<p>Not to necro a thread, but as a UCSC student the comments by “beyphy” are inaccurate to say the least. I personally maintained a 4.0 gpa throughout all of high school, passed all of my many AP tests, got a 30 on the ACT and picked UCSC BECAUSE I love the campus. </p>
<p>I even visited Berkeley quite a few times and the same people smoking pot all day in SC are in Berkeley, except there they do heroine instead. And to clarify there are two versions of potheads in SC, the type that do horrible in class and the ones who surprise you with their intelligence. I can tell you from experience that there are more of the latter.</p>
<p>It stuns me to this day that UCSC is even considered “lower tier”. </p>
<p>We even had this discussion about “lower tier classifications” in my classes at UCSC (specifically a writing 2 class about the educational system), and there were many students who discussed their reasons for choosing UCSC over Berkely/SD or LA, and how they felt pressured by “prestige” to go against their heart. </p>
<p>If our PHD professors are to be believed at UCSC, the lower tier notion is a stereotype on the school that isn’t accurate at all. If anyone here reads this and is considering UCSC, I hope your fears about “prestige” and “tiers” are somewhat allayed by my post…</p>