<p>Hobitthill, I hope you don’t mind I’m going to call you out on your post here. If you had simply stated that you were admitted into Astrophysics but were having second thoughts on the major due to your aptitude in writing and your interest in drama, I would direct you to research the Literature Dept at UCSC, which I believe has a pretty good reputation. I would tell you that a former alum currently is getting notable praise for a play she wrote which is currently at the Atlantic Theater in NYC. I would also point out to you that UCSC has a fairly active Theater Arts division, with some notable alum, plus being home to Shakespeare Santa Cruz. I would remind you that Santa Cruz as a UC campus is fairly flexible in allowing undergrad students to create their own majors, or major/minor combinations. I would also point out, as other parents have, that you are not taking 3 classes the entire year. You will take anywhere from 9-11 courses before the year is complete.</p>
<p>However, what I interpreted from your post is that you are saying ‘I don’t know what I want to do, but I believe I can do it somewhere much better than UCSC.’ It appears that Astrophysics is the only major UCSC has to offer that you consider worthy. You claim to be straight-edge and non-drugs, as if you can’t be that at Santa Cruz, but would consider Berkeley? You claim to want to explore options, but have already determined the “hippy-dippy” core course at Stevenson is a collosal waste of your time. Did you not research the core course of the college you chose to affiliate with? You express distaste for having to take a class that you don’t see a point to, in fact, you know exactly what the course will be about without having taken it. However, you are more than willing to take a class that you might have already tested out of (calculus) based on your high school performance? Where is the sense in that?</p>
<p>Ok, now that I’ve been hard on you, I will give you my advice. Clearly, it doesn’t sound like Santa Cruz is the right campus for you, AND THAT IS OKAY! You should be commended for recognizing that before you invest a year of your time, and a lot of money. Since you don’t care about the college experience, I believe CC is a good place for you. You can explore to your heart’s content, and dream of bigger things. You sound hardworking and motivated, so you should do just fine. Just be aware of a couple of things… many public schools in CA are beginning to pull the reigns in on their TAG programs. UCSD and Cal Poly SLO immediately come to mind. Also, depending on your overall plan, be advised that the CC classes you take may not be accepted by out of state graduate schools. I just became aware of this when a young woman I know informed me that the graduate programs she was applying to back East wouldn’t accept her SBCC credits, even though she graduated from UCSB having tagged through the SBCC/UCSB progression. Just something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Final words, don’t be cajoled into a choice based on your mom’s wishes, or those of anyone else. Your college experience belongs to you, and part of growing up is having the courage to make the hard choices. Good luck.</p>