University of California-Santa Barbara Top Questions

Before I came to this school I wish to have known about all the opportunities and resources available for me. There are so many resources available that help students with the application process or other things and sometimes not many students are informed because they are not publicized enough. I would have also really wished to know the actual costs of going to college so I would have saved up money and not made my parents use up the little money they have for me.

I wish that I visited this school before choosing to attend it.

I wish I knew about the College of Creative Studies(CCS). A little known program that offers majors in physics, mathematics, art etc. it is often called the grad school for undergrads. CCS gives students more freedom in their studies, allowing them to take as many units as they like and focusing on research. If you intend to go to grad school and devote your life to research, this is the perfect school for you. I have personally heard from many physics majors that they were accepted into their top grad school, like Caltech and the Ivy leagues.

I wish I would have realized how financially well off everyone would be here and how that would make me feel like a disadvantaged outsider. Everyone her is very friendly however not always relatable. I also wish I would have known the importance of extracurricular activities as a form of networking and improving the look of resumes.

As a first generation college student and Mexican-Immigrant, everything about my undergraduate experience at UCSB was new. In retrospect, I wish I would have known how important a consistent and nurturing support base would have been and made a difference, rather than feeling like I should figure everythin out on my own. Most importantly, I wish I would have asked my family and and reached out to school resources for help when I needed it, whether it was for moral support, or for help moving to new housing. Lastly, applying for scholarships before starting school would have helped financially.

I wish I had known how the social atmosphere and environment was like beforhand. In addition, what many people outside of UCSB do not realize is that "partying" does not take over the lives of every single student. Students here are genuinely smart but seem to be overlooked. Although I am making a generalization to a large amount of people, it nonetheless seems to be the case in my perspective. All in all, college is college, but I personally wish I knew what "college" was beforhand. I wish I knew the magnitude of the challenge before coming.

I wish i had known how to surf, rockclimb, and backpack. So many people here do hundreds of awesome things outdoors and i don't know how to do any of it! The good thing is there is a club here that teaches all of it. If you have the time the Excursion club is seriously worth it.

I wish I would have known the dining commons would get old, or that the quarter system is nothing to mess with. I was told, but I didn't really absorb those facts until I experienced them first hand. The dining commons are great, but after weeks and weeks anything can get tiring. The quarter system isn't too bad, but it does bring a rush. Being at Santa Barbara is like being a high-stakes gambler, trying to make money to pay off the mob. Relaxing is neccesary, but only in a calculated, careful, and balanced way.

Before coming to UCSB, I was looking for jobs off campus so I could make money while attending school. It wasn't until my sophmore year that I got a job; which was on campus. I wish had known how easy getting an on campus job was. On campus jobs are convenient as well because then you wont have to leave school to go to work.

How difficult it would be academically

I wish I would have been more involved in terms of internships and research opportunities. Make sure that you hit the ground running, take advantage of all career related opportunities, make sure to build relationships with professors who are willing to help you find all kinds of opportunities.

I wish I would have known that it was this cold all the time. Generally, I enjoy the cold coming from SoCal, but this is a little cold for me at night. I'm used to not wearing jackets, and now I want to go buy some more!

I wish i would have known how fast the four years of college will pass by and how much i would miss it. I wish someone would have told me to not take where i lived for granted, the people i met, or the education i got.

To take advantage of talking to teachers and professors as soon as I got there--they live and love to help the students, as teaching is legitimate passion for almost all of them (it's easy to figure out otherwise!). I found solace in these incredible people, and if they couldn't help with homework, they lent great life advice and were always eager to point you in the right direction if they couldn't address you directly. They truly understand that the youth are the future of this world, and take no shortcuts to adequately prepare us for it.

I wish I would've known what a difficult transition moving to college would be. I thought it would be easy moving away from home, but the transition is difficult. Moving hundreds miles away to school without any family and friends was a shock. Besides the nerves of meeting new friends and adjusting in your dorm, there is the added difference in teaching from high school. The grading scale is different, classes are essentially optional, and lecturing is unlike high school work.

I wish I would have known how to schedule classes in a manner that would benefit my GPA. I struggled in the beginning and it was hard to catch up.

That most of the freshman are placed in all the other residence halls except for Manzanita, but it's still cool here.

I was very pleased with my education at UCSB.

I wish that I would have known how to put myself in situations beyond my comfort zone. The only way to meet people is to put yourself out in the open and start a conversation with a complete stranger. If I would have come to school knowing that I think that I would have a much larger group of friends, hindsight is 20-20. I do enjoy the company of the friends that I have made, but I hope that I can push myself to branch out and meet a more diverse group of people in the future.

I definitely wish that I would have been aware of all the amazing extra-curricular activities on campus before freshman year, because although I was interested, I was too caught up in dorm life to try too many clubs or activities...and my second year I really took advantage of all the amazing opportunities that UCSB has to offer. I realize now that I could have started all of that a year earlier! However, I did definitely enjoy the vibrant dorm community freshman year, so do not pass that up either!