Colleges University of California—Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara www.ucsb.edu

University of California–Santa Barbara is a public institution that was founded in 1909. It’s set on a 1,000-acre campus in a suburban location 100 miles up the coast from Los Angeles atop cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Students can get involved in any of the more than 400 clubs and organizations on campus. UCSB provides housing to about 30% of students in eight residence halls and several university apartment complexes. Non-varsity students can join a club team such as cycling, surfing, rugby or ski and snowboard. Notable at UCSB is that undergraduate students have the option to apply for admissions into the College of Creative Studies, which emphasizes focused studies in one of eight disciplines: art, biology, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science, literature, mathematics, music composition or physics.

Academics

UCSB is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is classified among R1 Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activities. The campus is home to 10 national institutes and centers. Among them are the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Materials Research Laboratory, both funded by the National Science Foundation. UCSB encompasses five schools and colleges, the largest of which is the College of Letters and Science, serving undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate programs at UCSB include the highly ranked College of Engineering, The Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, and Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. The student-faculty ratio at UC Santa Barbara is 17:1, and the school has 57% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. Popular majors include Economics, Research & Experimental Psychology, and Sociology.

Special Highlights

LEAP. LEAP provides first-year freshmen and transfer students intensive leadership training and access to leadership opportunities. Students will get the chance to work with a student mentor to further guide them in an area of interest. This program not only provides leadership training, it also gives students tools to better understand themselves as a growing leader, student, and unique individual. This is a great way to learn about yourself, your community, and leadership.

AIM Photonics. The AIM Photonics Future Leaders Program for Undergraduates is a summer research program designed to provide the technical and professional training required for careers in the photonics industry. Science and engineering undergraduates will work alongside grad students and postdoc researchers to gain first-hand experience in scientific investigation. Research areas include Telecom/Datacom, RF Analog Applications, PIC Sensors, and PIC Array Technologies.

School Mission & Unique Qualities

UC Santa Barbara earned “No. 1 Green School” among public universities by Princeton Review. Bren School’s Bren Hall is among the “greenest” buildings in the nation; the campus has the largest portfolio of LEED-certified buildings in the UC system. UCSB’s Physics Dept. is considered the birthplace of practical scanning microscopes, especially atomic force microscopes, widely used throughout the world. Tracing the school’s history, originally, the regents envisioned a small, several thousand–student liberal arts college that would be a so-called “Williams College of the West,” at Santa Barbara. Chronologically, UCSB is the third general-education campus of the University of California, after Berkeley and UCLA. UCSB is one of a few universities in the United States with its own beach. The campus, bordered on two sides by the Pacific Ocean, has miles of coastline, its own lagoon, and a rocky extension known as “Campus Point”. There are also numerous walking and bicycle paths across campus and along the beach.

Student Reviews…

“UCSB represents everything that is good in the world. Students are kind, smart, and curious. Professors are accessible and want you to succeed. The academics are rigorous but prepare students for professions at top companies. Campus life is lively, and the scenery is marvelous.”