And the senioritis kicks in.... now.
I feel happy
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Nick Foghorn Leghorn
- Posts: 843
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I feel happy
When you receive one of these from the college you've fantasized about attending, it has a way of brightening your day.
And the senioritis kicks in.... now.
And the senioritis kicks in.... now.
Count of Norfolk
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Hypatia Agnesi
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Oh yeah, I totally know what you're talking about. I hope to get some of those when I apply for grad school next year.
Mmm...Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, UCLA... I can keep going, too.
(It was great last year to get University of California acceptances rolling in, though, and to have my pick of the system (I finally settled on transferring to Santa Barbara, over LA, San Diego, and Santa Cruz).
Mmm...Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, UCLA... I can keep going, too.
(It was great last year to get University of California acceptances rolling in, though, and to have my pick of the system (I finally settled on transferring to Santa Barbara, over LA, San Diego, and Santa Cruz).
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Krasniy Yastreb
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- Location: Smotretka, Lunaris
Academia! AAAARGH!
Hehe, congrats on getting that Mr. Forghorn. That's another couple of years in the bag you don't have to worry about.
Hehe, congrats on getting that Mr. Forghorn. That's another couple of years in the bag you don't have to worry about.
Sir Krasniy Yastreb Ly'Piscator, KcOMI
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Duke and Arx-Piscator of Brookshire
+ Baron of Vorpmadal
+ Count of Lunaris
+ Knight Comrade of the Order of Mischievous Intent
+ MoMA SDI Director
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Duke and Arx-Piscator of Brookshire
+ Baron of Vorpmadal
+ Count of Lunaris
+ Knight Comrade of the Order of Mischievous Intent
+ MoMA SDI Director
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AngelGuardian93
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H4773r 3lfs0n
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H4773r 3lfs0n
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Hertug Gordon II
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:15 pm
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Hypatia Agnesi
- Posts: 1034
- Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:06 am
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Last March I went on a 4 day road trip with my dad to visit UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. I had already visited UC Santa Cruz (and determined it was not for me), and I had not re-applied to UC Berkeley after being rejected the year before, I decided I wanted to move away from home (and family stress and obligations!) for undergrad, and Berkeley is within reasonable commuting distance of my family's home in Fremont. The other UC campuses I'd skipped were UC Merced (only been open a couple of years), UC Davis (mostly agriculture, plus bad inland San Joiquine river delta air for my asthma), and UC Riverside (again with the bad air with LA smog and heat). I would say that my asthma was a major deciding factor, and in fact UCSC has cold, foggy, coastal air which I had found before made my asthma worse. And the evergreens everywhere on that campus didn't help (as I'm allergic to their pollen).
Now keep in mind, first, that all 5 UCs above that I applied to are excellent choices, and I had been accepted to all of them the year before (long story about why I didn't transfer then). Also, going into the visits I had a pretty big leaning toward UCSB, because it seemed like a nice place, a friendly campus, etc., and it had other points going for it (see below).
So, first, there was UCSD. After spending several hours walking around the campus and discovering that it was both HUGE and SPREAD OUT, it started to fall down the list a bit. Also, I hadn't been accepted to any of my top few college choices there (there are 6, all with different requirements), so it fell a few more points on that. Add to this the facts that I could not get on-campus housing as a transfer and the fact that San Diego is roughly 500 miles from Fremont where my family is, and that flying back and forth for holidays would be pretty expensive (relatively speaking, among my choices), and UCSD kept falling on my choice list. UCSD did, however, have an excellent math department, and it's currently among my top choices for graduate school.
Next up was Irvine, which I had visited before and which also did not have a noticeably prestigious math program. While I was on campus and visiting my good friend who is a psych/fine art major there, we found the math department and were greeted with some rather confusing and not quite nice attitudes. I was less than impressed, and combined with the heat in Irvine and the lack of prestige in that (rather rude) department, Irvine's top selling points were the housing options (which were not guartanteed) and my friend's presence. I left with UCI practically crossed of my list.
When we visited UCLA later in the same day, it was unfortunately starting to rain and only rained harder the longer we drove around the campus. I really fell in love with the campus (even from the car, in the rain), and the urban environment was really calling to me at some level. I had some hope of on campus housing (or at least nearby housing otherwise), which was definitely better than UCSD. Like UCSD, UCLA has a very prestigious math department, and I would say the two are about on par, or UCLA is a bit better. Before leaving, I ran in to visit the math department, and I got to chat wtih a few people there and get some literature. By the time I left UCLA, I was starting to have serious doubts about my preference for UCSB. Out of all of my choices, UCLA is probably the most all-around prestigious school I could have chosen. (Have any of you even heard of UC San Diego, let alone UC Irvine?) Oh, and I mentioned above that I was concerned with air quality, but apparently UCLA has pretty good air (which my dad was able to tell me after having lived there for a few years in the 70s), so that wasn't an issue.
The next day, we visited UCSB, and I really fell in love with that campus even more than I had with UCLA. It was a bit spread out, but nowhere near as bad as UCSD, and the campus was nearly flat (a major selling point, with my bad knees). The architecture appealed to me, the area appealed to me, and the university as a whole just seemed a bit more comfortable for me than any of my other choices. The math department here is good, and it's required courses looked great. There was a chance of living on campus, and even then, there were lots of apartments across the street from campus in Isla Vista (1 mile square of nearly solid apartments, many full of students). The main detractors were the lack of an urban environment nearby and the party scene in IV, which I could of course just not participate in.
When I left UCSB to come home, I was very torn between UCSB and UCLA, because both were such good choices and seemed to be calling to me much stronger than the others. It came down, really, to urban (in a pretty good part of LA and with decent air) vs. the more suburban and beach-oriented Santa Barbara greater metropolitan area (with very clean air). After quite a bit of fretting, I finally settled on UCSB because I was more comfortable there, and since I realized that my future academic career would rely more on where I earned my PhD than where I earned my BA/BS, I could sacrifice UCLA for the time being and come back to it for grad school.
Now that I've been here several months, I'm very glad that I chose UC Santa Barbara. The campus is great to be on, and I still smile just about every time I look around and see the pretty trees and grass and pathways and look at the soft sand-colored brick buildings. The weather is some of the best that I've lived in (a bit warmer and milder than the Bay Area 300 miles northwest), and it has the cleanest air in California. My asthma has been better than I can remember it being in a long time, and the weater and my new low-stress life have the added benefit of not making me sick. I did end up getting on-campus housing (in my last choice dorm, sadly), but it turned out to be a moot point, because I'm now living with the boyfriend I met only *3 weeks* after I moved down here in August. I've been living here at his house essentially since September, and it's the best living situation I've ever had. The combination of living with a significant other and living away from my family, with a life that's centered around my schooling, is very low-stress for me. As an added plus that I could not have forseen, Mike also just happens to be involved in all of the social circles I wanted to find (renfaires, Rocky Horror Picture Show (in the cast no less), rpgs, miscelaneous geeks, etc.). I had actually been planning on meeting and dating another student, possibly a fellow math or science major, but I'm very pleased I met Mike on OkCupid, because I'd be missing out on a lot otherwise.
The short answer about my criteria, after all of that, is that I first narrowed down my choices by excellent, very good, good, and unremarkable math departments, followed by various location and campus factors (including the building layout and relative hilliness of the campus, housing options, and travelling costs), and then by the surrounding area. After than I was left with UCLA and UCSB vying for first place, and I followed my gut and comfort level by choosing UCSB. The beach culture isn't really me, but I sort of like being around it, and the people are generally pretty nice (not to mention pretty to look at). I had planned on buying a bike once I moved here to get around IV and around campus, but I put it off for the first few weeks, and it's just as well since I'm living a few miles away from campus now, and it wouldn't be practical.
I mentioned above that UC Santa Cruz's air was too cold and foggy for me, being on the coast and all, and fortunately Santa Barbara is warmer by several degrees, enough that the fog doesn't make me cough or feel bad. The lack of coughing and stress have helped to the point that I have only been sick twice since moving down here: once during the first 3-4 weeks I was here (my apartment was FULL of mold, 3 blocks from the beach and in the relative landlord nelect of Isla Vista apartments), and second, after I got back from Christmas vacation (though I'd been sick when I first got home, too, and I blame severe changes in air for both).
Anyway, sorry that was so long. I can clarify some points if there's something more specific you wanted to know. On the financial side, I believe all of the campuses were about $20,000 per year for tuition, housing, and other living expenses. I'm hoping that next year will be significantly less, since I will be paying far less in rent to share Mike's room than I am currently still forced by lease agreement to pay for my dorm room ($3000/quarter).
Now, my search for graduate schools has begun, and my housing and financial considerations for that have changed, to the extent that I am expecting funding of some sort (ideally full or nearly full funding) and expecting to live in family/couples housing. Ideally, I won't have to pay any tuition for my first 2-4 years and will get some or all of my expected living and housing expenses paid for through fellowships and TA-ships. Also, ideally, I will be accepted at UC Berkeley or UCLA (so that I can stay in California) or even at Harvard or Princeton.
Now keep in mind, first, that all 5 UCs above that I applied to are excellent choices, and I had been accepted to all of them the year before (long story about why I didn't transfer then). Also, going into the visits I had a pretty big leaning toward UCSB, because it seemed like a nice place, a friendly campus, etc., and it had other points going for it (see below).
So, first, there was UCSD. After spending several hours walking around the campus and discovering that it was both HUGE and SPREAD OUT, it started to fall down the list a bit. Also, I hadn't been accepted to any of my top few college choices there (there are 6, all with different requirements), so it fell a few more points on that. Add to this the facts that I could not get on-campus housing as a transfer and the fact that San Diego is roughly 500 miles from Fremont where my family is, and that flying back and forth for holidays would be pretty expensive (relatively speaking, among my choices), and UCSD kept falling on my choice list. UCSD did, however, have an excellent math department, and it's currently among my top choices for graduate school.
Next up was Irvine, which I had visited before and which also did not have a noticeably prestigious math program. While I was on campus and visiting my good friend who is a psych/fine art major there, we found the math department and were greeted with some rather confusing and not quite nice attitudes. I was less than impressed, and combined with the heat in Irvine and the lack of prestige in that (rather rude) department, Irvine's top selling points were the housing options (which were not guartanteed) and my friend's presence. I left with UCI practically crossed of my list.
When we visited UCLA later in the same day, it was unfortunately starting to rain and only rained harder the longer we drove around the campus. I really fell in love with the campus (even from the car, in the rain), and the urban environment was really calling to me at some level. I had some hope of on campus housing (or at least nearby housing otherwise), which was definitely better than UCSD. Like UCSD, UCLA has a very prestigious math department, and I would say the two are about on par, or UCLA is a bit better. Before leaving, I ran in to visit the math department, and I got to chat wtih a few people there and get some literature. By the time I left UCLA, I was starting to have serious doubts about my preference for UCSB. Out of all of my choices, UCLA is probably the most all-around prestigious school I could have chosen. (Have any of you even heard of UC San Diego, let alone UC Irvine?) Oh, and I mentioned above that I was concerned with air quality, but apparently UCLA has pretty good air (which my dad was able to tell me after having lived there for a few years in the 70s), so that wasn't an issue.
The next day, we visited UCSB, and I really fell in love with that campus even more than I had with UCLA. It was a bit spread out, but nowhere near as bad as UCSD, and the campus was nearly flat (a major selling point, with my bad knees). The architecture appealed to me, the area appealed to me, and the university as a whole just seemed a bit more comfortable for me than any of my other choices. The math department here is good, and it's required courses looked great. There was a chance of living on campus, and even then, there were lots of apartments across the street from campus in Isla Vista (1 mile square of nearly solid apartments, many full of students). The main detractors were the lack of an urban environment nearby and the party scene in IV, which I could of course just not participate in.
When I left UCSB to come home, I was very torn between UCSB and UCLA, because both were such good choices and seemed to be calling to me much stronger than the others. It came down, really, to urban (in a pretty good part of LA and with decent air) vs. the more suburban and beach-oriented Santa Barbara greater metropolitan area (with very clean air). After quite a bit of fretting, I finally settled on UCSB because I was more comfortable there, and since I realized that my future academic career would rely more on where I earned my PhD than where I earned my BA/BS, I could sacrifice UCLA for the time being and come back to it for grad school.
Now that I've been here several months, I'm very glad that I chose UC Santa Barbara. The campus is great to be on, and I still smile just about every time I look around and see the pretty trees and grass and pathways and look at the soft sand-colored brick buildings. The weather is some of the best that I've lived in (a bit warmer and milder than the Bay Area 300 miles northwest), and it has the cleanest air in California. My asthma has been better than I can remember it being in a long time, and the weater and my new low-stress life have the added benefit of not making me sick. I did end up getting on-campus housing (in my last choice dorm, sadly), but it turned out to be a moot point, because I'm now living with the boyfriend I met only *3 weeks* after I moved down here in August. I've been living here at his house essentially since September, and it's the best living situation I've ever had. The combination of living with a significant other and living away from my family, with a life that's centered around my schooling, is very low-stress for me. As an added plus that I could not have forseen, Mike also just happens to be involved in all of the social circles I wanted to find (renfaires, Rocky Horror Picture Show (in the cast no less), rpgs, miscelaneous geeks, etc.). I had actually been planning on meeting and dating another student, possibly a fellow math or science major, but I'm very pleased I met Mike on OkCupid, because I'd be missing out on a lot otherwise.
The short answer about my criteria, after all of that, is that I first narrowed down my choices by excellent, very good, good, and unremarkable math departments, followed by various location and campus factors (including the building layout and relative hilliness of the campus, housing options, and travelling costs), and then by the surrounding area. After than I was left with UCLA and UCSB vying for first place, and I followed my gut and comfort level by choosing UCSB. The beach culture isn't really me, but I sort of like being around it, and the people are generally pretty nice (not to mention pretty to look at). I had planned on buying a bike once I moved here to get around IV and around campus, but I put it off for the first few weeks, and it's just as well since I'm living a few miles away from campus now, and it wouldn't be practical.
I mentioned above that UC Santa Cruz's air was too cold and foggy for me, being on the coast and all, and fortunately Santa Barbara is warmer by several degrees, enough that the fog doesn't make me cough or feel bad. The lack of coughing and stress have helped to the point that I have only been sick twice since moving down here: once during the first 3-4 weeks I was here (my apartment was FULL of mold, 3 blocks from the beach and in the relative landlord nelect of Isla Vista apartments), and second, after I got back from Christmas vacation (though I'd been sick when I first got home, too, and I blame severe changes in air for both).
Anyway, sorry that was so long. I can clarify some points if there's something more specific you wanted to know. On the financial side, I believe all of the campuses were about $20,000 per year for tuition, housing, and other living expenses. I'm hoping that next year will be significantly less, since I will be paying far less in rent to share Mike's room than I am currently still forced by lease agreement to pay for my dorm room ($3000/quarter).
Now, my search for graduate schools has begun, and my housing and financial considerations for that have changed, to the extent that I am expecting funding of some sort (ideally full or nearly full funding) and expecting to live in family/couples housing. Ideally, I won't have to pay any tuition for my first 2-4 years and will get some or all of my expected living and housing expenses paid for through fellowships and TA-ships. Also, ideally, I will be accepted at UC Berkeley or UCLA (so that I can stay in California) or even at Harvard or Princeton.
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Hertug Gordon II
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:15 pm
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
I will write more when I get a chance but that was a good explanation.
I got into all UC's except where I wanted to go Berkely. So i went to UCLA. But UCD would have been my #3 choice (berekely #1, la#2, #3ucd)
anyway i have just a second i will comment more later, but my first year at LA i applied to transfer to Cornell, Virginia, & UNC. I got into UNC & Virginia, and at the last second i decided to stick around LA and it has paid off.
I will comment more later as I said because I only have a minute but I go to DP & isle vista once a year every spring if not more and UCSB has a party repuation it can never live up to (obviously, being a repuatation of unrealistically great standards), but it is a unbelievably nice place to live, and i imagine go to school.
I think the only UC's i didn't apply to were for obvious reasons: riverside & irvine
I got into all UC's except where I wanted to go Berkely. So i went to UCLA. But UCD would have been my #3 choice (berekely #1, la#2, #3ucd)
anyway i have just a second i will comment more later, but my first year at LA i applied to transfer to Cornell, Virginia, & UNC. I got into UNC & Virginia, and at the last second i decided to stick around LA and it has paid off.
I will comment more later as I said because I only have a minute but I go to DP & isle vista once a year every spring if not more and UCSB has a party repuation it can never live up to (obviously, being a repuatation of unrealistically great standards), but it is a unbelievably nice place to live, and i imagine go to school.
I think the only UC's i didn't apply to were for obvious reasons: riverside & irvine
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osmose1000
- Posts: 1462
- Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:35 pm
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I'm stuck between wanting to get the hell out of Florida and getting a free ride through undergrad thanks to Florida's Bright Futures scholarship program. (Anyone above 3.0 gets 75% paid, 3.5 and above 100%, the only part that I'm worried about qualifying for is getting the amount of community service hours required, although I'm waiting for a local hospital to call an orientation for volunteering there).
Good thing I've got at least another year to sweat it out.
Good thing I've got at least another year to sweat it out.
CENSOR'D
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Sir Ophiuchus
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:34 pm
- Location: Arkham, Massachusetts.
Whoa, that story puts my one-day trip to TCD (Trinity College Dublin) and UCD (University College Dublin) in its place. I only live an hour and a half from home - one of the few joys of a small country.
Heh, the only entrance scholarship Trinity offers is 127 euro in book tokens for two years. But no fees ... so it balances out. And for all you Americans who can't comprehend other currencies (:)), 127 euro is about 150 dollars.
Congrats, Nick! The scene here is less competitive (slightly), but I remember the tenseness of waiting all too well!
Heh, the only entrance scholarship Trinity offers is 127 euro in book tokens for two years. But no fees ... so it balances out. And for all you Americans who can't comprehend other currencies (:)), 127 euro is about 150 dollars.
Congrats, Nick! The scene here is less competitive (slightly), but I remember the tenseness of waiting all too well!
I dislike arguments: they are always vulgar, and often convincing.
- Oscar Wilde
- Oscar Wilde
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Hypatia Agnesi
- Posts: 1034
- Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:06 am
- Location: San Jose, CA
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I had a 3.5 lower-division GPA (which is pretty good), and I didn't get scholorships anywhere, nor is my family poor enough to qualify for financial aid aside from loan offers (my dad is an electrical engineer and programmer). It's annoying. Very annoying. Now my grandmother is the one who is paying for my education (ie, I'm not in student debt yet), and my dad is paying for my general expenses.
Oh, and I had already visited UC Berkeley and UCSC because I lived about an hour from both. Santa Cruz is a trip through San Jose and over the (rather small) mountains, and Berkeley is about a 50 minute trip north by BART (the commuter rail in the East Bay and San Francisco).
I still REALLY hope I can get into Berkeley for grad. They're campus is gorgeous (and a block from BART, with lots of shuttles around and through parts of campus), and the Math department website about their graduate program got me very excited. Same thing with UCLA, but I think I'd want Berkeley even more. And now that I've lived away from my family, I think I can justify and would even enjoy living near, but not with, my family in the Bay Area.
Oh, and I had already visited UC Berkeley and UCSC because I lived about an hour from both. Santa Cruz is a trip through San Jose and over the (rather small) mountains, and Berkeley is about a 50 minute trip north by BART (the commuter rail in the East Bay and San Francisco).
I still REALLY hope I can get into Berkeley for grad. They're campus is gorgeous (and a block from BART, with lots of shuttles around and through parts of campus), and the Math department website about their graduate program got me very excited. Same thing with UCLA, but I think I'd want Berkeley even more. And now that I've lived away from my family, I think I can justify and would even enjoy living near, but not with, my family in the Bay Area.
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