Hi, I’m looking for outside opinions ASAP on which school would be better for me - UW (Seattle) or UCSC.
About me:
- I live in Santa Cruz County, not far from UCSC
- I go to a small high school that is somewhat competitive but not super intense
- I’m pretty introverted and an only child - not used to sharing my space with others
- I’ve done music/band for a long time so would be looking to join either orchestra or band in college, and potentially choir
- Accepted to UW for pre-humanities, planning to major in linguistics or potentially switch to astronomy if it’s not impossible
- Accepted to UCSC for undeclared physical sciences, planning to major in astronomy or switch to linguistics
- Costs: parents will thankfully be paying from a college savings - cost is 45k per year at UCSC or 66k at UW
UW Pros:
- Living near a city, so a lot of things to do and people to network with
- Getting out of my bubble, getting used to doing things on my own
- Living around and working with motivated and academic minded people might push me to work harder
- More modern dorms, most with private bathrooms
- Better? and more music ensembles, and more lessons that I could benefit from
- Good balance of environments - city, mountains/forest, and ocean
- Pretty campus and way more walkable than UCSC
UW Cons:
- Really competitive and rigorous, especially for STEM, and a lot of weeder classes
- Further than I originally wanted to go for college, 2hr flight or 20hr train (which tbh sounds kinda fun)
- Cold and grey for most of the year which might be depressing
- Adjusting to city life
- Significantly more expensive which could become a problem if I can’t get the classes I need to graduate on time - which I’ve heard happens a lot
- Harder to switch major tracks
- Housing crisis/overcrowding - don’t have a plan for dealing with not getting housing
UCSC Pros:
- Familiar and close to home which could honestly be either a good thing or a bad thing, I can’t really tell, but I would have a place to live if I can’t get housing after 1st year
- Really really good linguistics and astronomy programs
- Quieter and more laid back, might be less stressful
- I know a lot of professors and people there
- Supportive faculty
- Easy to switch between majors
- I can come home easily if I get really overwhelmed
UCSC Cons:
- In the forest, which some people might like but it’s nothing new for me, so kind of depressing and boring
- The grad students who often teach or assist classes are always on strike so things get delayed, not sure if this happens at UW?
- Isolated from the world, have to drive 1hr+ to get to the nearest city, nothing to do that I haven’t already done
- Big surf/beach culture and events and things are usually unorganized and slow, including the metro system
- Older dorms with communal bathrooms, apparently walls are thin and I’m a really light sleeper who goes to sleep early so that might become a problem
- Campus is really hilly and woody, and I’m not super athletic so that might be hard to get used to
- I might hold myself back since I wouldn’t be pushing out of my comfort zone
Overall I think I would be more challenged at UW in terms of academics and socially/emotionally, and it would push me to do better and grow. I would probably be more comfortable overall at UCSC, but the living situations and constant strikes/protests might become a problem pretty quickly. In terms of things to do besides academics I think UW offers more, but on the other hand I might be able to focus more at UCSC and potentially graduate early. I don’t know how I would do far from home since I’m pretty family-oriented and sheltered. As a kid I never wanted to go to UCSC because of how close it was but now I’m not sure. I applied to UW because of the rigorous academics, prestige, and campus, but I know people who have gone there and then transferred because it was too overwhelming. Please let me know any thoughts and advice ASAP since I only have two days at this point to decide. Thank you!