University of California-Santa Cruz Top Questions

Some students leave their dorm doors open, not really in the apartments though. Athletic events aren't really popular but the gym and the p.e. classes are. Lots of different theater stuff goes on. The dating scene is creepy, there are a lot of creepy guys in Santa Cruz. I met my closest friends in my classes. I'm not awake 2am on a Tuesday... First rain is fun, opers festival, halloween stuff, and the different residential colleges have a lot of events. People party on the weekend and sometimes the weekdays too. There aren't that many fraternities/sororities and they aren't that important but there are some for those that are interested. It's finals week so last weekend I studied, and then went to Saturn Cafe and the beach. On Saturday night there are midnight movies at the Del Mar. Bowling. Cruise the Boardwalk. Hang out with your friends. Play boardgames. Go for a night hike. Eat. Off campus you can hike, go to the beach, the boardwalk, shop, visit people, take mini-road trips to San Francisco or Monterey.

Many students engage in intermural sports. I am particularly involved with the activitied at my college (9 and 10) There are always speakers and special events around campus, its almost impossible to keep track of all of them. You can always catch a free play or show at the Barn on any given week-end. Most of the friends I have are affiliated with the same college as me, many of them i met through my involvement with my college. The people that party tend to do so every week-end yet there are people who don't party frequently or at all. Off campus offers shopping, restaurants, movies, bowling, the beach, concerts, etc

tradition: the first rain. everyone runs around naked during the first rain in the fall quarter. people party a lot. the parties often get raided by CSOs though. i don't really enjoy them because of that. the off campus parties are a hassle to get to because no one drives here and the bus are always packed. frats are NOT important here.. off campus: beaches, "downtown"(1 strip of stores)

There are a lot of multi-cultural orgs on campus. I'm involved with Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority. Some students leave their doors open. Athletic events are not popular. Guest speakers are pretty popular. Theater is pretty popular. Very sad dating scene. I met my closest friends through the freshman dorms, other people, and the sorority. I hopefully would be sleeping at 2am on a Tuesday because I have an 8am class the next day. Oh the traditions... there is "The First Rain," Greek Week, Multicultural Festival, and the little gathering on April 20th. People are always partying. This school hates frats and sororities. Last weekend I hung out with my mom who came to visit and showed her around Santa Cruz. You can go see a movie. I hang out, go shopping, and go on adventures off campus.

it might not seem like there are a lot of parties, and I mean sometimes there arent, but more often than not there is a big party @ least on the weekends. The bars are big Tuesdays and Thursdays. Im in a sorority and it really helps make a big campus seem smaller, but

I like the social life, I like to go to partys and have fun. I wish our school was better at sports and had more team pride, as well as more frats, etc.

The ultimate frisbee, swim and water polo teams seem to be the most popular on campus however attendance at these games is seriously lacking. I volunteer at the condom co-op which is part of the health center on campus and we sell safer sex supplies at cost for the students on campus. It's also a resource for any questions they might have about sex and safer sex practices. Most residents leave their doors open at the beginning of the year but as they find their group of friends the doors tend to remain shut. Athletics events like i said are not very popular. There are many guest speakers that come to UCSC. The theater department puts on many shows and is known for Shakespeare Santa Cruz. The dating scene can be difficult because the university is divided into 10 different colleges. My closest friend was my roommate, and i work with my other closest friends. If i'm awake at 2am on a tuesday i am most likely doing homework. Each year UCSC has the naked run on the night of the first rain of the year. People party every weekend. Greek life is only about 2{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the population at UCSC. Last weekend I went to a few parties off campus. On a saturday without drinking one can go downtown to the movies, go bowling at the boardwalk, just hang out with friends, go to the many programs that may be happening that night on campus, or just stay in. When i go off campus i usually go to friends' houses and hang out with them and go to parties.

I'm involved with nothing.

Organizations? Bah! Actually there's a few fraternities and Calpirg and some other things around here, but I, like many of my friends, don't really get into that stuff. I used to be really involved in extracurriculars in high school, but at UCSC there's a lot going on whether you sign up for stuff or not, so it's not a big deal. Students are very open at the dorms, depending on what part of campus you're at. I know people that would rig their doors to never lock, and you could knock on their door whenever you felt like it and they'd hang out with you. Athletic events are not popular, really. Guest speakers, especially poets and famous people, do tend to frequent the campus and draw large numbers, and the theater program has free shows that get big numbers as well. Andre Nickatina comes here pretty often and has really popular shows which a lot of people like. The dating scene itself is just like any other place, but it's a really cool place to go on fun dates if you're involved with someone. There's this awesome restaurant called Chocolate downtown that is a really cute romantic place to go on a date. My closest friends are from Porter college, and I met them by living near them over the course of my freshman year. If I'm up on Tuesday at 2am, I'm either playing videogames with my boyfriend and his housemates or finishing some homework or playing on my computer when I should be sleeping. Every year there is the First Rain and 4/20. These events are legend. People party pretty often, but it's not a daily thing. Frats and sororities are really not important at all: you can find plenty to do outside the greeks. Last weekend I went on campus for a guy's 21st birthday and my friends had a wine and cheese party at their apartment. If you don't want to drink on a Saturday night you can go out to eat, go to a show at the Catalyst or the Attic or otherwise, go bowling, if the weather is good you can go to the beach and have a bonfire, or you can hang out with friends at each other's houses which is what most people seem to do. Off campus is basically the same as on, except it's less of a community vibe, there's no CSO or RA people, and the food is usually better because dining halls are not exactly gourmet cuisine most of the time.

There are a lot of organized groups and clubs on campus, but none of them have major popularity. I am a part of one of 2 international sororities on campus, and we have a lot of events and its a lot of fun, but greeks have a pretty bad reputation on our campus and we aren't allowed to have houses so that limits us. On a scale of 1 to 10 the popularity of athletic events is about a 1.5...people generally only know we have sports teams at all because of the parties they throw. In terms of dating, I read on a website once that the girls at santa cruz were graded as "A" and the boys as "C-" and I think that pretty much sums it up. There aren't as many people out on the dating scene because there aren't as many people worth dating. But there are so many other things to do that it usually doesn't matter. I met most of my closes friends here during the first week in my college, Cowell. We all lived in one of two adjacent buildings and met at one of the get-to-know-each-other socials that seem lame, but are really handy. Santa Cruz does an amazing job of placing roommates together, and my freshman roommate is still my housemate and one of my best friends. While living on campus, there is always something going on and always someone awake, there is never a dead moment (except sunday mornings). People party pretty often here, but it has been restricted by the party ordinance which will slap a house with huge fines if the cops show up, but there are ways to avoid it. I spend most weekends partying friday, saturday and sometimes thursday night and spend my days studying or enjoying the campus by hiking or picnicing. If I need a night away from drinking, I can generally find a friend who feels the same way and we cook ourselves dinner and watch a movie or go out to a cafe downtown. There are plenty of low key things to do downtown and its a common place to find students.