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Old 05-10-2008, 01:42 AM   #9
mtnmagic
New Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Lake Tahoe
Threads: 1
Posts: 5
I'm a parent of an UCSB freshman student. He applied to ten colleges and was accepted at all 10. (including UCLA and UCB.) After checking them all out UCSB was the best fit for him.

Some of the reasons why included the incredible assistance offered by their financial aid office. It was easy to obtain information for all kinds of aid we didn't realize. People were personal and friendly to him. The day after visiting their EOP Prorgam, one of the directors stopped him, recognized him by face and asked if he could be of any assistance.

This year he lives at the Tropicana which has a contract arrangement with UCSB. They were more then willing to wait until all funding....grants/scholarships/loans have gone through and had been disbursed to be paid. That says a lot.

He was also informed about a loan program to be able to purchase a new computer. This was information that we would have never known about, had
the financial aid office not informed us of it.

Yes, there is a huge reputation there as a party school. I'm not saying my son is perfect, but he has found other outlets to enjoy and learn in his new environment. He was born and raised in Tahoe and has been a skier, snowboarder since he was tiny. He transfered that love to surfing and uses it as an outlet to learn something new and reduce stress from all the transistion to moving away from home and being in a totally different environment. He is currently taking up wind surfing.

He has met some really neat people. He brought a friend home (from Chicago) for Spring Break. Really a delight to have around.

He was admitted undeclared and is trying to make up his mind about his major. He is taking some pretty tough classes and considering the engineering program. He was admitted to the CalPoly SLO engineering program.
Since they want you to declare, and he wasn't quite sure yet, again UCSB
was a better fit for him.

Also there really is an economic mix at UCSB. From what I have seen there is an acceptance level for who you are, not what you have, or your financial worth.

So just some rambling thoughts from a proud UCSB mom. If I can give more information, just let me know.
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