UC Santa Cruz Vs. University of Arizona?

Question

which one is better for academics? which for location? which for party scene?and which one for night life?

Answer 1

The worst UC school is better than ANY university in Arizona.  UCSC is ranked #79 by US News.  U of A is the best school in Arizona, and only manages a ranking of #96.  The quality of your education should be your only criteria.

As for location, Santa Cruz is on the Pacific Ocean, while most of Arizona is desert.

I can't comment on the party scene -- but by reputation, Arizona is a great place to party -- if you are in your 80s.

Answer 2

I'm a former UC Santa Cruz Student, I then transfered out. IT really depends what kind of atmosphere you want. UCSC is a very very very liberal college campus, so if you are a die hard liberal hippy, then this would be a very good campus for you. Daily protest, political activism, marijuana, environmentalists, vegans are very common on campus. Its in the middle of the forest overlooking the pacific ocean which really is beautiful. UCSC is a beautiful school. I happened to not like it because I felt that if you weren't a die hard hippy, UCSC is sort of unwelcoming to you. At least thats how I took it. The professors on campus definitley leans very left, and the problem i felt was that a great part of their own personal politics is injected into their teaching. I learned about why the Bush Adminsitration is horrible in my ocean Science class.  But hey, thats just my point of the view. UA, i don't know anything about it so I can't give you any tips. Basically for UCSC, i hear that it either turns you ultra liberal or makes you a rebel and more conservative. Then you said which one is for academics, like i said again, it depends on which kind of major you want to pursue. The physical sciences, physics, astrophysics are perhaps the best of its kind in the country at UCSC. I highly recommend you go to UCSC for its physics program (top notch) astronomy and astrophysics are also very good. When it comes to humanities, social sciences and political science, i say you watch out, because I feel that the school injects its political message into the teaching classrooms. The town is very laid back, in fact the school is very laid back. Competition is not very hard, but the people aren't stupid either. I think they just don't want to try, but have the brains to do so if they really wanted to. 4/20 is crazy, thousands of people line up on porter filed to smoke pot while hundreds of police stand helplessly watching (quite funny experience). First rain is the school tradition where on the first day of rain of the school year, everyone goes out and runs naked across campus. If you are looking for a sports school, UCSC is not it. The hippies here don't like sports, in fact they think sports is sexist and racist and oppressive to minorities. (dont ask me why, i still don't know why they make these outrageous claims). If your not used to the marijuana/pot scene, don't come here either. Everyone is a stoner, and i mean EVERYONE. The party scene isn't as crazy as you would expect. We don't have frat houses, only dorms and off campus housing. Most parties happen in dorm rooms, and they are relatively small, but they do happen often on the weekends if you know the right people. The school is relatively quiet and dead on the weekend, especailly since its in a very forested environment. Also, I would say the school is extra nice to g*y lesbians, transgender and such. Its very enviornmental and they care a lot about preserving the environment which as hippy as it is, I say its a positive aspect.

Other things to consider is class sizes, which at UCSC is quite large. I dont know what it is in comparison to UA, you have to make your own research for that. The only classes I had that was small waS MY FRESHMEN required core course around 20 people. most classes are TA discussions, because lectures are usually 100-400 people. I hope you the best of luck, if you have any questions please let me know or ring me a email [e-mail] i have plenty of experience about ucsc and be glad to share it with you.

I hope you the best of your decision. Let me know which you pick.

Answer 3

The UC system is hard to beat. It's a solid education and you'll get to have the priviledges of the whole UC system UA is also pretty cool and I've had some great friends go there. Check out Yollege. It'll let you read what students from those schools actually thought. http://www.yollege.com

Hopefully this was helpful, good luck with your decision!