University of California Santa Cruz
School info
3.7
Overall Quality
Reputation
3.7
Food
3.3
Clubs
3.5
Facilities
4
Internet
3.3
Location
4.3
Opportunities
3.7
Safety
3.9
Social
3.6
Happiness
4.2
Basic Information
Location
- Santa Cruz, CA
Institution Overview
- Public/Private: Public land-grant research university
- Established: 1965; 59 years ago (1965)
- Founder: Clark Kerr, Dean E. McHenry
Academic information
Degree Courses
- 74 undergraduate majors
- 66 graduate programs
- and 43 minors
Key Area
- Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Astronomy
- Adaptive Optics
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Student and Staff Numbers
- Students: 19,161 (fall 2020)
- Undergraduates: 17,207 (fall 2020)
- Postgraduates: 1,954 (fall 2020)
Notable Alumni
- Susan Wojcicki
- Andy Samberg
- Maya Rudolph
- Huey P. Newton
- Jonah Peretti
10 FAQs about this University from
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Students talk about this school
Good reviews
Overall 5
If you want to combine the advantages of a small residential college with the facilities of a major university, this is a good place to do it.
Overall 5
Great
Overall 5
Amazing school
Overall 5
amazing campus, beautiful view when i wake up i can see the ocean. Professors are super friendly and helpful.
Overall 4.9
Great School!
Overall 4.7
The place to be for lovely views and environment interaction. Lots of clubs to get involved with, and education-wise you're challenged with good professors. Guidance from my professors, major counselor, & advising counselor helped me graduate ontime and advocated for me when necessary. Much growth happened here and helped me evolve as I needed to.
Overall 4.6
Such an amazing place! The atmosphere couldn't be better; being surrounded by redwoods, critters, and other outdoorsy people make just stepping onto campus magical. The opportunities are endless as long as you attend events that interest you. The town is great, and as long as you stay socially connected online, events are always going on!
Overall 4.4
One of the best UC's for class size and teacher quality.
Overall 4.4
Amazing school. We’re all lucky to be here.
Overall 4.4
this school is great if you enjoy the nature and are very mindful of your environment. I feel that there can be more tutoring availability, but i would not choose another school
Bad reviews
Overall 1
everyone here wants to transfer out to another UC don't come here
Overall 1
Everyone here is liberal, and most get offended easily and participate in useless protests, locking the school down. Most people go home every weekend because there's nothing to do, so the school will feel like a ghost town over the weekend. You will be bored to death coming here, so go to a community college and transfer to another school instead.
Overall 1.3
If you wanna save yourself from paying and arm and a leg just for a room off campus with the EXTREMELY limited off campus housing, save yourself from all the ta strikes because it's so expensive to live here (ta strikes are also leading to grade withholding which is delaying my graduation) and a dead social life.... go anywhere else but here.
Overall 1.3
i hate it here. worst teachers EVER, everyone is annoying 0/10
Overall 1.4
Place is just a daycare for spoiled little rich kids. Not worth the money and the school and the town are dumps.
Overall 1.5
This will be my last post about this... I may not be a perfect student but I got great grades. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten into a grad program (unless they just did it to take my money).
Ucsc should be ashamed of themselves for treating people like money bags.
Even in the grad program I did ok during full covid lockdown.
Overall 1.5
So, I am a graduate student that attended during covid, I also attended for my undergrad here during covid at the initial shut down. Professors were hardly prepared to switch to an online format so I cannot in good conscious blame them and I also had some serious health problems including breaking my leg in 3 places. But I'm supposed to be back.
Overall 1.6
In one year, a student was murdered, another was raped, one bus burned down and another died in an accident. The school does not regulate bus loops or care about the students. Plus, you can't do anything or go anywhere without a car, which the school does not allow, and you aren't guaranteed housing in your second year. Pick UCR over this garbage.
Overall 1.6
Do not expect a lively environment. I visited the University of Boulder in April, and left UCSC in june. Santa Cruz does not offer much. It is constantly on the colder side (raining very consistently). Yes, that may be comfy, but when you cannot access trustworthy transportation and a dining hall (mine was closed!) it is miserable.
Overall 1.6
Campus is beautiful, but there are a lot of internal issues with this school