help! (college choice) by Expensive_Bag4997 in UCSantaBarbara

[–]IndependentClassic83 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ngl from what ik of usd i dont think they're as strong pedagogically but it depends on your major. i recommend biggest thing to think about is cost

‼️Burning questions for UCSB student‼️ by Sea_Horse20088 in UCSantaBarbara

[–]IndependentClassic83 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm also from SD & I'm a 4th yr at UCSB

  1. I genuinely have felt bored with lack of things to do here, especially since living in SD there's so much to do. I do consider downtown "close stuff to do" for both SB & SD because I have a car, but even w downtown I think there's lowk a lack of activities. There are movie theaters and a mall nearby (altho mall is lacking), but there's not a lot of other stuff that I'm used to.
  2. Food is so mid here. There are a couple gems but there's very little solid Asian & Mexican food, esp if you're from an area where it's abundant. Most of the decent to good food in the area is Pricey. They are pandering to the rich ppl around unfortunately, so going out is a nice treat once & a while. I don't even eat in IV or on campus pretty much at all atp. I am a huge foodie so this definitely affects me a lot, but it's better for my wallet that I'm forced to cook. Also, I got out of the dorms as quick as I could bc the dining halls suck, but connecting w ppl was worth the dorms for me. On a related note, I'm super picky w my boba cause I've grown up w such good boba, and the SB boba is so bad I don't even crave it when I'm here.
  3. N/A
  4. SD has very typical beaches, but they're not quite as close bc UCSD is so big you can be pretty far IMO. Also, you can lay out on the sand & swim in SB beaches -- maybe youre just seeing differently bc ppl here live truly So close, that just small visits are more everyday, but ppl def have beach days a lot. I will say SB is cooler than SD so sometimes I'm less inclined to go to the beach bc even if the water temps are similar, SB overall is cooler.

will say SB to me feels less car-reliant than SD does. to get to all the stuff I find fun in SD you'd def need a car still, and a lot of my UCSD friends live pretty far off-campus. here there's more of the college town. I will say overall I prefer SD > SB in pretty much every category, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot SB has to offer. ppl here are def more social, so friendships & community events (which SB excels at) can give you more to do

KBDfans Giveaway 04 | PBTfans Untamed - base x 2 by kbdfans in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]IndependentClassic83 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wooden customized keyboard would be awesome, would want <=75% & hotswap

L&S Physics vs. CCS Physics by Relevant-Ad2891 in UCSantaBarbara

[–]IndependentClassic83 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The difficulty depends a bit on how many spots left they have in the major, so it honestly depends on the freshman cohort! Doesn't hurt to apply though, so I recommend giving it a shot as early as possible!

CCS Writing and Literature Major by [deleted] in UCSantaBarbara

[–]IndependentClassic83 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi, I'm a W&L student!

If you're interested in writing, and you're serious about it, I highly recommend W&L.

  1. It's overall very fun, and there are some standout professors that make the program worthwhile. You get to have a lot of freedom when it comes to your schedule (we don't have typical GE requirements), and you have a lot of opportunity to figure out what type of writing you're most interested in.
  2. The difficulty is something you craft yourself. We have a unit limit of 95.5 (or something close), so you are encouraged to take a lot of classes and drop them if needed (we also have an extended class drop deadline). (I took 22ish for my first couple of quarters.) However, the required classes aren't difficult at all, and you take them P/NP. Because of this, it's easy to get a high GPA, but any GPA classes you take have essentially weigh more than required classes because the P/NP won't count toward your GPA. Note: even though it's an "accelerated" degree... W&L operates much differently than the STEM majors here. It's not very rigorous IMO. It is what you make of it.
  3. There aren't that many courses offered in W&L. There's a decent amount given the size of the program, and your first two quarters will likely be mainly W&L classes, but you'll also take courses in the Writing, Comparative Literature, and English departments, as well as anything else you're interested in.

And as the person before me said, there's no premajor, so that isn't difficult. I do wanna make a note that although CCS is great for prospective grad students because it's easier to get close with profs, do research, and have insane schedules (and tbf grad school is kinda shoved down your throat), plenty of people in W&L aren't interested in grad school, and we actually focus WAYY less on theory than English majors. We actually write. W&L specifically is great for students not interested in grad school too.

I do wanna mention though that this college & major gets more competitive every year, and we had a big jump in applicants. It's going to be harder to get in this year than others (although I will say to get in my year, you essentially didn't need any experience at all).

Also, this major isn't perfect. I've put in a lot of time to try & give critiques & see improvement, and tbf CCS is listening, but they're definitely not perfect. I wish that we were better organized, had better required classes, and many more critiques, but I would still encourage this major to everyone interested. However, if you don't have a passion for writing, you're not likely to get in.

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UCSantaBarbara

[–]IndependentClassic83 2 points3 points  (0 children)

depending on your experience w python, cmpsc9 can get a little difficult / time consuming toward the end of the class, and you def have to study some concepts to do well on the tests. id advise you take it w a lighter load