University of California-Santa Cruz Top Questions

predominantly white. i often see divisions among students based on skin color. i feel like many students try painfully hard to look/act/feel unique and to separate themselves from others by way of dress and speech when in reality, it seems to boil down to the fact that by striving desperately to be so different, we still converge to mirror each other. republican students congregate together and upon talking with them, in my experiences, they often push their views onto others and refuse to listen with an open mind to other sides of arguments. people affiliated with other political parties are often stubborn as well, but a general lack of understanding of politics plagues many conversations about politics. i see many girls disrespected by boys, and many girls basking in attention from boys. people on buses and in libraries always look for empty rows of seats or tables and only sit next to strangers when forced to. eye contact longer than split seconds is rare and sometimes it's difficult to converse with strangers. people usually study in groups and is generally really easy to meet friends in classes. many science-related courses are extremely competitive however, and people seem reluctant to provide help when they know more than others. it's generally a gay-friendly environment, more so for lesbians than for homosexual males as there seems to be a higher percentage of homosexual females. the LGBT is a comfortable place to go, there is an extensive collection of literature based on homosexuality. the words retarded, faggot and gay are still used freely by many students in conversation. there is a lack of support for strikes and protests on campus and most people do not even know that there is still a tree-sit presently taking place on science hill.

Let's face it, UCSC does not have the most diverse student body population.

UCSC is diverse and extremely open-minded. The university is separated into ten colleges, so that it is easier for new students to get adjusted and not feel overwhelmed by the thousands of students that come up to campus. Before arriving, we get to pick which college we want to be affiliated with. Students decide based on the look of the college, the people that live at the college, and the college theme. Each college has a theme, and my college theme was Social Justice and Community. Every college has a core class that the students must attend, and the course is focused on the theme. My college discussed social problems that come up in our community (i.e. our city, our state, our country) such as racism, sexism, and issues with class. It is good to actually talk about matters that are relevant in today's society and figure out ways to overcome those problems.

Unfortuately, UCSC isn't super diverse, nor is it super financially diverse. UCSC is, in fact, one of the wealthiest out of all the UC's. Most are moderate to liberal leaning and the common dress is one that is bohemian comfort. Many students are politically aware, but you'd be surprized how many aren't . Because people are focused with their studies they don't always have time, at least so they say, to research politics.

Very diverse and culturally oriented, they come from all over and all speak many languages. I would say students enjoy being a part of the community but also being a large part of the school as well, it's how they get involved and it truly is what UCSC is all about. Our student groups are really the core that makes this school complete.

UCSC is an extremely well diversified campus with countless social and community outlets for all students. In actuality, most people don't care where you came from, who your dad is, what you're wearing, etc. This campus is a place for everyone and anyone in this world.

UCSC is a very laid back place. In fact, Santa Cruz is a very laid back place. There isn't a lot of pressure to look or act a certain way. There is a very diverse student body. And people don't belong to specific groups, like in high school. You figure, to get into a university, you have to be kind of nerdy. There are a lot of people from Southern CA, but there a lot from the bay area also.

They are nice and super cool. Some are a bit pretentious and fake. They come from being normal and then turn into a hippie a little bit too quickly.

Most of the student body is fairly relaxed and open-minded. My only main gripe is that most of the colleges are predominantly white, as most everyone else goes to Oakes: the "diverse" college. As a result, none of the colleges are very ethnically varied, including oakes.

I don't think anyone would feel out of place at UCSC if you do then...idk whats wrong. People wear whatever they feel like wearing here at UCSC. Some people go in pajamams, most in a sweater and jeans. Like about half of the students here are NorCal and the other half are SoCal. One thing I absolutley love about this school is that we dont have too many frats and sororitys so there is no such thing as a "cool crowd" around here. This schoool is pretty liberal. I guess the only time you'd feel out of place is if you were an extreme conservative. So if you are..Im not too sure youd like it here.

The community at UCSC is pretty open-minded. Students come from all walks of life, and the student body is definitely diverse. Only 3{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our undergraduates are from out-of-state, and the campus definitely leans far to the left. Be prepared to smell ganja - it's pretty common on campus. I don't see much around College 9, but at College 8 I smell it on a daily basis.

An INCREDIBLY open campus, no judgments, ever. Ware what you want, say what you want, believe what you want, this is a very liberal college, and with a liberal college comes new levels of freedom. If your shy, try to get over it, because not many people here are and you might be intimidated by it.

I am very impressed with how much emphasis is placed on having a non-discriminating community. Most of the time I don't think it's necessary. Students from city areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles would feel out of place. Most students from cities wear modern clothing, while students from rural areas wear thrify clothes. Different types of students don't interact unless they are from Oakes. Most of the UCSC students I have met are from northern California. Students are not politically aware or active. We don't talk about how much we will earn. We are apathetic in our school pride, athletics, and academics. The only people that work hard are those who want to transfer out of the school, the science majors, and those who have passion in the arts, and perhaps the hippies and hardcore vegans.

I am only familiar with "racial" groups on campus. I'd rather call them ethnic groups. El Centro is the Latino resource center here and it's a good resource for events. I think that lower-income students of color would feel out of place here. They seem sequestered at Oakes College and tend to stand out in class. I feel like I stand out in my classes. There are far more white students than there are students of color. Students wear a whole range of clothing to class: some look like they walked out of an Urban Outfitters catalog and others look like they robbed a bum of his/her clothes. I do think different students interact. Most UCSC students are from the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles area. The most prevalent financial backgrounds are that of the upper middle class. iPods and iPhones are ubiquitous as are expensive leather handbags and designer clothing. You will definitely know if you are not from that sector of the student population. Students are politically aware and most are left leaning.

There aren't a lot of super right-wing radical religious people. You're more likely to find tree-huggers, tree-sitters, war-protesters, etc. It's very liberal here. The atmosphere is very LGBT friendly. While there are clusters of people--Asians, African Americans, Caucasians, Latinos, etc--people interact and cross racial boundaries. It's blended, which is nice. A student who is very religious or very conservative might feel a little out of place. There are religious groups on campus, but not many, and not many conservative groups either. It's very "save the planet, save the trees, save Darfur, help the underprivileged!" The teachers are liberal, too, and mostly secular. Especially in physics a lot of people roll their eyes at the proponents of Intelligent Design or make jokes about it. Most students wear whatever. There are definitely the "cool" kids, who were obviously the popular kids in high school, but mostly people wear jeans or slacks, or on hot days skirts and low-cut tops. Lots of flip-flops, though hiking those hills in flip-flops can be down-right dangerous. Most kids are pretty casual about what they wear. Four tables at the dining hall--depends on which dining hall! College 9/10 has more Asians than any of the other colleges, and Oakes has more African Americans/Latinos. Of course people eat at different college dining halls, but if you go to either of those you're more likely to see ethnic groups. Crown is more white, but not exclusively. A lot--at least a quarter--of students come from Southern California. A lot come from the Bay Area--San Francisco, and further north. There's definitely a blending of "So-Cal" and "Nor-Cal." There are definitely some Orange County people here. You can pick them out by how they dress--very movie-star-ish. Big sun glasses, fancy purses, skinny, tanned, waxed, etc. But certainly not all are like that. I think the financial backgrounds are mostly middle class. I don't think there are a lot of students who come from either very poor or very rich families. It's rather homogeneous in that sense . Students are VERY VERY politically aware and active. Lots of protests, lots of activities, lots of discussions--by the way, all the activities on campus are great. We have an amazing performing arts center, and lots and lots of sponsored events on various socio-political issues, every single week. You could spend your entire time here just seeing all of the events. LEFT! LEFT! In the words of one teacher, "Professors here range in their views from Left, to Far Far Left." Some, but not most, students talk about how much they'll earn. Students are well-aware they'll have to pay back their loans and such, but most are more concerned either with just graduating or with helping people, or doing what they want to do in life.

Diverse.

I think the campus is some what diverse. I don't know of any students who feel out of place at UCSC. Some diffent tupes of students do interact. Most UCSC students are from Southern California.

There are diverse groups with many different interests, and if you are looking for one group or interest in particular, you should be able to find it.

People say that UCSC is super white. While it may be true that the campus has a high percentage of white students, there is actually ethnic diversity on campus. As with most stereotypes and generalizations, this one is blown way out of proportion. This also goes for politics. The students here are not as ultra-left-wing as some will say. Liberals do seem to far outnumber conservatives (or at least vocal ones), but most liberal students are run-of-the-mill liberals--not communists and anarchists.

People don't shower here. Most students are from the Bay Area, Nor-Cal, So-Cal and some from the east coast. We are very white washed. Most students are white although their are still a lot of ethnicities. There is a huge amount of Asian students taking science-related courses. A fair amount of kids are wealthy-probably more so than a lot of schools. But, a lot aren't.