Can someone explain CCS to me?

cc_is_lame
Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:43:57 +0000

Yes. You can apply to CCS anytime before the start of your junior year - so long as you apply during the quarter before the quarter you’d like to be enrolled in CCS. (In order to be considered a student in CCS you have to spent 6 quarters enrolled in it, so I think that means the spring quarter of your sophomore year is the latest you can apply, right?)

CCS is a program unique to UCSB. Essentially, it’s the place for you if it:
1] Has your major.
2] You are VERY motivated to do well in your major.

If you’re in CCS, you take some CCS courses and some in L&S with regular students. You’ll receive grades for the L&S courses, but CCS courses are not graded (just pass/fail) since the college places a higher emphasis on learning than grades. That said, when you apply to grad school (if you do, that is), you will still have a GPA. As a side note, about 25% of UCSB students go to grad school the first year after graduating, but about 50% CCS Arts/Lit students do, and 80% for CCS Math/Science students. Thus you can see that grad schools are very interested in CCS students.

In the CCS, you won’t have to take introductory courses – you can move straight to the advanced classes. There’s no set GE’s - you just have to take 8 courses that aren’t related to your major for your GE’s… so I guess there are GE’s, but they’re completely versatile. I think there’s a required culture-related course, but that’s it.

As a CCS student (there are roughly 300 on the whole campus), it’s almost like being in a small liberal arts college centered in a large research university. The CCS class sizes are much smaller (often 8-15 students), you get to know your professors, and you get a lot of attention from the faculty when it comes to advising and the like.

The “Creative” in the name of the college means that you will create. CCS is known as a “graduate school for undergraduates”; the science / math CCS students participate in a lot of hands-on research projects as early as freshman year, and the Lit students have their works published in literary journals, and the like. (As an aside, though UCSB’s admit rate is something like 47%, CCS’s is around 25% – it is arguably more prestigious than L&S)

Overall, if you’re really interested in the CCS, I’d apply for it. Since it’s Spring quarter, you can apply right now if you’ve been admitted to UCSB – you don’t have to wait until next year.

If you’ve got any more questions, check [College of Creative Studies, UC Santa Barbara](http://www.ccs.ucsb.edu), or you can PM me. =)