With the last round of college acceptances being sent out, it’s time to choose a school. Many students got accepted to multiple Universities of California (UCs), but here’s why I advocate for you to attend UCSB.
1. Location
At UCSB, you literally have it all–the beach is your backyard, and the mountains are your front yard. You have the option to surf, tan, or hike. Most importantly, there’s the opportunity to watch the sunset every evening from an array of breathtaking views! While it’s easy to be isolated in nature at Santa Barbara, it’s also a close drive to Los Angeles, where you can get your dose of city life. Downtown Santa Barbara provides the perfect medium as a quaint little town with food, shopping, and lots of dogs. This city epitomizes the SoCal lifestyle!
2. The People
The people at UCSB are some of the most welcoming, intelligent, and attractive people I’ve ever met. It’s impossible not to catch on to the laid back vibes this school offers; when you live this close to the beach, how could you not?! Town and Country Magazine has named UCSB as one of the top 20 campuses with the happiest students, making it the only UC on the list. Gauchos have an immense sense of community, banding together in times of fun (ahem…Deltopia), and even in times of tragedy, such as the 2014 Isla Vista shooting.
3. Isla Vista
Speaking of community, Isla Vista (IV) is the college town right beside campus, with a one square mile radius. The majority of UCSB students will have lived in IV at some point in their college career, and for good reason. You’re literally a five minute walk/ bike ride from your best friends, beach, and food! The IV bubble is real; when will you ever get a chance to live in a town comprised exclusively of college students? A rite of passage is living on Del Playa, the street parallel to the ocean and notoriously famous for the parties thrown every Thursday – Saturday night. On Sundays, the community comes together to Adopt-A-Block, where you help clean up the streets that are littered after a weekend of partying.
4. The Weather
The weather forecast at UCSB is a sunny 65 -75 degrees 90% of the time. Need I say more?
5. UC EAP
UCSB is the official headquarters for all UC’s studying abroad program. UCEAP (UC Education Abroad Program) features 408 programs in 44 different countries, so no matter what your major is, you’ll find somewhere perfect for you! The cost of attending a program at UCEAP is usually the equivalent or lower than your usual UCSB tuition, and because most overseas programs are a semester long, you’ll actually get more credits.
6. Fun Classes
Dreading the feeling of taking a boring and irrelevant class just to fulfill a GE? Well at UCSB, you never have to experience that. There are so many classes that any topic you can could ever imagine is covered. Personal favorites for myself include Human Sex (Sociology 152A)–the sex ed class you never thought you needed, and Greek Myth (Classics 40)–a dream come true for any Percy Jackson fan! Other popular and fun classes include Dinosaurs (Earth 7), Asian American Pop Culture (ASAM 4), Sex, Love, and Romance (WMST 150), and Vegan Literature (CLIT 186).
7. Concerts
UCSB knows how to party–by that I mean not only the students, but the school too! Associated Students, the group on campus in charge of putting our tuition to good use, hosts three big concerts every school year. Only UCSB students can purchase a ticket (which is usually only $5), and you get to see some of the biggest artists of the moment. Delirium is during Halloween weekend, The Warm Up is during the first week of Spring Quarter, and Extravaganza is the during the middle of Spring Quarter. Some artists that have played at UCSB include Snoop Dogg, YG, Odesza, Schoolboy Q, and RL Grime.
Although I only listed seven reasons why UCSB stands out, there are so much more. As a Gaucho myself, I can wholeheartedly tell you that I have no regrets choosing this school and I’ve never been happier. UCSB truly is the school for me and I believe it is for you too.
All images credits to giphy.com