My daughter’s friend got off the waitlist in June last year and got housing, but her dorm is about a mile from campus, so she bikes or takes a shuttle every day.
Sounds like Santa Catalina. It is a very large dorm where approximately 1/3 of freshmen (1475) live.
If he’s interested in film, the other two don’t hold a candle to UCSB. All great schools in the end though…
S25 Accepted .. Computer Engineering
Regents / Honor
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA (CA): 4.53
Weighted and Capped GPA (CA): 4.21
High rigor in courses (Mostly APs else Honors)
Num AP courses/exams: 14 APs (most 5s else 4, calc BC in jr)
Major Awards:
National Merit Finalist w/ Corporate Scholarship
Wrestling Individual: 2X CA CIF Regional Medalist & Master Qualifier
Wrestling Team: 2X League Champion, 1X Division Final (Runner-up)
State Legislature Certificate of Outstanding Achievement
Congressional Award Bronze Medal (Volunteering)
Job/Internship:
Paid Summer Research - Simulation/Modeling in biology
Summer Internship - AI Project at major corporation
EC:
CyberPatriot: Platinum tier, team lead, ranked #1 in district
CPU Club, English tutoring, Piano, and Kiteboarding
State/location of HS: S. Cal. public
Applied for need-based financial aid? Yes
First Generation? No
Accepted:
UCSB, UCLA, UCI, UCSD, UCD, UCSC, UCR, CP SLO, CP Pomona, UAriz, SCU
Pending:
Rice, USC, UPenn, Cornell, UCB, Stanford, GT, UMich
Rejected: None .. yet and expect some next week
Can anybody speak to the party school vibe at UCSB?
can you explain what you mean by this? Are you asking if there are parties and drinking? This occurs at UCSB, UCSD (when I was there), and certainly also UCLA and Berkeley as well, and is probably part of the fabric of college, to some degree. Does it occupy the majority of students’ time to the extent that they can’t and don’t focus on academics? No - these are generally smart kids who are there for a reason. same can also be said of SDSU and FSU these days-
UCSB campus is actually really calm. Parties are on Isla Vista, where a lot of kids live and where fears are located. The area isn’t officially part of UCSB. Any school with frat houses has parties. You can chose to be part of it, or not. But the campus itself is lovely and calm.
I agree with @CATaxPyrNoROI that any school can be a party school and any student wanting to participate can find them.
you don’t need frat houses to have a party or an alcoholic beverage. Post-grad adults are living proof of that-
You don’t need them but I am saying it’s not happening in the dorms. Parties are happening in frat houses. UCSB dorms are not party places.
yes I understand- most dorms/campuses are dry. However, it is unlikely that students refrain from alcohol completely during their on-campus years and then suddenly go frat house crazy the second they move off campus. Drinking typically doesn’t start at that point in time. my point is the same as before - drinking occurs in college and sometimes on college campuses, in a variety of settings. When I went to UCSD there was a round table pizza at the student center (Price). If you were 21, you could order a beer on draft and literally sit at their outdoor patio drinking while other students walked by. Porter’s pub too Goodbye Porter’s Pub – The UCSD Guardian Funny, because UC “socially dead” was and isn’t considered a party school. but there was plenty of drinking-
Plenty of kids are partying. What I am saying is they are partying in Isla Vista. If a kid wants to stay away from it, it’s easy. It’s not in your face.
You can find students who party at most college campuses, but (in my opinion) partying isn’t as much of the culture at other campuses as it is at UCSB.
The campus is officially dry. The parties in Isla Vista are not just in fraternities. They are throughout IV. There are large unsanctioned street parties for Deltopia (Google it), Halloween, etc. There are social media pages that announce parties.
Certainly not everyone parties. And, by the time the student moves off campus, they should learn which parts of IV have more frequent parties and which tend to be more calm. For example, parties tend to occur on the streets closer to the beach (ie. Del Playa) and closer to campus.
It is a buyer beware type of scenario. Students need to know that there are homeless in Berkeley, that UCI is relatively empty on weekends, that they should learn to ride a bike before going to Davis. Students need to know that they will likely live in Isla Vista and that there will be parties. It is important for students to look at more than rankings and academics. Campus culture and social scene are important factors to consider prior to enrolling.
ETA: Deltopia is this weekend.
Here is the sheriff’s wrap up from last year. I’m sure there were many students who did not participate and just because someone was there doesn’t mean they were drinking. Still, it is a big weekend in the college town adjacent to campus. It would be difficult to go to school there an not be aware that it was happening.
My son attends UCSB. The school, in general, has a party reputation. If you look it up it’s ranked #1. But most of that takes place in Isla Vista (IV). It can get excessive over there but it certainly isn’t for everyone. My son avoids it. His idea of a good evening is hanging with friends on the beach, or grabbing a bite to eat in Goleta.
It’s available, but partying not the only thing to fill one’s time.
Thank you for your post. Trying to convince my D to accept SLO engineering over UCSB Physics. For a lot of reasons this is the better school for her/her major.
My D took the UCSB admitted students tour with friends this week and was told that “freshman can have cars”. Does this mean they are allotted parking on campus?! I was surprised but if anyone can elaborate on the odds for getting the permit/cost/etc., I would appreciate it.
We went on a tour this past week too and heard that freshman can have cars, but also that getting a permit is expensive and also may mean your car is parked far enough away to not be worthwhile.
UCSB & IV are a very bike, skateboard and walking friendly campus/community. For freshmen, cars aren’t really necessary on a daily basis. They are mostly used for weekend trips or driving to and from home.