University of California-Santa Barbara Top Questions

not entirely. you have to be smart and well-rounded to get into this school in the first place! students come here to do well and get a great education..partying is just sort of like a part time job..but something we enjoy!

I would have to say that although we do have a great time, party lots and have college experiences that are a little wild, we are students just like others who will go through the stages of learning our alcohol tolerances, etc.

There are some spoiled white rich kids, but i wouldn't say that's the majority.

yes

In reality, yea, we party a lot, but we all get our work done too. I believe it's a balance between social and academic life that puts us ahead of everyone else in the real world. When it comes to finding a job, lets be real- it's primarily networking, ability to work well with other, and people skills that are huge factors in job selection, rather than what classes you took in college.

They are accurate if you want them to be. I know a lot of people who party on weekends but also a lot during the week. I don't do much of that because I am on the crew team and we pledge to be dry for most of our season.

Maybe for some people, but not the majority.

No, although Isla Vista has many parties, almost everyone i meet at UCSB is very intelligent and focused. The difference is that these kids have an ability to be social and complete their school work successfully. It is great to see the same people you are out with on saturday night in the library the next night studying for hours.

Yes.

Though it may be true, the majority of the student population is extremely academic, so I would say no. We do have many Southern California student with blonde hair who live by the beach, myself included, but we came to college to go to learn and that is our priority.

somewhat; there is a lot of partying and a drug presence but that with a majority of colleges. and yes UCSB is the "whitest" UC

No, see above.

yes, but they are a little extreme

Unfortunately, these stereotypes are incorrect, or at least from what I can percieve. Most all students who attend this university have an above average gpa, are involved in many extracarriculars, and know how to balance their academic and social lives.

for some, yes. There is a lot of partying that goes on, but not ALL the time. You can choose not to go out, if that's how you feel.

Not at all! Coming here opened my eyes to how different people actually are! There are the beautiful people that people expect, but most of those people are more dedicated to their work than the others. If you want you can go drink any night of the week, but doing that for 2 weeks results in a need for seriously hibernation.

No! It's definitely a different way of life out here, life is good! Everyone knows how to have a good time and stuff is always going on. But people I meet here are brilliant. Students just balance out how much we have to study with how much we like to have fun! I'd say a majority of people are super involved, work, go abroad, and there a lot who double major.

A little, we do party a lot but school is really hard and the students here are very smart.

Both of these are accurate. D.P. (Del Playa), is packed nearly every day of the week. Don't let anyone tell you that UCSB is not a party school, because they're lying. Just keep in mind that nearly every other University in America parties just as hard.

Not really. Some students do party a lot, but many people get good grades, or else they wouldn't be here.

for some people but not many

Yes, in the Greek system at least.

Somewhat--Students here definitely party hard but they work really hard too. It's amazing to see how smart and hard-working some students are in your class who you happened to see blacked out at a party the night before.

No way...we all had to get the grades to get into the school in the first place. We are ambitious and UCSB has so many great programs that it would be a waste to party it all away. But don't get me wrong, we do like to party. We're pro at balancing.

Don't think so. Although some people like to party we usually keep it from Thursday until Saturday. I've also heard that CalState Long Beach is better known for having STDs than we are. We are smart students who live in a community with city college students. We get a bad rep because those students party much more than we do but they live in close proximity to us.

For some, yes. For the majority, no. I think that although by percentage we may be predominately a white campus, this doesn't mean that everyone is. We have a diverse campus of difference ethnicities, as well as different backgrounds and interests. And while having a strong social calander may be part of UCSB, most students take their classes seriously...otherwise, we wouldn't be here!

Somewhat - I feel that there's probably a lot more drinking/raging here than on other campuses ... but it IS college. There are mostly skinny people around, but there are enough fat college kids that I don't get too depressed over my own not-so-perfect body.

to a degree. yes, we party hard, btu we also are really smart and it is not a joke school, you have to be smart to get into here. and there are a lot of pretty people hre but evyerone is really chill and laid back and nice.

I believe that every university/college parties in some form or other, and most people are too arrogant to admit that. The fact that UCSB parties is the truth is totally acceptable; the fact that people look down on us just for that reason is not acceptable.

to an extent

They apply to most people.

The sterotypes do hold a lot of truth but are not entirely accurate. It is a really fun school and IV always has a million things going on. There are a lot of pretty people, but everyone is not even close to fitting overall good looking stereotype. UCSB is a really good school and getting harder and harder to get in to. It really bothers me personally when people try to refer to UCSB as being a dumb school, because it is pretty hard.

not really.

Super fun parties, yes. "Couldn't get into a 'real' college," absolutely NOT true! and as for all blonde so-calers, also false.

somewhat

There are a lot of attractive people and, yes, people party pretty hard, but for the most part the study body is extremely intelligent. We do party hard, but school is also hard.

For the most part they are. I have noticed that the majority of students drink and party a lot, but maintain really good grades. The students are not as pretty as it was made to seem before I started school here.

We may like to have fun but everyone here is really smart. Work hard play hard is a popular phrase. Everyone is really smart and gets their work done.

somewhat

Yes, we do party a lot, but it is not all we do.

Noof course not. There are some people who meet this but most students here do not meet them.

Yes, a lot of students drink during the week as well as weekends. However, it is inaccurate to generalize all UCSB students as heavy drinkers. There are many students that choose not to drink often. It is safe to say that the majority of students party a lot.

We are a "well rounded" campus. The Greek system and Isla Vista scene is very vibrant and at times "crazy," but we are not UCSTD or the University of Casual Sex and Beer. The average GPA for incoming freshmen is now at a 4.1, and we are the 12th ranked pubic university. One poll acutally rated us as the in the top 30 public schools in the WORLD! We are truly climbing up in the ranks.

Not at all.

YES, but even though we are partiers, we get our work done!

Yes our parties are amazing and it is nearly impossible to get anything done during spring quarter but we study pretty hard the other two quarters. And we are not hippies.

To some degree. Isla Vista really does seem unreal.

We probably do party more than other schools, but other than that I think the stereotypes are not true, our STD rate is the same as any other school!!

there is a lot of diverse groups, but they are smaller than at other schools. so these stereotypes are pretty much true!

Not really - it depends on the person. If you look for parties at ANY school you will find them...