Hello. I got into UCSB’s College of Creative Studies for Biology. I got rejected from my other top options such as UCSD, UCLA, and USC. I kept on receiving all these rejections. After receiving all those rejections, my mom thought it was best to commit somewhere I would feel comfortable and happy especially since I am offered a lot of financial aid. My mom and a lot of others said you got rejected everywhere else, Berkeley isn’t going to happen. Berkeley admissions are released a few days after my UCSB commitment. I was hanging out with my friends and I checked just for fun. I was admitted to Cal for Cell and Developmental Biology. I don’t know what to do now that I have committed. Some said they think I would just lose my UCSB deposit (which is fine), others said they don’t think I can uncommit. Is it possible for me to uncommit?
I don’t know what to do. I would call UCSB, but they are closed today and I am stressed ridiculously stressed out. I also wouldn’t want to finalize leaving UCSB until I visited Berkeley on Cal Day. Please help!
I’d jump on the CSS opportunity. Yes, Berkeley has great name brand recognition. But in reality it can be overwhelming and disappointing if you’re an UG. Those fantastic profs, those research opportunities, the labs the nobel prize winners…well…they tend to be accessible to Grad and PhD students. Feedback from both S and D’s cohorts who attended UCB often runs along the lines of …you survive Frosh and Sophomore years and hopefully by Junior year you begin to enjoy the experience.
CSS is a small personal program. Pretty much all the opportunities and options UCSB has to offer will be available to CSS students. You won’t be lost in the mass of UG humanity struggling to find someone who will know them by name and customize the program to an individually specific basis.
My S is currently in the UCSB college of engineering. This is also a very small college compared to L&S. COE consists of less than 2000 students out of the 22K at UCSB. They get priority registration, their profs know them, they have 4 different department advisers. CSS is a step even above this. UCSB is an under graduate focused UC. Of those 22k students, around 19K are undergrad.
Oh…and when you step off the UCSB campus you are well…in one of the most beautiful places on earth. When you step off the UCB campus…well…it can be rather…um…urban.
Not intending to bash UCB…great place for the right person, obviously.
Usually, you can call the office and still get a withdrawal, I think it’s happened.
However, if you have been accepted to the CCS program at SB, I would take it. I’ve met a few CCS students, and they just stand apart. If you have the opportunity to join, you should take it.
At the same time, they have their own dorms, registration (this part is foggy in my mind), and their UG curriculum is far different from the average one. They also have access to their own department advisers along with smaller classes and professors to get personal with. All in all, a great package.
That isn’t to say that a shot at Berkeley isn’t also considering. It is considered the superior school, after all. If you don’t mind the much bigger UG population and more competitive environment (from what I’ve heard from friends), then go ahead.
This is a huge mistake. Those stuff are just as accessible to undergrads. They’re always there for undergrads to be tapped. The only reason why those seemed to be distant for some undergrads is because some undergrad students chose not to tap those opportunities. But if they do, they’re there.
I’m not really familiar with UCSB, but prestige-wise, it’s nowhere near Berkeley’s. Berkeley is highly respected and you’ll feel that more as you go out of California.
You’ve been admitted to CCS: it means you get all the benefits of UCB, without the disadvantages. ie., you get stellar professors, research facilities, about anything you can dream of for a perfect “intellectual” undergraduate experience… and you don’t have to withstand the slog that is freshman/sophomore year Bio on Berkeley’s campus under the current budget constraints. AND you can probably get to UCB for grad school, which is when it matters.
ababon: OP didn’t get into UCSB. S/he got into CCS. In other words, OP can now write his/her own ticket about anywhere, design his/her curriculum, take graduate classes, pursue research right off the bat. It’s one of the most prestigious programs of this type in the country and, yes, it trumps UCB. The “regular” population may not know of it, but top graduate programs will.