Reviewed on Jan 29, 2025(Enrolled 2023)
What Students Say
Likes
- The campus is very nice to walk through as there is a lot of nature.
- The gym and athletics center is good for people trying to find a place to workout.
- UCSC has many good research opportunities.
Dislikes
- Housing is very difficult to get.
- There is no parking space and parking costs a lot of money.
- Downtown is also very expensive as it a is a tourist location.
Course Curriculum
8
- The difficulty of my curriculum is medium.
- My curriculum has a lot of theory and applications as it is an engineering degree.
- A student takes three courses per quarter. If the course is in-person, then there are 3 hours of class time per week for 10 weeks.
Admission Experience
- Applied to:
- University of California, Santa Cruz : Admitted
- University of California, Riverside : Accepted
- University of California, Davis : Waitlisted
- University of California, Los Angeles : Rejected
- University of California, San Diego : Rejected
- University of California, Berkeley : Rejected
- University of California, Santa Barbara : Rejected
- San Jose State: Accepted
- I think I was not accepted to a few colleges because my college essays were weak. I also did not have good extracurriculars.
- I chose UCSC because it was close to my home. It also had good research opportunities. The most time consuming and stressful part of the application were the college essays. UC applications require the applicant to write 4 personal essays on topics that they provide. At the time of my application, SAT scores were not being evaluated. AP scores were the only test scores that the colleges accepted. I had mostly 4's and one 5 on my AP exams. The overall admission process was stressful.
- I applied to start in fall quarter. Fall quarter is generally the time were most students start their college. Admission process took most of the summer. First, the student has to pay a commitment fee. Then, the student has to submit documents. Then there is an orientation course that the student must complete in August. Then they move in to their college in September.
Class Schedule
8
- There are also labs and discussion sections for certain classes.
- The number of students can vary from 30 to 300 students per class.
- It depends on the type of class it is. Online classes are done online but can also have discussion sections in person.
- I do not have a rough estimate of indian students in my course but there are many.
Faculty
8
- In most of my classes, 1 teacher teaches about 300 students. This ratio is fine as there are large lecture halls.
- The teaching method depends on the professor. Some professors are very boring and difficult to learn from. Other professors care about student's education and give them proper resources and interactive lectures to assist them.
- Professors have teacher assistants and office hours to help students. The faculty member I admire the most is Professor Dhar as he is an excellent physics professor.
Campus Life
8
- At the start of the academic year, the college hosts something called Cornucopia where all the clubs advertise themselves.
- There are many clubs at UCSC with various topics and events.
- Out campus has two libraries, an athletic center, and a health center. UCSC takes part in soccer, tennis, and swimming.
- There are also clubs related to religion and culture so there are many cultural events everywhere.
Part Time Jobs
- Each class that I have taken has about 2 to 4 TAs. It depends on the class size. There are also tutors for certain classes. The tutors can get paid 26 dollars per hour. There are also Resident Advisors (RA).
- They look after people in housing. RAs get paid through free housing and free meal plans. The maximum work time for students is 20 hours per week. Students can work as dining hall workers or have an IT position on campus.
- I have seen Indian students work in dining halls and in libraries. In the libraries, they work for IT jobs. These jobs can be as simple as checking if printers work or checking network issues.
- Students can also work for professors. Finding a job is not that difficult. There are many positions on-campus as well as off-campus. Students can apply to on-campus jobs through Handshake website.
Placement
8
- Depending on the degree, a student can earn anywhere from $50000 to $200000 annually. I expect somewhere around $70000 annually after graduation.
- There are many IT companies that take students. These companies include Intel, Google, Nvidia, and Meta.
- Students apply to jobs through any application website. They can choose to apply through Handshake but Handshake is not reliable for off-campus or high-paying jobs.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- For my freshman year, you have to take on-campus housing as it is required. You also have to get a meal plan.
- The prices are on the UCSC website. My sophomore year, I applied to on-campus apartments and got a room.
- My current rent is 1400 monthly. There are no utility payments and there are 6 people in my apartment. There is a living room. kitchen, two large triple bedrooms with 3 people in each room, and a bathroom.
- The on-campus housing is very nice and convenient. Housing in Santa Cruz is a very difficult thing to find. Students that are lucky stay on campus. Or else, they have to find places of campus. It is the same for Indian students.
Exams
- No exams were required. AP exams were optional. I had to submit proofs of my scores through College Board.
- College Board is in charge of AP testing. There was no interview for my application.
- The closest thing to an interview were personal questions that the applicant had to answer.
- There were 8 questions and the student was told to answer 4. These questions could be found on the UC admission website.
Fees
- The fees are based on in-state and out-of-state tuition. If a person proves residency in their current state, then they pay in-state tuition.
- In-state tuition is cheaper. A majority of the tuition is academics. Students may have to take a college provided health insurance plan or they can waive it. Having the college health insurance costs more.
- Lastly, housing is also part of tuition if a student has on-campus housing. If students live in dorms, they have to also pay for a meal plan. The meal plans and rents are shown on the UCSC website.
- Students pay the academic tuition every quarter. Housing tuition can be paid monthly or every quarter. The student gets to choose. My current housing is $1400 montly. The school has good transportation so it is easy to travel of campus.
Scholarship
- I did not receive any scholarships. I don't know anyone that have received scholarships. However, people can apply for FAFSA to receive financial aid.
- The FAFSA depends on the student's and their parents' financial income. FAFSA is available for U.S citizens and permanent residents.
- Students can also apply for scholarships during their student application.
- They are asked to select if they associate with any group that can potentially give them a scholarship.
