University of California-Santa Cruz Top Questions

Choose a college that is right for you at this stage in your life. I would not recommend going toward a college that is the elite or the one that you have wanted to go to since you were 4. I would look at what interests you, as an individual, and which place would allow you to explore different options. After high school there is a lot of transformation left to take place. The right college will aide you in that transition period and, maybe, help you decide who you are in the process.

Ask real students who have had a good time and know the realities of college life! Visit the campus and stay with a student who goes there, preferrably someone you know, for at LEAST one day and a night. Look into the professors who are currently teaching the classes you might be in when enrolling in freshman classes!

Students should definitely check out campuses ahead of time! There is no way to describe the real feel of a campus, so make sure it feels right for you! Learn to balance work and play. Homework should always come first, and don't wait until the last 2 days to write a major essay, but you need downtime too or you'll crack. Talk with your teachers, reach out to people in classes, clubs, sports, etc. College is the best place ever to make lifelong friends. Parents, support your kids in the decisions they make away from home, send them little carepackages to ease the stress of feeling alone amidst all those piles of homework, and ask them what they need to be happy. And if you're NOT happy, don't be afraid to go see a free counselor on campus. They are there to keep you happy and healthy, and it's not worth staying miserable. One last word of advice: don't take living in a room with another person too seriously. A roommate war is not worth your time, so talk out compromises and just be friendly and easygoing. Good advice for life in general.

Make sure your school not only has the right major for you, but the right environment and attitude as well. See ifyou can visit the campus during school hours with a friend to see if you like the surrounding attitudes of the people around you. Ask students what they think, see if you know anybody there and ask them about what they think.

Visit your campus and talk to people there. The best way to decide the right college. Don't just choose the academically well known schools.

When faced with the challenge of choosing the correct school, first evaluate your goal(s), then begin researching schools that will provide an opportunity to work around your interest. If possible, visit the campus and take a tour in order catch a glimpse of the environment and college life. Make sure to have a few choices in mind, since your first choice may not be available. Nonetheless, continuing your education provides options. While in school, strive to be well-rounded. Take a variety of different courses, talk to other students, keep an open mind with school events. College is the foundation, you essentially decide how succesful you would like to be.

Students and parents should definitely look for a college with academic programs and clubs that encourage an active engagement with one's studies. Tutoring services, disability services, and extracurricular activites aid in a student's intellectual and social growth. Speak to current students and visit the campus before making your final decision. Once enrolled, it is definitely important to try and establish a professional relationship with a faculty member and pursue an internship in your related field before graduating, as this will help you immensely with searching for a career and/or pursuing graduate studies. Studying abroad is also an amazing opportunity that will change your life forever. Strive for a diverse social network and encourage your university to do more to encourage student and faculty diversity. Meeting people from other cultures, languages, religions, and backgrounds than your own will prepare you more for the "real world" then any course ever could.

To parents: Let your child choose where they want to spend the next four years of their lives. It's a very important time of growth. Students: Follow your gut instinct. Schools and friends and parents and hormones are all going to be telling you to make different choices. What it comes down to is what you feel is right. Visit schools, see how you feel on the campus. When you know, you'll know. And when you get there, even if it isn't what you expected, make the best of it. Knock on doors in your dorm buildings and make friends. Don't feel like you have to be anything but yourself. No one else will know each other either, so don't be afraid of coming across as "different". Also, and lastly, don't forget that you are there to go to school. Friends and a social life will happen regardless of if you're looking for it, but classes will go on even if you don't show up, so don't party so hard that you can't go back after your first year.

Advice that would would tell parents or students would be to really do their reseach on the colleges they plan on going to/ sending their children to. I've had some friends transfer after their first year just becasue they didn't like what the school had to offer or just didn't like the campus. For the students, make sure you like the enviornment and area your potential college is in because you're going to be stuck there for the next four years. You should look at the programs that the schools offer and see if your interested in any of them, if not that might not be the school for you. And for the college experiance you've probably heard that college is a major time for partying but just make sure that you're balance the party life and the school life, after all you are in college to get a education. College will be a time for growth and exploration, dont waste it.

I believe that parents should let their children find the right college. Parents may think that they know what their children will enjoy, but they are often wrong. Students that love the location and the feel of their college campus are more likely to perform well in their classes. I believe that students should research colleges online and then visit the college campus, if possible. Once the student is in college, they should get involved, if they enjoy being involved with campus events. If not, make friends on your floor and spend time with them. You don't have to be involved with campus activities to have fun. My best nights in college were the ones that I spent at home with my roommates and friends.

I would choose to attend the school where you feel most at home. It's good to go somewhere where you are comfortable, but still have a chance to learn and grow. If you like sports, go to a school with sports. You'll miss them if your school doesn't offer them. Go to a school that offers programs you are passionate about. You might not always know what you want from life, but if a school has opportunities that interest you go for that one. No matter where you go, it's on you to make the best out of your college experience. You hold all the cards to your succes. Don't rely on others to make your decisions for you. Be proactive and assertive in your education, it will only make you stornger and more confident. Always fight for what you deserve, don't be afraid to challenge those that aren't here to help you. College is a place for you to learn and grow; meet people. Networking will help you in your future. Study hard, but allow time for social activities. Stay away from things that get in the way of fulfilling your dreams.

The biggest advice I can give to incoming students for any college is to embrace new things, and be open to new ideas. You?re going to be surrounded by many people with different backgrounds than your own, and getting to know them and their lifestyle will help you socialize and befriend everyone. Also, get involved with activities on campus; whether it is a club or a fraternity/sorority, you just need to stick yourself in there to become part of the crowd. Lastly, check out the University?s recreational department and extracurricular activities so that you don?t get overstressed with schoolwork. For parents, I have completely opposite advice. You need to believe in your child, they have worked hard to get to college, believe in yourself and your parenting capabilities to know that everything is going to be alright. Your child is going to do fine in college, and if anything goes wrong they are in good hands. Faculty and a good friend basis will get your child through any hardships that they encounter. Also, as much as you love your child you need to give them their space and let them grow up.

Go for it. Choose the college that will make you grow as a person as well as support you, the one with the most to offer in terms of new and exciting experiences. High school is a time when you experience most physical change. But college is really the time when you grow and change as a person. You are away from your parents (and my advice to parents is let your child be as much as you can) for, usually, the first time, and this brings a whole new perspective to life. You will make mistakes, you will do fantastic things, and as long as you have a good community, both socially and academically, you will have a wonderful time, and become a well educated, well rounded person.

UCSC is often called a drug school or party school. In my experience, it is what you make of it. I chose not to be part of the party scene and had a great college experience. The academic reputation far outweighs the party reputation.

Look at as many colleges as possible before choosing one. After high school I didn't travel around at all to colleges and ended up attending one I hated for two years before visiting friends in other cities and realizing there were colleges out there where I truly fit in and loved. I think their really is a college for every type of person, it's just a matter of finding it.

Don't go to Santa Cruz unless you're there to just study. Studying is important but you won't get much done here.

research the colleges your interested in extensively, visit the school, talk to the teachers, talk to students, learn about the available programs for academics as well as recreation

Know exactly what you want to do way before you get to college, probably as a freshman in high school. Finding the right college is all about how much you want to spend and what you are trying to become. Don't waste your time with small colleges and private universities, unless you are getting significant financial aid and got into Harvard or Yale. Attending an Ivy League-caliber school is the only reason to go to a private institution. The best state institutions in about half the states are good enough to pursue an education. Where you go and how much you spend will have little effect on you if you do not know what it is you're trying to become. You will not learn that in college; you will not "find your calling" or "be inspired to study" a particular field. You must already be aware of what your life goals are concerning employment before you enter the university, and then seize them in them most ruthless, cutthroat manner as possible. Go to as many career fairs as possible. Utilize the Career Center as much as possible.

First of all, the decision should be made bythe student. If a parent makes such an important decision (and makes an incorrect one) the student is the one who will suffer. If you are seriously considering a school, it is definitely important to go and check it out. Do you feel comfortable there? Could you see yourself being happy there by your fourth year? Do you think you could easily relate to the students around you? If you answered yes to these questions then you should take some further steps to decide if this college is right for you. In order to get an idea of the academic life, go sit in on a class. Talk to the students and get a first hand idea of what they think of their classes. This would also be a great time to ask them about campus life and extracurricular activities. Once you decide which college you wish to attend, explore the different possibilities it has to offer. Don't be shy--just get out there and ask questions. It is likely that your college will have what you are looking for, it's up to you to find it!

The best college experience can be found with a personalized balance of what is familiar and what is unknown. Feeling relaxed and like you belong is an important foundation for both academics and social life. This can relate to the size of the city the college is in, the political climate, the distance from home, etc. However, these same attributes can be unknowns of a new college experience. The question is, of each potential college's attributes, what comforts are most important to your everyday life, and how much of the new would you like to know?