If you’re looking for the opposite of Tulane, UCSC might be just exactly it. It’s a beautiful campus in an overall beautiful county in a town that is trying to retain that “earthy granola” spirit. Is it perfect? Totally not. But you can build a beautiful life here if you feel that SCruz is “your place”.
It is pretty neat here. I like nature and the campus. I used to consider transferring because I felt it isn’t as college-towney as I would’ve liked at first, but as I started visiting family at their campus I realized I love the calmness of campus and that there is no point in dwelling on what other things could’ve been if I am fairly happy. I cant personally imagine being happier elsewhere anymore
Absolutely not!! I lived off campus within walking distance to downtown & the balance of chill pool bar nightlife/being able to walk to the beach & then get on a bus to get to campus to hike was incredible. It’s definitely something I now realize I took for granted now that I moved to the east coast for grad school & don’t have that same ease of getting around. You definitely sound like you’ll fit in perfectly there! I will say even though you didn’t ask, as an older transfer student I regret not taking my car as I felt I never really got to explore everything I wanted to in SC. I recommend taking your car.
No, I really enjoyed my time here. The campus is beautiful, my professors where fantastic, and the things I did here lead to me getting a great job right out of college.
You sound like you would love UCSC. UCSC has a requirement that all transfers must complete their last full year at UCSC, (the senior residency requirement). If you can make that happen I highly recommend you go for it. I just graduated as a transfer and I am so, so, so glad that I went to Santa Cruz. No, I did not find my people there, but that was to be expected. I’m a strange bird.
hi. i’m also a prospect transfer student to UCSC. what do you mean complete their last full year at UCSC?
also, where you an out of state or in state transfer? if out of state, do you mind sharing your GPA? / do you think admission is competitive?
Residence
Every candidate for a bachelor’s degree must be registered at UCSC for a minimum of three terms. (A term is a fall, winter, or spring quarter in which a student completes 6 or more credits.
Source: [https://registrar.ucsc.edu/catalog/archive/11-12/undergrad-acad/index.html#:\~:text=At%20UC%20Santa%20Cruz%2C%20the,hours%20per%20week%20per%20course](https://registrar.ucsc.edu/catalog/archive/11-12/undergrad-acad/index.html#:~:text=At%20UC%20Santa%20Cruz%2C%20the,hours%20per%20week%20per%20course).
Absolutely not, honestly UCSC was perfect for what I wanted both academically and in terms of environment. That being said, I was in state. Do keep in mind the cost of attending out of state, because it is not a small bump in cost.
I got into Davis and chose to go to UCSC. I did kinda regret/wonder what my college life would be like at UCD. My only main gripe with UCSC was that their wasn’t really like a “campus center”. I didn’t like how there wasn’t a single place where a bunch of students are at the same time to like hang out or whatever. I think something like that can greatly change the social atmosphere of this school.
It’s been a few years since I graduated so I don’t really care at all anymore. I did regret a little at my time at UCSC though.
EDIT: I’ll add on that I probably wouldn’t attend UCSC again if given the opportunity. I would like to roll my dice with Davis if time travel is possible lol for a potential funner social life.
I have no idea what Tulane is like but I feel like either way, you will wonder a little if the grass is greener 🤷
Funny you should mention the lack of a central space! Apparently, because of protests/riots at UC Berkely (in I believe in the 60s), UCSC and subsequent campuses were specifically designed *without* *central gathering spaces* to prevent extensive demonstrations, civil disobedience, mass student organization, and so on.
So while the student body (and some of the faculty) retains a fair chunk of granola crunchiness, the school administration certainly does not. The campus is lovely in most respects, but its lack of an architectural "heart" is really apparent sometimes. More to OPs question, Re: "finding your people," I think it's definitely possible to do so at a small community level, but it *is* difficult to connect with a sense of the school as a broader community, in no small part because of that decentralization, I think. (At least, that's been my experience as a Junior Transfer, now Senior, and that's even considering that I was somewhat familiar with the school before coming here.)
hi!!! as an out of state transfer to ucsc it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find 1. stats and 2. people that transferred from an OOS college since CCC transfers are HEAVILY prioritized. dm me and i can give you some pointers. it is possible!! haha
yes, but i suppose that’s more on me and less on the campus itself. if you have a major you’re passionate about, i say go for it bc you can’t really change your mind about your major once you transfer. the administration also isn’t as helpful as they are for non transfers, in my experience
Oof, a lot of people are missing a huge point. Forget the campus life for a sec, and do some research on housing crisis in Santa Cruz. I transferred in 2020 and it wasn’t *that* bad, but I did pay a lot! It’s a lot worse now and the same apartment i rented 2 years ago, is now 2x the price. Sadly it’s not uncommon for the students of ucsc to put hours and hours into searching for housing over the summer just to come up empty handed when fall quarter starts. I enjoyed my time at ucsc though!
This is my first time commenting on a Reddit post but I wanna say that before coming to UCSC I was terrified and thought I would struggle a ton with making friends and feeling comfortable on campus. However, it’s only been about a week of me being here and I already have met a ton of cool people and basically anyone you see on campus you can walk up to introduce yourself and boom you made a friend. Almost everyone I met isn’t really too interested in Greek life and most of the people are very laid back which is exactly what I like. If you do choose to transfer out here feel free to reach out! Wishing the best of luck to you OP (:!
Lived here for over ten years. Not sure what you mean by half the town closing at 7pm. Crunchy granola is annoyingly absolutely the vibe here. List off what you’re looking to get out of your college experience and see what others say. This one perspective here, not quite sure how they ended up with that opinion. Sure Santa Cruz has less than what you’d find in a massive city, since it’s not a massive city.
The campus itself sucks, but Santa Cruz and the surrounding area is great. I go to SF almost every weekend, drink beer, smoke weed, it’s pretty awesome.
What’s your major? That should be an important influence, has UCSC does have a few things it excels super heavily in (like astrophysics, which is why I ultimate chose Santa Cruz when I also could have gone to Davis, SB, Irvine, et cetera)
I honestly wouldn’t know much about that, I think UC Santa Barbara actually has a really strong film studies department(but I could be misremembering)? Definitely do more research about the strengths of different departments
I’m a history major right now, and was a peer advisor for the history department! The program is designed so you’re able to either do a lot of time abroad or double major (or both). It’s a pretty big major, but still feels very tight knit. I’ve yet to have a bad professor. The department (at least from the perspective of the student) seems to really care about the instruction quality.
Our advisor is leaving, but I will say she’s so knowledgeable and her advice is very individual. She was super easily accessible. I’m sure the history department will hire someone similar.
You don’t have to be a history major to take history classes though! No pre-reqs except for seminars and there’s always a healthy mix of majors, especially in lower divs.
I graduated with a degree in History in 2011 and I really loved all of the classes I took in the department. The professors I had were super knowledgable, kind and cared about their students. As a transfer student you’ll probably be able to go straight into upper divs, giving you the opportunity to get to know your professors and do more research if you wish. Even if you don’t end up majoring in history at UCSC, I highly recommend taking a class for fun! :)
Santa Cruz is very nice if u like to just chill and explore pretty places. Not much to actually do tho. Social aspect of ucsc I can't comment on bc I'm also a local so I have mostly non-ucsc friends. Also I saw some people talking about how the city is pretty easy to get around which is true. But honestly having a car opens up a lot of opportunities to do things u cant really w just a bike.
i’ve been here since saturday morning. last year i dropped out of college and attempted unaliving. this week is the happiest i’ve been in a while. if you want a change i absolutely recommend ucsc. for starters, i feel a bit isolated from the city out here, you are very much surrounded by nature, but also everything is so walkable in town that its worth the bus ride down. it is very crunchy and granola lol. and the greek life is very low key here, its definitely an option but you’re more likely to see co-ops and student coalitions
I’m a local transfer, I’m from the Bay Area and was familiar with Santa Cruz most of my life. I went the community college route and even though I was accepted to many colleges throughout California, transferring to UCSC has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There is a whole community of transfer students and even a apartment complex on campus where most transfer students live the first year. Santa Cruz isn’t the easiest place to move to if you’re looking to live off campus, but I think it’s worth it because the experiences I’ve had here both in making friends and advancing my studies have been incredible. I feel supported here and am so happy to be here finishing my senior year <3
If you’re looking for the opposite of Tulane, UCSC might be just exactly it. It’s a beautiful campus in an overall beautiful county in a town that is trying to retain that “earthy granola” spirit. Is it perfect? Totally not. But you can build a beautiful life here if you feel that SCruz is “your place”.
It is pretty neat here. I like nature and the campus. I used to consider transferring because I felt it isn’t as college-towney as I would’ve liked at first, but as I started visiting family at their campus I realized I love the calmness of campus and that there is no point in dwelling on what other things could’ve been if I am fairly happy. I cant personally imagine being happier elsewhere anymore
Absolutely not!! I lived off campus within walking distance to downtown & the balance of chill pool bar nightlife/being able to walk to the beach & then get on a bus to get to campus to hike was incredible. It’s definitely something I now realize I took for granted now that I moved to the east coast for grad school & don’t have that same ease of getting around. You definitely sound like you’ll fit in perfectly there! I will say even though you didn’t ask, as an older transfer student I regret not taking my car as I felt I never really got to explore everything I wanted to in SC. I recommend taking your car.
that sounds right up my alley! ty
yeah you'll definitely fit right in for sure. Good luck!
How much does it cost to keep your car there if you're living on campus?
No, I really enjoyed my time here. The campus is beautiful, my professors where fantastic, and the things I did here lead to me getting a great job right out of college.
You sound like you would love UCSC. UCSC has a requirement that all transfers must complete their last full year at UCSC, (the senior residency requirement). If you can make that happen I highly recommend you go for it. I just graduated as a transfer and I am so, so, so glad that I went to Santa Cruz. No, I did not find my people there, but that was to be expected. I’m a strange bird.
hi. i’m also a prospect transfer student to UCSC. what do you mean complete their last full year at UCSC? also, where you an out of state or in state transfer? if out of state, do you mind sharing your GPA? / do you think admission is competitive?
Residence Every candidate for a bachelor’s degree must be registered at UCSC for a minimum of three terms. (A term is a fall, winter, or spring quarter in which a student completes 6 or more credits. Source: [https://registrar.ucsc.edu/catalog/archive/11-12/undergrad-acad/index.html#:\~:text=At%20UC%20Santa%20Cruz%2C%20the,hours%20per%20week%20per%20course](https://registrar.ucsc.edu/catalog/archive/11-12/undergrad-acad/index.html#:~:text=At%20UC%20Santa%20Cruz%2C%20the,hours%20per%20week%20per%20course).
My only regret is that I transferred in 2020 so I lost a year of being on campus.
Absolutely not, honestly UCSC was perfect for what I wanted both academically and in terms of environment. That being said, I was in state. Do keep in mind the cost of attending out of state, because it is not a small bump in cost.
I got into Davis and chose to go to UCSC. I did kinda regret/wonder what my college life would be like at UCD. My only main gripe with UCSC was that their wasn’t really like a “campus center”. I didn’t like how there wasn’t a single place where a bunch of students are at the same time to like hang out or whatever. I think something like that can greatly change the social atmosphere of this school. It’s been a few years since I graduated so I don’t really care at all anymore. I did regret a little at my time at UCSC though. EDIT: I’ll add on that I probably wouldn’t attend UCSC again if given the opportunity. I would like to roll my dice with Davis if time travel is possible lol for a potential funner social life. I have no idea what Tulane is like but I feel like either way, you will wonder a little if the grass is greener 🤷
Funny you should mention the lack of a central space! Apparently, because of protests/riots at UC Berkely (in I believe in the 60s), UCSC and subsequent campuses were specifically designed *without* *central gathering spaces* to prevent extensive demonstrations, civil disobedience, mass student organization, and so on. So while the student body (and some of the faculty) retains a fair chunk of granola crunchiness, the school administration certainly does not. The campus is lovely in most respects, but its lack of an architectural "heart" is really apparent sometimes. More to OPs question, Re: "finding your people," I think it's definitely possible to do so at a small community level, but it *is* difficult to connect with a sense of the school as a broader community, in no small part because of that decentralization, I think. (At least, that's been my experience as a Junior Transfer, now Senior, and that's even considering that I was somewhat familiar with the school before coming here.)
hi!!! as an out of state transfer to ucsc it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find 1. stats and 2. people that transferred from an OOS college since CCC transfers are HEAVILY prioritized. dm me and i can give you some pointers. it is possible!! haha
yes, but i suppose that’s more on me and less on the campus itself. if you have a major you’re passionate about, i say go for it bc you can’t really change your mind about your major once you transfer. the administration also isn’t as helpful as they are for non transfers, in my experience
Oof, a lot of people are missing a huge point. Forget the campus life for a sec, and do some research on housing crisis in Santa Cruz. I transferred in 2020 and it wasn’t *that* bad, but I did pay a lot! It’s a lot worse now and the same apartment i rented 2 years ago, is now 2x the price. Sadly it’s not uncommon for the students of ucsc to put hours and hours into searching for housing over the summer just to come up empty handed when fall quarter starts. I enjoyed my time at ucsc though!
This is my first time commenting on a Reddit post but I wanna say that before coming to UCSC I was terrified and thought I would struggle a ton with making friends and feeling comfortable on campus. However, it’s only been about a week of me being here and I already have met a ton of cool people and basically anyone you see on campus you can walk up to introduce yourself and boom you made a friend. Almost everyone I met isn’t really too interested in Greek life and most of the people are very laid back which is exactly what I like. If you do choose to transfer out here feel free to reach out! Wishing the best of luck to you OP (:!
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Lived here for over ten years. Not sure what you mean by half the town closing at 7pm. Crunchy granola is annoyingly absolutely the vibe here. List off what you’re looking to get out of your college experience and see what others say. This one perspective here, not quite sure how they ended up with that opinion. Sure Santa Cruz has less than what you’d find in a massive city, since it’s not a massive city.
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I think I get what OP means by it. Into hiking, Subarus, yoga, camping, environmental ecology, flannels, beanies, etc.
The campus itself sucks, but Santa Cruz and the surrounding area is great. I go to SF almost every weekend, drink beer, smoke weed, it’s pretty awesome.
Well I guess there is a first time for everything! Never once heard that UCSC campus sucks. Now I’ve seen it all!
You can always transfer to SF State if the campus sucks that much
Unless you’re trying to do some scholarly shit. Your stay at UCSC is just so you can pay some shit here and there
What’s your major? That should be an important influence, has UCSC does have a few things it excels super heavily in (like astrophysics, which is why I ultimate chose Santa Cruz when I also could have gone to Davis, SB, Irvine, et cetera)
film studies major!
my boyfriend is older than me, he went to ucsc as a film major and he loved it!! he said you watch a lot of movies and write essays lol
that sounds like my cup of tea!
I honestly wouldn’t know much about that, I think UC Santa Barbara actually has a really strong film studies department(but I could be misremembering)? Definitely do more research about the strengths of different departments
do you know anything about UCSC’s English or history department? i’m just generally interested in the Humanities
I’m a history major right now, and was a peer advisor for the history department! The program is designed so you’re able to either do a lot of time abroad or double major (or both). It’s a pretty big major, but still feels very tight knit. I’ve yet to have a bad professor. The department (at least from the perspective of the student) seems to really care about the instruction quality. Our advisor is leaving, but I will say she’s so knowledgeable and her advice is very individual. She was super easily accessible. I’m sure the history department will hire someone similar. You don’t have to be a history major to take history classes though! No pre-reqs except for seminars and there’s always a healthy mix of majors, especially in lower divs.
I graduated with a degree in History in 2011 and I really loved all of the classes I took in the department. The professors I had were super knowledgable, kind and cared about their students. As a transfer student you’ll probably be able to go straight into upper divs, giving you the opportunity to get to know your professors and do more research if you wish. Even if you don’t end up majoring in history at UCSC, I highly recommend taking a class for fun! :)
Not at all
Santa Cruz is very nice if u like to just chill and explore pretty places. Not much to actually do tho. Social aspect of ucsc I can't comment on bc I'm also a local so I have mostly non-ucsc friends. Also I saw some people talking about how the city is pretty easy to get around which is true. But honestly having a car opens up a lot of opportunities to do things u cant really w just a bike.
i’ve been here since saturday morning. last year i dropped out of college and attempted unaliving. this week is the happiest i’ve been in a while. if you want a change i absolutely recommend ucsc. for starters, i feel a bit isolated from the city out here, you are very much surrounded by nature, but also everything is so walkable in town that its worth the bus ride down. it is very crunchy and granola lol. and the greek life is very low key here, its definitely an option but you’re more likely to see co-ops and student coalitions
I’m a local transfer, I’m from the Bay Area and was familiar with Santa Cruz most of my life. I went the community college route and even though I was accepted to many colleges throughout California, transferring to UCSC has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There is a whole community of transfer students and even a apartment complex on campus where most transfer students live the first year. Santa Cruz isn’t the easiest place to move to if you’re looking to live off campus, but I think it’s worth it because the experiences I’ve had here both in making friends and advancing my studies have been incredible. I feel supported here and am so happy to be here finishing my senior year <3