Son can’t decide between UCSB for Environmental Studies or UCB for Conservation and Resource Studies. He has visited both campuses and attended Cal Day at Berkeley and an admitted student tour at UCSB. Any input is appreciated.
What did he think of the admitted student days?
Does he have a list of pros and cons?
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At least in terms of environment - Santa Barbara and Berkeley are VERY different from each other. Does he have a preference for one city over the other at least? Assuming you are based in CA - is travel to and from college/home a factor to consider (a flight vs a drive)? I think we need more information to be able to help.
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He liked both campuses. Sees the strengths and weaknesses of towns they are in and likes both. I guess wondering more if anyone has experience with these majors at any of these schools and potential job opportunities after graduation with one program vs the other. He isn’t exactly sure what he wants to do yet but either environmental consulting or possibly policy work for environmental issues. He’s not sure. Husband and I were business majors and don’t know very much about this space.
That’s not my D’s major but she is in CNR at UCB. I can say that she has had a lot of opportunities for internships, research, and student teaching thought CNR and its connections. However, Cal favors those who hustle - you will not be handed anything, you will have to actively seek out the opportunities and go after them. They are there, but you have to work for them. It takes a certain personality, imo, in order to really take advantage of what Cal has to offer, but if that’s who your student is, there are definitely good opportunities.
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Does he have interest in exploring other majors? And if so, he should compare flexibility at each school.
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I work at a large environmental nonprofit, and our job application requires you to exclude your college as an equity measure. Not sure how many others do that, but I assume it’s somewhat of a trend in progressive orgs. Just contributing that to say: if he wants to work on policy or advocacy, don’t put too much weight on thinking a school name will bring a wow factor on your resume. (At environmental orgs, nobody will really care what school you went to anyway.) Go with the school where you feel happiest/most welcome. They’re both great schools and programs!
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I agree with that.
I work for a small environmental nonprofit 
We do have colleges on resumes; however, we literally do not care where an applicant went to college. There is no weighting system for that whatsoever. We care about experience, passion, and kindness. We care far less about the details of your degree.
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They’re both great schools. UCSB actually has a great Env Sci program, ranked one of the top in the country. SB is a beautiful city too! To spend 4 years of college in SB would be awesome. Ultimately, the happiness quotient may be most important.
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Thanks everyone
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