pay a lot of attention to their undergrads and make sure they get what they need. I myself was admitted to the engineering school with a negative bias, and was completely blown away at the open house. there are TONS of companys that recruit at UCSB and companies like microsoft, google, sun micro, all raised the amount of people they recruit form SB even though theyve cut a lot of other schools off their list.</p>
<p>UCSD also has a very good engineering school and is an AWESOMEC ampus, but it just depends on your fit. I personally love the UCSB campus because everywhere you look, its beautiful. UCSD is also very pretty, but the environment isnt as nice as UCSB in my opinion. </p>
<p>DONT go to SD because you think your life will magically be better. They both have amazing engineering schools, and you wont miss out on anything if you go to SB. Then again, SD has some things that SB doesn't, just make sure you like the feel.</p>
<p>I've visited UCSD several times, and i didn't find anytihng special about it. I can understand the academics are prestigious for whatever rankings and things that come up in US News, but i find it too bland to spend the next four years of my life there. You could be the complete inverse, so make sure to make an informed decision, dont go of the stupid peopel who call SB a party school!</p>
<p>Hey neobonzi-
First off, I'd really like to thank you. You've really actually made me feel better about some of the things i didnt like about SB. I'm going to visit both campuses this weekend so I'll have a week left to decide, but I have no problem admitting that all of this stuff I've said is solely the product of what I get from people talking.</p>
<p>I considered the substance free dorm idea... but I feel that might be somewhat limiting. While I don't like to party every night/every few nights, I do enjoy going out every once and a while and having a good time with alcohol involved. I considered other interest floors (perhaps the music one) -- but I also wasn't too sure about that. I'm a guitarist of 5 years, and I'm not a music major by any means, but I do love music and talented singers and quality musicians -- I always love a good jam session. But I don't know if I want to commit to a floor of performing arts people. Also, thoughts about bringing my guitar to the dorms? I absolutely will bring a guitar, but I only own one guitar -- and its a moderately expensive guitar ($700). I'm genuinely worried about it getting stolen or damaged... I treat the thing like its my child, heh heh. Is there anyway to lock it up in the room? Especially having a roomate, I know they might not always lock the door, and plus -- I don't enjoy having my door locked 24/7. Obviously common sense helps prevent these things (not leaving it in sight all day), but I'm still a little concerned. And I'd also really like to bring my electric guitar and mini practice amp, but I don't know if thats pressing my luck. Thoughts about that?</p>
<p>Anyway, off of guitar, I honestly just don't know much about SB's engineering program, but I hear non-stop good things about SD's program. </p>
<p>Again, just from what I've heard, La Jolla is supposed to be incredibly beautiful. IV and SB I know are also supposed to be the same way, but I just hear so much more about SD. Like I said, I'm going to visit both schools over the weekend (I'm from Las Vegas, NV so I haven't yet had the chance), and hopefully just seeing it and feeling it will help make my decision. The thing is though, if I do end up liking SD more, I'm sincerely worried about the lack of school cohesion (especially without division I sports) and lack of sociality.</p>
<p>Town for town, SB/IV versus SD/LJ? Thoughts?</p>
<p>Also, random questions: How are the recreational facilities? I'm a runner, and I like to keep in shape and work out... how nice is the campus for running on? Food quality? Dorms (and can you loft beds)?</p>
<p>Again, thank you so much. I totally appreciate it -- I won't lie, I'm totally ignorant in some respects -- I only am able to work with what I've heard from different people.</p>
<p>Here are some pics of my room and Manzanita. <a href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ucsbstud949/album?.dir=58db&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ucsbstud949/my_photos%5B/url%5D">http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ucsbstud949/album?.dir=58db&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ucsbstud949/my_photos</a></p>
<p>I run regularly too. If you like the beach or the sea breeze you'll love UCSB. Make sure to walk around the campus...also, don't miss Manzanita and the Campus Point! Ask for directions.</p>
<p>Im glad I can help! First off - the cities.</p>
<p>La jolla is a beautiful place - at least it's not run down. I have to warn you, though, its on the "ritsy" side. Housing off campus is generally more expensive than getting housing in Isla Vista. Also, most of the places in La Jolla are a bit more expensive than the places in santa barbara. I have the impression from my visits that its more of a "suburban" area. Of course - there's amazing san diego. But that's not where ths chool is, you cant just walk off campus and into SD.</p>
<p>I live about 45 min from SB so i can give you much better insight about it. SB is also a richer town, but you don't get that impression by the city. It's full of smaller stores and people always travel down to SB to do shopping. It has a much more "collegey" feel than la jolla and it's very, very, very pretty. Isla vista is like 80% apartments, but its got some stuff around that you can get by on. The cool thing about it is that a majority of the inhabitants are college kids (This is where you get the 'party school' from) Theres a junior college in lajolla and a lot of kids from there party with SB kids, so its no more partying than anywhere, it's just condensed.</p>
<p>I think SD has a very nice rec facility that you can work out in. I'm sure theres pleanty of equipment, not sure about an indoor track. At SB you'll see students running, walking, anythign and everything around campus. You can jog along the beach since its literally a 5 min. walk from your dorm. One of my favorite things was when i was visiting, a group of 6 or 7 students were in kayaks in the lagoon taking off to the ocean in the middle of the day.</p>
<p>Next? haha. I'm happy to report that I am also a guitarist of 5-6 years. I have a Marshall Half stack and a Jackson SMG Soloist i love to play. I found that when i was considering substance free and theme dorms that I didn't like the idea of rookming with people who were all one sided. I would lvoe to get to know different personalities in college so im not doing substance free and im not doing themed dorms.</p>
<p>One thing youll find interesting at SB is they have "residence halls" that have a much more community feel to them. Each hall has its own events, gatherings, budget, and overall homey feel. I loved it compared to dorms at the other places i looked at.</p>
<p>As far as the engineering schools - i reall wish you could have attended the welcoem day for UCSB. One thing i found that UCSD and UCSB had in common was their desire to take the best of care and educate their potential undergrads before they make their decisions. At UCSB at least, each major had its own seminar and at the one i went to the chair was there and he with another 6 or 7 staff members did an entire Q and A session and even stayed after to talk with every single person one on one.</p>
<p>When you go to UCSB yous hould browse through Isla Vista. That's the only thing that I wasn't impressed with at first - but I soon realized that it had much more of a college feel than la jolla. La jolla is a little too rich for my taste, i like a much more laxed environment. Also, you might have a hard time getting good housing for a good price in la jolla compared to isla vista. Just remember that Santa Barbara and San Diego are the names of the schools cuz those are the citys in close proximity that really shine. San Diego is full of fun, and santa barbara is no different. Even if youd ont want to go to the beach everyday (like me) youll really appreciate the weather and atmosphere that it provides the school. </p>
<p>From what i'm hearing about you - you would really like Santa Barbara. (Aka you sound like me haha). I really liked UCSD and i would love to go there, but i just feel Santa Barbara is a better fit for me.</p>
<p>UCSBstud - I'm actually meeting up with a friend of mine who goes to UCSB on sunday... Not being all to familiar with the school, and not having tours open on Sunday, she's just gonna run me through the school. I would have liked the regular tour, but this is what happens when you wait as long as I did -- you run out of time. I'll make sure to tell her to bring me there though =)</p>
<p>Neobonzi - As far as campus goes, I prefer the suburban feel. Not necessarily suburban for the city, but for the campus. I really like the feel of a campus-y place -- I toured Boston University for example, and the entire school was just smack-dab in the middle of Boston, and there happened to be BU owned buildings all over the place. I hated it. I really like the "campus" feel, where you are in a place that is all students, a true college town.</p>
<p>From what I hear, most UCSD kids party as SDSU... which I guess is what happens when you live in a ritzy town. Although I'd probably beg to differ that "its no more partying than anywhere else." Like I said, I could be dead wrong, as I have yet to see it, but rumor is that SD has barely any party scene and at night the place is dead.</p>
<p>Ahhh, I love the beach, heh heh. Love the weather and atmosphere of California in general. Running on the beach is one of the best things ever =). Do you know much about the SB rec facility though? Even its crap, I'm just curious... I'd just like a few machines here and there for weightraining and building, but all running I do outside of a gym -- either on a track or through a city/campus. Theres an outdoor track for sure, right?</p>
<p>Guitar: I own a PRS Custom 24 (main guitar), and I run through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier w/ 4x12 Recto cabinet. Yes, extremely expensive, I know -- that setup is almost going to make me not go to college at all, heh heh.
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00859.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00859.jpg</a>
Pictured is the Mesa Dual Recto half stack, Morley wah pedal, Shure wireless system (on top of the Mesa head), and the PRS Tremonti SE I used to own, which I sold to help put money toward the Custom 24. The other guitar I own, my acoustic, is a Taylor 214 which is an expensive guitar ($700), but I'm in love with it and I wouldn't be happy with taking a lesser guitar to college.
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00500.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00500.jpg</a>
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00504.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/LVSHORTY610/Guitar/DSC00504.jpg</a>
It would require me to firstly buy a new guitar, and secondly leave my Taylor at home untouched. Needless to say, I'm concerned for the guitars well-being. What did you bring up to college with you? Not the half stack, surely? Any good ideas on how to keep the Taylor safe, or can it be locked up somehow in a closet (I do have a hardshell case for it)? Did you take your electric guitar up? (I'm a huge guitar geek -- I seriously like can't afford to go to the movies because I spend it all on guitar -- thankfully I've got a job where I make $9/hr).</p>
<p>Good to hear that stuff about the engineering. What major are you? I think you and I have quite a bit in common, heh heh... I'm definitely the chill type. I'm often described among my friends as the most relaxed and easy-going of people they've ever met. I'm just that lazy guy who likes to strum his guitar and hang out, ya know? =)</p>
<p>ok, I live in SD, and SDSU is definitely the biggest party school in SD. UCSD is really nice, very advance school, very good bio and several engineerings. It is also more prestige than UCSB, but that doesn't means UCSB is bad. UCSB is better at some engineering programs such as chemicalE, ranked #9 whole nation a lot better than UCSD's . It's all depend on your major. If your major is anything related to bio, you should go UCSD. socially, UCSD is not completely dead, since it got the beautiful La Jolla beach and people would party too.</p>
<p>UCSD was my first choice, but unfortunately I didn't got in UCSD, so decided to go UCSB, but I am still happy that I got in UCSB. I think either one can't get wrong. Did you visited both campuses? If not then you need to do so...</p>
<p>f77126-
I am going into a Computer Engineering major. Obviously the campus isnt completely dead, especially with the beach nearby, but by comparison to UCSB and others? With no Division I sports teams, there seems to be little cohesion to the students on campus -- sports are often a huge uniting factor involving lots of school spirit -- which SD lacks.</p>
<p>I am going to visit both campuses this weekend =)</p>
<p>UCSBstud- Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. your room looks cool by the way.</p>
<p>Santa Barbara is generally just a really nice place to be. It feels a lot more laid back than La Jolla and you'll definitely see a lot of people walking around in the downtown. There are a lot of little shops and the general environment is very relaxed.</p>
<p>Isla Vista is just your stereotypical college town. Just pack 20,000 students into 2 square miles and see what happens. Lots of very dense housing; mostly occupied by students. Housing isn't exactly cheap, but I really don't have anything to compare it to since I don't know what it costs in La Jolla. However, since you'll find more stuff that college students can do in Isla Vista and Santa Barbara than you'll find things that college kids can do in La Jolla.</p>
<p>BTW: While La Jolla might seem "ritzier," the median home price is significantly lower than Santa Barbara based on median home prices for year 2005 ($810,000 versus $1,055,000).</p>
<p>The Recreation Center (RecCen) at UCSB is huge. Check out this site
<a href="http://www.recreation.ucsb.edu/reccen/reccen.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.recreation.ucsb.edu/reccen/reccen.php</a>
I dropped my 24H Fitness membership because the weight room here is first class.</p>
<p>lvshorty610, I believe UCSB's engineering program is also very good. I was also deciding UCSD or UCSB because i was accepted to both...</p>
<p>I live like 10 minutes from UCSD and went to La Jolla High School, the local High School. So obviously I know a lot of people at UCSD. I have yet to find ONE person who actually likes it there. The place is a freaking dead-beat. </p>
<p>Being a close resident to the campus, and a college transfer, I have used the UCSD library several times to study. There are people sleeping all over the place, people studying for 24hrs, it's horrible. But it's a great place to study because of this.</p>
<p>lvshorty610 - a **** load of people change majors in college... so keep that in mind. Secondly, understand that UCSB's students are generally less-competitive and not cutt-throat, "MY-notes," *******s. You most probably have a better chance of getting better grades at UCSB. Because not only 1) will you have something to look forward to (parties/fun/socialize) after studying, 2) not crack from stress, but 3) your grades will probably be better if you do the same amount of work.</p>
<p>Oh, and lvshorty610, remember you're in the UCSB forum, LOL... so obviously there is a bias here. Here's what made my decision:</p>
<p>**
Pick one of the following w/o referring it to a label (ie: ucsd, ucsb, uci, etc):**</p>
<ol>
<li><p>beach, laid-back students, excellent engineering program, social life, harder to go crazy and crack, better grades.</p></li>
<li><p>beach, competitive students, marvelous engineering program, "ok" social life if you really try (or 21/yo), easier to go crazy and crack, worse grades.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It's up to you. Many many many many many many people choose the prestige (marvelous engineering program) over ALL the other attributes. This is something you're going to have decide on... please let us know what you do!</p>
<p>answers: you can probably guess. 1: ucsb, 2:ucsd</p>
<p>MrDreamweaver-
Thats just exactly what I've heard about UCSD - no one loves it there. Although the thing about people 24/7 being in the library or sleeping all over the place is an unfair accusation -- thats at all colleges, wherever you go. Kids are always just randomly sleeping in various places around the campus, and theres always people in the library at any time of day... thats normal for any school.</p>
<p>As for changing majors, I might become one of those kids. I really wanted to apply as undecided, but since I couldn't really do that, I picked what suits me best: Computer engineering. I don't know if thats really what I want to pursue forever, but its a good start in the right direction to where I'm going. To say the least, I won't be switching to journalism anytime soon.</p>
<p>See, now my question is: Is it better to have a higher GPA at a less prestigious university or a moderately lower GPA at a more prestigious university? Not really a deciding factor I guess, but a question nonetheless.</p>
<p>And yeah, I know posting in the UCSB forum is going to get me all responses in favor of UCSB... but I'm also tracking whats going on in the UCSD forum. I'm reading why people chose that school over SB, what peoples opinions are on overcoming the dead social life, etc. I'm trying to get the best of both worlds to make a fair comparison. And yes, heh heh, I knew which campuses your labels were referring to =)</p>
<p>Thank you guys again so much for the help! You guys are seriously some of the biggest help I've gotten anywhere =)</p>
<p>lvshorty - I know for Med school and Law school the differences in "prestige" are pretty minor. If you ask in a medicine forum or law forum, everyone will tell you this: it really doesn't matter where you do your undergrad unless it's Harvard vs CSULB. In other words, UCSD, UCI, UCSB, UCSC are placed in the same category.</p>
<p>A 3.8 at UCSB will land you in a great med school but a 3.3 at UCSD probably won't (assuming same MCAT scores). Many of my friends got an A- in genetics at UCSD but ended up with a freaking C+ because of the curve, that's more than 1 point docked off the GPA.</p>
<p>It sucks that UCSB has a "party schoolL!LL!LL" persona, but that is only amongst friends and family. When applying to graduate school, the admission boards don't take that into account. This is what I've heard, first hand, from several medical students.</p>
<p>Anyyyywaaaay... I was kidding about the "sleeping all over the place" LOL. I think this is the point in your life where you should make your own decision. What's going to make you happy? What leaves you with more doors open for the future? "What if" you change majors? Which school is going to leave you as the most well-rounded and socialized individual?</p>
