University of California, Santa Barbara
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Undeclared – Hoping to declare in Communications
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: African-American Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m on a [varsity sports team], I’m in a Sales Workshop Club, and I’m in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: African-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school in San Diego, CA with about 800 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Undeclared – Hoping to declare in Communications
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m on a [varsity sports team], I’m in a Sales Workshop Club, and I’m in a fraternity.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
Being part of [my sports team] and being part of a fraternity impacted how I’m living the most. That’s what I spend the most time doing.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for the Communications prerequisites?
I’ve taken two or three History classes and it’s a lot of reading and essays.
Is there anything you feel UCSB has done especially well or poorly academically?
For especially well, in the 10-week span we have you get a full grasp of the course you’re taking. One thing that’s bad about it is if you’re not proactive and stay on top of it then you can fall behind really fast. It goes hand in hand where you’re getting a lot of information but you have to be taking it in and retaining it.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I’d say it’s really collaborative in the sense you’re working with people in your class to understand the material best. If you get all this information really fast but a lot of people don’t understand it, you’re going to go to the library that night to work together. If someone knows something I don’t know but I know something they don’t we’ll share that information with each other so we both understand it better.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re really accessible. They have a lot of open office hours, and the TAs have office hours as well.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I feel like people are open to other views and ideas. That creates a learning environment where I want to hear other sides and ideas. People aren’t angry toward other ideas.
How is managing both your coursework and your sport?
At first, it was hard because I didn’t know how demanding my classes would be. I didn’t know how to split up my time, but during my second year I feel like it’s gotten a lot easier. It was hard at first to start.
How do you like the quarter system? How has that impacted your experience?
It’s hit or miss for me. If you look at it one way, we are going through a lot more classes and if you use the quarter system well it can lead to graduating early. Then again, it can also turn into a slippery slope where if you try and do that but mess up, and before you know it you’re failing two classes in a quarter.
Reasons to Attend
1) The location and set-up of the whole area. It’s a college town.
2) The school itself is a top university, but there’s a balance of enjoying yourself in college and getting a good education.
3) I like the living situation. Once you move out of the freshman dorms you have a whole house to yourself.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you don’t enjoy the beach vibe of the area and you’re more of a homebody, this might not be the place. A lot of people here are very active and social.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Tropicana Gardens, which is an off-campus apartment building, with six athletes
Sophomore: My fraternity house
How was transitioning from San Diego, CA to Santa Barbara, CA in terms of location?
It’s not that big of a change. Where I’m from I’ve always been near the beach and the weather is the same. I get a lot of the same vibes here as I do back home.
How did living in your unique off-campus location impact your freshman year?
I didn’t have the experience other people living in dorms had. I was a lot closer to those six people. In the suite, we had a bunch of space compared to the dorms, so we weren’t going out and talking to a bunch of people in other suites unless we actually knew them. You only met people when you went out of your way to meet them.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel like it’s not an issue for me. I always see the police patrolling and there are a lot of safety precautions.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
If I’m feeling like it, I’ll go out and party. If not, I’ll just go hang out in other friend’s apartments. A nice thing about Isla Vista is since everyone lives so close I can go out and party, but if not, I can just go to a friend’s house and not be at my own place to hang out.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Who hosts the events?
Either athlete or fraternity parties. People usually go out on Fridays and Saturdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the fraternities sometimes throw parties too.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
It would be either going downtown and walking around or going shopping. Or, it’s just hanging out with friends not partying.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife at UCSB?
It has a pretty big impact. Greek life has the majority of the parties a lot of people go to. [As a freshman guy it wasn’t hard] because I was on my sports team so I’d go to those parties because I knew the athletes. I knew people in fraternities so for me it wasn’t really a problem. I could see how it would be a problem for a regular student who just goes to school and wants to go out. Unless someone you know is throwing a party you can’t just walk into a fraternity or athlete party without knowing someone. [About 9% of males join fraternities and 14% of women join sororities.]
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with them. I feel like whenever you want to do something you’ll find it on the weekends.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met a lot of them from my sports team because we’d hang out a lot. One of the members in my fraternity was on the team as well, so he brought me out to rush and then I met a bunch of guys I clicked with instantly. I knew some of them already just from around the school, so once I was in the fraternity and around them all the time is when we got close.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UCSB?
The social scene is set up for big weekends. There will be a lot of houses on Del Playa [Drive] right next to the beach that throws parties. Even if you don’t know anyone throwing a party, you can just go out and walk on Del Playa and maybe find a party with a lot of people and walk-in.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
They mix really well socially. In my fraternity, there’s a big mix of races and sexualities. That’s not an issue I’ve seen where people don’t hang out with others based on race. [The undergraduate population is 32% White, 27% Hispanic, 20% Asian, and 3% Black.]
How would you describe the Black/African-American community? How strong is it?
I’d say it’s pretty strong. You’ll see a lot of people throughout the campus and they have the Black Student Union on campus so they try to get all the African Americans together and let them know there is that community here if they’re looking for it.
How would you describe the student body?
A lot of people have the same characteristics. It’s the whole work hard play hard scene where everyone knows this is a top university and you need to study and get good grades, but we live in such a nice area and it’s still college so we’re going to enjoy our time here. We’re going to go out on the weekends but we’re also going to study throughout the week and do well on our midterms and finals.
How do you like the size of UCSB? How has that impacted your experience? [UCSB has about 23,000 undergraduates.]
It’s a pretty good size. It’s a big school but I don’t feel like it’s overwhelmingly big to where I don’t know anyone. Wherever I’m at, either a class or walking through campus, I see familiar faces so I’m comfortable in that sense.
Careers
Financial Aid
Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I’ve emailed questions back and forth with them going into my freshman year. They were proactive and responsive to my questions. They gave me the full scope of things and how it works. A lot of questions can be answered on their website as well.