UCSB or UCD?? i need help deciding >.<

friscoman10
Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:53:26 +0000

I’ve been scouring CC looking for the same answer since I am also in the same position as you. However, the major I chose are both top-notch and respected(Chemical/Biological engineering at Davis and Economics/Accounting at SB). I actually visited Davis today, and I have to say that visiting in a must. The environment is laid-back and I mean that in a good way. People are nice, weather is not as bad you would think it would be, food is amazing, dorms are pretty nice, and the girls are actually cute there. Overall, Davis is truly a college town and school spirit there is certainly not lacking. However, the campus is huge and this can be both a plus and minus. For me personally, I loved the big college campus feel but I did not have a bike today and walking back and forth can be a nuisance. Now to UCSB. Don’t let UCSB’s reputation fool you, the kids there will get down and dirty(no not that way) when they have to get their work done. Academically, the two are ranked the same (see USnews 2011 ranking). I don’t know much about SB other than the stuff I alrdy heard. But from what my friends at Davis said, it’s campus is a lot nicer than Davis’ campus(which is saying a lot since the campus at UCD was amazing). SB’s environment is more revolved around parties while laid-back at the same time and there are a lot of rumors that there are kids there are stuck up(i’ll have to see for myself when i visit). Both campuses are known to be extremely bike friendly and to be honest, both UCD and UCSB are great schools. But I’m pretty sure you have heard all of this before. Since the two are ranked equally, I’m sorry that I can’t say which school is better. These two schools require visits in order to find out which environment you’ll fit in best. Good luck! I’ll come back to this in a week after I decide which two to attend and send my SIR.

PS- i rejected SD. Although its tier 1 and its academics are slightly better, the environment was very uptight and it didnt seem that the students there were happy since they were too busy studying and what not. Also, the lack of school spirit really shows how much the atmosphere was at SD. This is, of course, my opinion and others may love SD, but from my visit, I have to say that a good majority of kids there are socially introverted.