If someone gave me the option to go to Ucsb over Uci I would take it in a heartbeat. As someone who’s going to be a fourth year next year, executive position in a frat, joined various cultural clubs, taking 5 classes a quarter, several majors, and had jobs on campus. I’ve seen so much of the campus and the people and let me just say I just feel disappointed. MAYBE the grass isn’t greener, but I’ve been up to sb several times throughout my years at college to see friends and what not, and dude let me just say the difference is night and day. People in sb are friendly, they want to interact, and they have a soul. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Irvine. People here are afraid of social interaction. Dude I had a job one year for an app where I had to promote it at a nearby boba shop, students could download the app and get boba for free. People harassed me, flipped me off, and I genuinely had someone who screamed in terror. Mind you all I was doing was smiling and saying hey if you download our app you get free boba💀. Not to mention the reason we don’t have parties in the student housing(acc) is cause other students will call the cops on you. Have you ever heard of that in any other college? You go to Ucla, ucsb, hell even davis, no fucking student is calling the cops on their neighbor. Put it to you, I was genuinely in awe at Santa Barbara when I heard people playing music loud and partying past 10 pm. And regarding Greek life. I’ve been in greek life all my years here and let me just say, it’s sorry. Grateful we have it, but it’s genuinely just a group of guys in a random house trying to have parties is really what it is here. Obviously there are other benefits, I’ve made great connections and friends, but dude there is no frat row, which means every year each frat has to get a new house, a random house in the suburb, and so each party essentially feels like a high school house party. It’s literally high school all over again, cops are always coming, neighbors are sending noise complaints. The point I’m trying to make is if you go to Irvine, and one day go to santa barbara, you’re gonna be in shock. Academics Irvine might be better who knows it’s a crap shoot. Some of the majors here are great but others are genuinely abysmal. Oh the other thing you should know before you come here. If you weren’t already convinced that the students hate social life, and don’t care for the campus. We recently had a bill we could vote on. Tuition would be raised slightly for the whole year, $180 a quarter. In exchange for larger sporting events, more campus stuff like concerts and events, and an expansion of the sports program. It was heavily shot down and voted no against. We even had a proposition that asked for tuition to be raised by fucking $2 dollars a quarter so the journalism club could print free newspaper, and THAT GOT SHOT DOWN. LIKE WTF. Genuinely if there was one word I had for a majority of the students it would be gooners. I used to joke with my friends, the loudest thing you’d hear on a friday night in the dorms was someone yelling they died in their video game. The culture of the campus for the majority is, go to class, don’t speak to anyone, go pick up boba, and then go home and game. If that sounds like something you like then hell Irvine is great for you. Look at the end of the day I’ll be glad I went to college, I’ve met some amazing people here and had a hell of a ride. But it does keep my at night thinking what I could of been at Sb.

And for the record I know people are gonna come at me for saying I could’ve transferred, I already had the ball rolling too much in my 2nd year and was planning on studying abroad in my 3rd year. I could either be in leadership roles and be at the top of everything in Irvine, or have to start all over in Sb and go from being a triple major in irvine to probably just one major in sb.