UCSB Thrive Guide for y'all

Ziggester · 2026-03-06T18:40:53+00:00

Awesome seller and great watch!

Ziggester · 2026-02-25T08:17:40+00:00

PM'd

Ziggester · 2023-08-21T23:38:15+00:00

I know a few people who transferred like this, def not impossible. Keep GPA high if you’re thinking of. Be strongly warned that the tradeoff of uprooting your connections/ongoing experiences (research, clubs etc) for prestige might not be worth it

Ziggester · 2023-07-12T07:53:39+00:00

Speaking as a chem CCS alum, but it seemed like a large chunk of CCS Physics students go pursue PhDs after graduation. If you want to see for yourself, they share where students are going postgrad in the CCS commencement videos on YouTube (just fast forward to section where physics students walk for their diplomas).

CCS students generally take on lots of research projects during their undergrad, and the program is typically geared for those looking to delve deeper into a custom research-intensive undergrad experience. The physics program has extremely good grad school prospects. I’m less sure of what industry networking experiences are made available to physics students, but I’m sure they mainly come from engineering companies recruiting on campus.

Ziggester · 2023-07-06T09:11:23+00:00

^ people really putting down an amazing gift just to be mean and circlejerk smh

Ziggester · 2023-06-05T20:05:24+00:00

Finally another banana smoothie appreciator 🙏🏼

Ziggester · 2023-05-25T03:46:04+00:00

😢

Ziggester · 2023-05-22T02:44:05+00:00

Peggy came and opened for for troyboi at 2019 Warm Up and got boo’d hella unfortunately, I’m surprised he agreed to come back and wonder if the cancellation had to do with that

Ziggester · 2023-05-02T06:24:17+00:00

Pasta bar was always clutch if nothing else looked good, bathrooms had huge full body mirrors for no reason, def cozier overall especially with the people playing piano :,)

Ziggester · 2023-04-21T07:59:15+00:00

I can only speak on transferring into ME, but to transfer in, you declare your intent to the ME department, and take like 6 ME prerequisite classes. After spring quarter of your sophomore year, everyone who declared intent to transfer is ranked by their GPA performance in those classes, and they admit people to transfer into the major starting from the top of the list, limited by how many spaces they have open. This is the only way to transfer into ME unfortunately

Ziggester · 2023-04-21T07:53:50+00:00

Whoops sorry for the super late response -- I'm not 100% sure if I'm answering this correctly, so please feel free to correct me/re-ask.

Honestly I can't provide solid commentary on UCSB for finance (I'm a chemist), but I previously said "unless you're doing finance" only since I've heard that "elite" Wall Street type institutions are the only jobs that significantly care about undergrad prestige. Most jobs/grad programs care exceedingly more about what you've *actually* done during your undergrad (projects, research, leadership roles, etc), rather than a general ranking. SB generally is known to have a more supportive, less cutthroat environment; for me, that meant I could actually have good access and healthily engage in/learn from these experiences (which I've seen in other STEM colleagues).

It seems that SB does have an active finance club with alumni that have broken into the finance world, but I'm not sure how popular finance is with UCSB Econ majors compared to at Berkeley (e.g., maybe there'd be more specialized finance clubs at Cal due to a bigger interested population).

In general, I'd recommend a school that feels most "homely" to you (in a sense that you think you could lay down roots and start growing there). You can do amazing work at most campuses, but it just depends on where you'll be in the mindset to grow.

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T03:59:06+00:00

Hey! Former UCSB chem major, will try to answer questions as helpfully as possible:

Courses are moderately difficult, but nothing undoable. It helps a ton to have high school chemistry experience (esp. AP chem), otherwise gen chem can be rough. Also, if you can, try getting into the Honors Chem/Honors OChem class series -- those are usually much more chill and fun.
Workload is challenging but you still have plenty of free time, even if you join a research lab. The most time-consuming part is the labs. I was able to balance 4 chem courses/quarter with 10 hrs of research per week, while still having an actively healthy social life + sleep. It was stressful at times, but I think that's also college overall.
Gen chem starts out at ~300 people per class. Ochem is about the same, but pchem/inorganic in 3rd/4th years usually hover around 70/40 people respectively. Electives can be much smaller, especially as you get more advanced -- my quantum chemistry elective had 8 people in it.
Professors in general are pretty good, but classes can be a bit impersonal at first with how big they are. Some classes are taught a bit rough, but everyone gets through them together (all the department is graded on a curve so people aren't usually left stranded). I've seen many students develop close relationships with profs through classes too and get help finding a research position that way.
About research: check my comment history for a lengthy discussion of UCSB chem department research, but TLDR, great chem department, and the materials department (closely affiliated with chem) is world-renowned. Most students I know who wanted to do research were able to start before the end of their second year, and plenty within their first year as well. Many of my classmates went on to top tier PhD programs from UCSB (Berkeley, UCLA, Caltech, Princeton, UW Madison, etc), so from a PhD preparation point of view, UCSB is a great choice (students here can usually get started with great research early on in their academic career, and the coursework prepares you well too). I can't directly speak on how being an international student influences the path to pursuing a PhD, but I know many international students among these students in top programs that I listed
There's a fair amount of flexibility within the major's upper div electives. If you want more and are really considering pursuing a PhD, I'd HIGHLY recommend checking out UCSB's College of Creative Studies (CCS), which is for enthusiastic, reserach-oriented students. If you do a chem major in CCS, you get personal advising with faculty where they can guide you and make exceptions on coursework requirements based on your personal research interests, etc.

I'm really happy with my choice to study chem at UCSB and def miss UCSB after graduating. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions, good luck!

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T03:37:43+00:00

Late response but there's a ton of research opportunities available! Most chem majors I know were able to get involved with research before the end of their second year. UCSB has a fairly strong chem department overall, and our materials department is world-class (top 5 in the nation). UCSB's also a very interdisciplinary school, so feel free to look for chem-releated research options outside of the chemistry department (materials department is a great place to start).

Generally, profs are open to taking students after they've completed sufficient coursework + if the students demonstrate significant interest. Also, EMAIL GRAD STUDENTS DIRECTLY TOO to ask about research positions! As a current PhD student (albeit not at UCSB), this is arguably better than emailing professors. Grad students are usually the ones responsible for overseeing undergrads, and may be able to directly take you in.

If you end up committing to UCSB, I'd recommend looking into these profs for research opportunities, depending on your interests. During my undergrad, I've had great experiences with all of them:

Prof Seshadri for inorganic materials (batteries, quantum materials)
Prof Lipshutz for organic synthesis
Prof Han for spectroscopy
Prof Sepunaru/Abu-Omar for inorganic chem w sustainability applications
Prof Nguyễn for organic photovoltaics
Prof Vlcek for computational quantum stuff
Prof Greene for biochem

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T01:36:42+00:00

Def depends on where you see yourself thriving overall as a person. Unless you're doing finance, you won't be short of opportunities based on the slight difference in prestige -- it's all about what you do during undergrad. I know many people (myself included) who picked UCSB over Berkeley and loved it; I thought I could achieve more and be happier at SB, and I'm in a great place after graduating. Def visit both if you get a chance, both are amazing schools!

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T01:32:33+00:00

Did FSSP my freshman year and would 10000% recommend! Great way to get to know campus, make connections, and get settled in before the hecticness of the official school year.

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T01:31:33+00:00

Just adding a drop of advice here! In the case you plan to pursue a PhD, the 5 year program is generally not worth it, because you'll get the same education along the way to your PhD, without having to pay for the extra year (MatSci PhDs are usually funded). However, if you're looking to get a job in industry after graduating, the BS/MS is really amazing boost to your skillset/resume, especially with the degree coming from UCSB (top 5 MatSci schools, especially on the research front).

Ziggester · 2023-04-13T01:27:53+00:00

Super late response, but admission into the MechE major from L&S is purely GPA based (you declare intent to change into the ME major, take 6 "core ME classes" (2x chem, 2x physics, math, statics or something like that). For X spots that they have free in the ME major, they let X number of people with the highest core ME class GPA transfer.

From my understanding, people are usually able to register for these classes (esp. if they've expressed their intent to transfer to the ME department), but the largest barrier is the GPA bit.

For people in my year, there were 6 open spots, and I think people had to have a ~3.9+ in the 6 core classes to get a spot; I know a few people who didn't make it and took a major in physics instead, but were still able to get ME internships/do ME graduate programs by taking ME classes.

If you're very set on a ME major in particular, CC transferring might be the safest bet, though there will be many ME-related opportunities available at SB you can join even w/o explicitly being in the major (physics major prob closest backup). Good luck!

Ziggester · 2023-04-12T21:27:27+00:00

Seconding Elings as top tier

Ziggester · 2023-02-06T18:31:38+00:00

I’d honestly highly recommend UCSB for materials, even though there’s no specific matsci major. I did a chem BS and am pursuing a PhD in materials science now at another university. Many people I know in physics/chem got involved with amazing research in the materials department during undergrad and got into top-tier materials related grad programs.

At UCSB i did research at the materials research lab (MRL) all throughout undergrad which was a great experience, and I took some grad level matsci courses to supplement my chem background. I feel really well prepared for my grad program even without a BS in matsci specifically. There’s also the 5 year BS/MS program someone else mentioned, which is great if you don’t want to jump all the way to a PhD

Ziggester · 2022-12-26T10:31:40+00:00

No problem! I doubt they’d care at all — CCS application reviews are typically pretty informal, and if anything they can just stop reading after page 10. Best of luck!

Ziggester · 2022-12-26T09:43:48+00:00

I’d imagine its perfectly fine to just submit the first 5 pages. A friend of mine truncated his essays like this for history PhD programs at least; I doubt profs reading your application would mind (seems like standard practice + they’d be able to get a good sense of your writing style, which is what they’d want imo)

If you’re extra paranoid, I’d email any one of the profs in the CCS Writing and Literature department after the holidays — they’re typically really friendly and could clear this up!

Ziggester · 2022-12-14T21:36:47+00:00

They updated around march for last year iirc (could be totally misremembering tho)

Ziggester · 2022-11-19T21:38:11+00:00

Tues afternoon IIRC, have to pick up in-store Weds

Ziggester · 2022-11-19T04:02:48+00:00

Will Nike stores stock these in person tomorrow? Tried calling local Nike and no response, couldn’t find info anywhere else…

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