By Staff
Over spring break I traveled all around the coast of California touring colleges to get ready to apply next year. I learned what I liked and what wasn’t for me, and I’m going to share my experience with you in hopes to make your decision process easier!
My first stop was the University of California, Santa Cruz. This is a beautiful campus surrounded by giant redwood trees. The dorms are hidden by trees, giving you an escape from school and making you feel like you’re in your own world. It isn’t laid out like your typical college, in fact you really can’t see much of it at all without walking through the trees. If you enjoy hiking and nature this would be perfect. UCSC is known for its computer science and psychology majors, but has good programs for 73 different majors. Downtown Santa Cruz also makes for a great college town, with shops, and places to eat which make it the perfect place to go out with friends. If you would like to go to school somewhere breezy and often cool with an occasional hot day, this is great, but if you like it warm I would recommend looking somewhere else.
Next stop was Cal Poly San Luis Obispo which stands for California Polytechnic State University. This was also a great campus, with a more laid out campus much easier to see. This University has an incredible engineering and science program. If you visit or end up going there, you will see a 6 story science building with an interactive periodic table full of examples of each element, except the ones with short half-lifes that decay very rapidly because those are hard to show. There is a bowling alley on campus which is great if you have a love for bowling like I do, along with a recently built Chick-Fil-A attached to the cafeteria. There is also a great recreation center with basketball courts and a full gym if you enjoy working out. The town’s nickname is SLO which makes sense because the town and vibe is very slow and calm.
Last Stop was University of California, Santa Barbara. This was my favorite, because it felt like a good community. Right off campus is a downtown area with many delicious places to eat and is also home to most of the upperclassmen. The lower classmen live on campus in three different areas which each have a cafeteria next to it. One is known for its cereal selection, one for its soft serve, and everybody loves soft serve. There is also a great library and as the floors get higher the quieter it is supposed to be. UCSB is a bike enthusiasts campus, so if you go there make sure your bike skills are up to par or you will have to learn quickly. The campus also has beach access at many points which is perfect for sitting by the beach in between classes. The other downtown area is very cute and blocked off from cars so you can walk freely. There are many restaurants and campus life and activities away from campus.
Choosing a college is incredibly stressful, but it makes it a little easier when you know what you are looking for. Therefore, I hope you will check out these amazing campuses for yourself and see what feels right for you!
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