The University of California - Santa Cruz

Date: Feb 27 2001
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
Your experience at UC Santa Cruz is really what you make it. As a previous reviewer said, you can totally slack off and pass with a C average. On the other hand if you work hard and show initiative you can get what is probably best undergraduate educational the UC system has to offer. UC Santa Cruz is often overshadowed by the older UC campuses, but there really is a lot of opportunity here for motivated students. This is especially true if you want to become involved in a research project—most of the labs on this campus take in many undergraduates to participate in their research. Many students even have their research published in journals.

The idea that Santa Cruz is a druggie campus is a total myth. True, there is some drug use that goes on, but not nearly at the level that people think it does. Santa Cruz is a beautiful city, but people usually either love it or hate it. There is stuff to do, but it isn't exactly 'jumping'.

Some of the older faculty here have a bit of a chip on their shoulders, and can be very direspectful to students. If I had known what some of them were going to be like, I probably would have chosen another school. Slowly, however, these older faculty are being replaced with newer, more enthusiastic professors, so that should gradually change. Besides, every college has jerks on the faculty.

UC Santa Cruz hasn't always had the best reputation—they are going places though. Many new programs and facilities were initiated during the years I have been here, and the involvement of the campus with Silicon Valley is promising. As a person who will soon be graduating speaking to students who are thinking of entering UCSC, I would recommend it. By the time you enroll, UCSC will have many great new programs and even more opportunity for motivated students. Its repuatation is becoming stronger every day.