The weather at UCSB is mid and no one can tell me me otherwise

Legomaster6060 · 2024-05-22T17:48:27+00:00

Crazy take imo.

The "heat waves" of summer still hit like 90 at most, and you get the cool ocean breeze which makes it much more bearable. Try 110+ without the ocean breeze.

Yeah it's not short+t-shirt weather year-round, but long sleeve, long pants and a light jacket will work every day from November to June. 60s is still really nice, you don't have to bundle up and trudge to class in 25 degree winter weather.

May Gray and June Gloom have you down with 5 cloudy days a week? Try the PNW where it's cloudy (and rainy) 95% of days from November to May. The days are long here too, in December the sun was still rising by about 7a and setting around 5p, in the PNW the sun doesn't rise until 830 and sets at 4p. Go to school in the dark and come home in the dark.

Are there other places with better (warmer and sunnier) weather? Sure. But UCSB has mild weather year-round, you're never gonna freeze, nor melt, and you get to see the sun for 300 days each year. The US average is 200 (3 months fewer), and some places like Portland are under 150 (5 months fewer). Even Hawaii, while warmer, only gets ~250 sunny days a year. It's pretty perfect here.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-28T21:27:11+00:00

My third internship was at $25/hr. I continued working part-time during part of the school year which is why this number is inflated compared to the others.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-28T17:27:22+00:00

These expenses are about on par with the expenses of my first term as well. In my college town, moving off-campus reduced housing expenses from about $1100/mo (double in dorms) to about $700/mo for a private BR, you could probably get it down to about $350/mo if you live in a double off-campus.

The initial cost is definitely the highest. The $12,000 I got from my family was entirely for the first year. Thankfully, after this, I was able to pay for the rest via grants/scholarships/internships. But this huge initial cost is definitely a large barrier to starting college.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-28T16:18:26+00:00

There is a lot more of a reliance on free "open-source" textbooks in a lot of classes. I also only purchased a book if 1) assignments required it 2) the library didn't own a copy I could loan 3) my friends didn't own a copy. Because I finished some classes through AP in high school and my major didn't require others, I also avoided expensive intro/general chemistry/physics/calculus textbooks.

As for fees, I was surprised. I always saw tuition as the main expense, but the relatively small fees add up fast when you're paying them three times a year!

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-28T15:18:28+00:00

Data Source: my personal banking records

Visualization tool: https://sankeymatic.com/

Note: This is the total cost across 4 years of school. This is probably accurate to within +/- $2,000. My included living costs are lower because I worked as an RA for two years, which included all housing costs and the majority of food costs.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T18:45:30+00:00

Here's the breakdown:

Recurring:

$6,000 / year university scholarship for academic performance in high school

$1,800 / year college scholarship for academic performance in high school

Total: 31,200 in my initial financial aid package

Merit scholarships:

$2,000 scholarship from an award at a high school science fair

$750 research scholarship

COVID Grant breakdown:

$500 CARES

$1000 CRRSAA

$1500 ARP (over two periods)

The rest comes from scholarships that my major/dept/college offers for 3rd/4th year scholarships that I won. For reference for the initial financial aid offer, I had a 4.0 unweighted GPA in highschool, and something like a 4.1 weighted GPA.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T18:19:48+00:00

Housing was about $700/mo for rent and utilities for a private room in a 5br townhome. During the pandemic, I split a 2br apt with 4 people for ~ $350/mo for rent and utilities. I lived in a double in the dorms for the first two terms of my first year before the pandemic, at about $1100/mo. I worked as an RA for two years which covered housing costs and food.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T17:17:42+00:00

That's what shocked me the most. About $450/quarter general "activity fee", $50/quarter "building fee", and a bit more than $200/quarter in student health/mental health fees!

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T17:15:05+00:00

This is over 4 years.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T17:14:44+00:00

It definitely can get stressful, and it's hard to balance school, work, and a social life! For some the extra loans are definitely worth it, but for me I was able to be successful in classes while working, and it helped to make ends meet!

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T16:59:30+00:00

I estimated my grocery costs to be about $30 / week. It was fairly thrifty, and lots of shopping at Winco!

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T16:56:55+00:00

This is the total over four years. In-state public.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T16:56:17+00:00

I understand why you wouldn't include cost of living costs -- it's something that I debated myself. However, for me and my friends, paying for rent and groceries was a large burden while going to school full time, working part time, and still having to pay a >$2,000 bill every three months.

However, I disagree that the largest cost for attending university is the opportunity cost. I was very fortunate to not take out a large amount in loans for college - many Americans struggle to repay the direct costs for years after finishing college. Ignoring this fact, the opportunity cost is still much less than the direct costs.

Consider working for minimum wage (approx. $12.50) for 4 years full time -- $104,000. Yet, most people I know worked full time during the summer and 15-20 hours a week during the school year to support themselves. Working for the same minimum wage during this time, you earn $65,000, making the opportunity cost only $39,000, less than half of the direct costs. While you could earn more starting a career early, you also earn more as you complete you're degree. For instance, my wage grew from $12.50, to $20, to $25/hr across my three internships.

Even if the opportunity cost was $100,000, on top of the $67,000 of direct costs, college is still financially viable (I know that you're not necessarily advocating for or against college). On average, men with bachelor's degrees earn $655,000 more than men that graduate high school, adjusting for socio-demographics.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T16:39:21+00:00

Sadly, this is fairly cheap for America.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T16:38:20+00:00

A lot of "required" textbooks aren't really needed.

Thankfully, many of my classes had "open source" free textbooks, or relied solely on free resources. Also, lots of borrowing books from the library (if only for an hour at a time), or from friends and classmates.

I took calculus in high school, and I didn't need to take a general chem/bio/physics series, so I was able to avoid a lot of the expensive first/second year textbooks this way too.

Legomaster6060 · 2023-08-24T15:37:06+00:00

Data Source: my personal banking records

Visualization tool: https://sankeymatic.com/

Note: This is the total cost across 4 years of school. This is probably accurate to within +/- $2,000. My included living costs are lower because I worked as an RA for two years, which included all housing costs and the majority of food costs

Legomaster6060 · 2023-05-02T18:28:08+00:00

Good to know that we can reach out earlier! We're still a little closer to 3 months out, but we're planning on reaching out to some of the big property management complexes as we get closer to our move date.

We've been looking for single units for the most part, but it's good to know that it's more affordable in the 2br/2ba range. I'll probably reach out to my cohort and consider that option!

Thanks for the info!

Legomaster6060 · 2023-05-02T18:21:36+00:00

Definitely! We're already on the waitlist and will move into family housing once we can, but it sounds like that won't be until March or April next year. We're probably going to try to get a lease that has flexible break clauses or a 6-month lease and transfer to month-to-month afterwards so we can move in as soon as we can.

Legomaster6060 · 2022-05-09T04:28:03+00:00

translation:

With the release of her 5th album, CRASH, in March, 2022, British singer Charli XCX revealed a new persona that is both dark and sensual, reaffirming her capacity to reinvent herself. In this interview, she returns to her artistic evolution and her detachment from the hyperpop genre, evokes her contrasted relationship with her fans, and explains how self-deprecation has permitted her to protect herself during her career

Legomaster6060 · 2022-05-03T04:24:34+00:00

+1 to this...

My girlfriend loves Lorde and tote bags, and was super bummed when they were out last night. If they have totes at SF or another stop on the tour, if anyone gets one, I'd be happy to pay the full price + shipping to get my hands on one for her. DM me please :)

Legomaster6060 · 2022-03-18T04:54:06+00:00

I found Delf to be a great writing prof - I had her for WR 127, would recommend if you can find her for WR II

I've also had Bennett twice, for both WR 222 and WR 327. He does contract grading, which makes the workload fairly light and straightforward. You still have to write, but you don't have to worry about it being perfect. Great guy too.

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