UCSB vs. Cal Poly SLO vs. Willamette University? Any Help Choosing Would be Appreciated

College Search & Lists
1

So I basically narrowed down my schools to my top three, and now I need a lot of help deciding between them, and considering I’m the first one in my family to go to a four-year college, you can say I’m more than a little lost. I’ve visited all the campuses, and even stayed overnight at Willamette. I applied as a sociology major, but want to switch into economics and eventually work for the Fed. Price-wise, I got enough financial so that all the schools are virtually the same, which honestly just makes my decision harder. All the schools have beautiful campuses and pretty nice weather, so that’s also not really a factor. They also all have really good transportation on and off campus. I’m not really sure if I would rather go to a school on the quarter system (UCSB and SLO) or on the semester system (Willamette). There are still some pros and cons that I found, but any others that anyone would like to add would also be super helpful!

UCSB:
Pros- Campus is beautiful and really easy to navigate, Housing is also amazing. They also have a really big LGBT community, and as someone who has had to keep in the closet due to family circumstances, I really appreciate that. There is also just a really nice community feel in general. Focuses on a really well-rounded education style for students. And the BIGGEST pro that I found is that it is easier to change my major from sociology to economics, since all I need to do is take certain classes to qualify. I also get better use out of my AP credits here.

Cons- Meal plan kind off sucks, since unused points don’t roll over like they do at Willamette and SLO. You also can only use your meal cards at the designated food halls. Has expensive off campus housing. Slightly difficult to get into the honors program, which I would really like to do in order to get priority pick of classes and have more time with my professors. UCSB also has a pretty bad reputation as a party school, and I don’t know how that will affect me getting a job. Another con is that out of the three, UCSB probably had the worst connection to employers, so I don’t know how easy it will be to get a job after graduating, especially a job related to my major.

SLO:
Pros- Least expensive of all the colleges, GREAT connections with employers, and a pretty great reputation. Very prestigious. Very hands on. Easy access to classes. Best use out of the meal plan, since you can use it anywhere on campus! (Including places like Jamba Juice and Einstein’s Bros!!!) Also, food credits roll over. Really nice outdoors areas. BEAUTIFUL rec center. Cute downtown (Not very lively though, that might be a con). Cheaper off campus housing.

Cons- Seems like it will be really hard to change majors, or at least if I did I’m not sure if I would graduate in four years. VERY major focused, like as in you start core classes your first quarter, which would be fine if I didn’t want to change majors. Also, I feel like SLO doesn’t really emphasize a well-rounded education, and kind of disregards humanities. And also has horrible dorms, from what I’ve seen.

Willamette:
Pros- Campus is gorgeous and SUPER easy to navigate, due to it being a smaller school. Seems like they have unlimited opportunities for work study. Campus is situated right across form the Capital building (Salem, OR), so there are endless internships that might look good on a resume to future government employers! Have a really good outdoors program, as in creating these super cheap activities like white water rafting for students. Food credits roll over to the next semester. Pretty nice dorms, and really nice, small classrooms. Really easy to get close to professors. Also SUPER easy to change my major, since I don’t actually have to declare until sophomore year, so that won’t have to be a problem. School also has a really big focus on a well-rounded education in humanities, like for example you have to take two years of a language, which I think personally is cool.

Cons- The BIGGEST concern I have is that Willamette is not a well-known name, so I don’t know how that will translate to future employers, even with the government connection. Small school, which I’m not sure I would like. Food isn’t super great there, but it’s bearable. Campus’s ‘downtown’ is really really small and old, not really very active.

That’s all I can think of right now! But honestly anyone’s opinions are welcome!!! I basically need to decide by next week, so any advice would help!

2

Stuff like food and attractiveness may seem to matter now, but think long-term. 20 years down the road, you won’t even remember what the food is like and attractiveness of your alma mater also wouldn’t be a concern.

CalPoly makes changing majors difficult, so that’s out.

I wouldn’t put any emphasis on the name of any of these schools. Employers hire people not schools, and you don’t need to do much research to see that some UCSB grads have done very well even if some party hard. And people from LAC’s most people haven’t heard of do well all the time as well.

However, for someone who’s the first in family to go to college, I would recommend Willamette as LAC’s are more nurturing and will have more people who will be there to assist you if you hit speed bumps. A big public uni like UCSB is fine for a go-getter who knows how to get what they want, but there will be less assistance if you struggle or just don’t know how to get things.

3

I definitely agree with crossing off SLO on my list. I’m a pretty motivated student, so I think I could handle the challenge of UCSB, but my only concern is their supply of available work study programs and internships, and how easy it will be to find a job after graduating.

4

Yes, but I still think more nurturing is better.

5

@PurpleTitan Just an FYI, UCSB has a slightly higher four year and six year graduation rate than Willamette while having nearly double the percentage of students who receive Pell Grants. That suggests to me that the school is rather experienced with handling and graduating low income students.

OP, it sounds like you prefer Willamette the best and if it is affordable, then great. Remember that you can always take the nearby train to Portland if you tire of Salem’s downtown offerings. Also, ignore the meal plan. Crappy food is just part of being a college student.

6

Where did you hear that UCSB doesn’t have connections to employers? I’m a prospective student as well.

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@ruetherford It’s not as much that UCSB doesn’t have any connections, it’s just that the other two school I’m considering are more connected. Like I said, Willamette is right across from the capital building in Salem which gives out tons of internships, and SLO just in general has really great relationships with employers, most likely due to the prestige of the school.

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@whenhen I think what it really boils down to for me is that I really really love the feel of UCSB, with how diverse and involved the community is, but I also feel like Willamette provides more post-grad opportunities with their internships and work study programs. Honestly, if UCSB was situated right across from the capital building or any other situation that could potentially directly help in my future career plans, I would 100% go there, no doubt. But like I said, I’m really stuck between the two schools, since they both really bring so much to the table, so to speak.

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fwiw I have a daughter at Willamette who is really happy there. One of her other top choices last year was UCSD and she ended up preferring a smaller campus/ smaller classes/ more rain :wink: to the bigger name school. A couple of her good friends are LGBT and third-hand from my perspective it sounds like a friendly campus for that demographic. I don’t think you have any bad choices, though, and it’s really more a personal style thing. If you felt like Willamette was a good fit, I’d say to go for it, but if you feel like one of the other 2 suits you better, you won’t go wrong.

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I’m in the same exact situation as you ! I’m deciding between Cal Poly SLO , UCSB , and UCR , I also got into Williamtte but I can’t imagine living anywhere else besides cali . As far as prestige , UCSB ranks pretty high against the knowledge of most people , I crossed out SLO even though I got into their impacted business program don’t think I’d like the lifestyle up there all by myself . If I were you I’d take a shot at UCSB , however if you really feel like you’d need some guidance and help throughout your journey head to Willamette because u will get a more individualized approach to everything .

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Oh boy, when I saw this post I had to answer because I graduated from Willamette and my mom graduated from UCSB!
Honestly, I think that I got a fantastic education at Willamette and can’t stress enough how valuable I think that a liberal arts education is. (I also don’t know how much “name recognition” really matters, but that’s just my personal opinion. I’ve known plenty of people who went to “easily recognized schools” who still couldn’t find jobs when they graduated, and I’ve known plenty of other people who have gone to not as prestigious schools who have great, well-paying jobs.) The best way to ensure that you find a job after graduation is through networking and your on-campus jobs, so all of the people I went to school with who had internships in government (as an example) went on to get great jobs leveraging the contacts that they made. WU has a very active and open LGBTQIA community, so that wasn’t really a problem. Also, when you are in school you can expect to spend most of your time on campus or going to see friends who are students, so in the end I found that the town I was in didn’t really matter. For me, it was the perfect school, and the skills I learned there have been invaluable. You do need to be prepared to do LOTS of reading and writing, and your professors will definitely notice if you miss class.

My mom really loved UCSB, but when I was choosing colleges she also warned me that at bigger schools like UCSB it can be a little bit more difficult to focus or find your way. She’s extremely bright but found herself on academic probation as a freshman because she wasn’t getting that extra level of support. (This was the 70s so they may have beefed up that early counseling for students.) Anyway, she remembers it as a fun, beautiful campus with a heavy emphasis on the sciences. I don’t know if the “party school” thing will affect your chances of finding a job, but my mom always said that when there is that kind of activity going on you have to work extra hard to make sure you get all of your work done.

Anyway, those are all great schools–you will probably get a great college experience no matter what.

12

As a Willamette grad I can only speak to the experience on one campus, but I will say this… as a Willamette student who didn’t major in politics or economics (I was Bio-Psyc), or have any interest in working for the feds, I still loved engaging in conversation with students about political theory, political issues, and political movements all four years. A lot of the students who attend Willamette don’t major in the aforementioned programs but we / they enjoy the intellectual arguments that result in their peers editing and writing legislation, especially when you don’t agree; those are the fun ones! You’re across the street from the capitol AND the supreme court, Willamette has has produced governors and a bunch of state supreme court justices among other top professionals. If you want to work for the feds, welcome to the Bearcat family :wink:

13

You can spend as much or as little time with your professors as you like regardless of whether you are in the honors program - all you have to do is go to their office hours or make an appointment. Honors programs sometimes set up special mentorship programs or arrange lecture series to reduce effort, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out of your own way to set those things up.

Many excellent, well-regarded schools have reputations as party schools. Being a place where young people have a good time isn’t mutually exclusive with being well-regarded. You won’t have a problem finding a job coming from UCSB. I’m also not quite sure how you figured that UCSB has the worst connection to employers.

I checked out Cal Poly SLO and it does seem that they make it a pain to change your major.

Willamette is known enough to people who are in the position to hire college graduates, and anyway, you don’t need to go to a well-known school to get a good job after graduating. If you want to be an economist you are going to need a graduate degree anyway.

Out of the three you’ve listed, UCSB seems to have the least consequential cons to me - the meal plan points won’t really be a big deal in the long-run; the fact that it’s a “party school” doesn’t matter at all for finding a job; and I’m not sure that UCSB has the worst connection to employers or a bad one in general.

Cal Poly SLO being less focused on the social sciences and humanities might be a big deal to you if you want to explore more and get a liberal arts education. They also seem more rigid in the major structure, so if you change your mind again from here on out (which is perfectly fine) they might restrict your choices. And you’re unsure about Willamette’s location and size, as well as the food.

I disagree with this. Yes, you have to think about your long-term happiness - but there’s short-term happiness to consider, too, as in the four-year experience. The beauty of my undergraduate campus and the traditions and social experiences I had not only were super fun but also an important part of my shaping as a young adult. The mediocrity of the food and the difficulty of finding on-campus food options were annoying, especially without a car. These things are important, too, especially when you are comparing three schools that all have excellent academics and great post-graduation options.

[qupte]I think what it really boils down to for me is that I really really love the feel of UCSB, with how diverse and involved the community is, but I also feel like Willamette provides more post-grad opportunities with their internships and work study programs. Honestly, if UCSB was situated right across from the capital building or any other situation that could potentially directly help in my future career plans, I would 100% go there, no doubt.

[/quote]

Then I think you should go to UCSB, because I’m not even sure that UCSB has fewer post-grade opportunities than Willamette. Check this out:

http://career.sa.ucsb.edu/internships/opportunities/law-public-service

UCSB has a special program called The University of California Center Sacramento (UCCS), which is an internship in California’s state capital (Sacramento, obvs) which also provides classes and discussion groups as well as other experiences and research projects. They also have a Washington semester program, during which you can spend a quarter or two in DC interning.

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Cal Poly SLO senior here,
As an engineer and someone who was acceded to UCSB as well, I can say SLO was the best decision I could have made. But for someone who wants to go liberal arts and wants a strong LGBTQ+ community, I think UCSB is a much better choice. SLO heavily leans their funding into the technical majors, which is why you are correct in that SLO has the best opportunity when comes to career and their relationship to employers, but from my 4 years here, my LGBTQ+ friends all tend to regret not having a larger queer community to grow with.