Santa Barbara City College??
Hello, I am curious if anyone has experience with Santa Barbara City College. My son is trying to decide between going there and living in their dorms (privately owned) with the hope of transferring to a UC in two years. I’m wondering how hard it is for students to get their classes etc. He will otherwise be going to a large out of state college. He loves sports, is very social, and wants to be a part of a tight knit community.
thanks so much!
Apr 11, 2019
Parent Replies
No, not specifically Santa Barbara, but I do take classes at Contra Costa College and they have an amazing system set up to ensure kids get what they need and an aggressive set of meetings to help them make the transfer to a UC. My friend's son xferred from Berkeley City College to UC Davis this year and is doing brilliantly. You DO have to be aggressive about your class registration date -- when you find out when it is, you park yourself on your computer and register that night (it's usually at 9pm for some reason? who knows.) And it'd be gorgeous to live in Santa Barbara for two years, I'd do it.
The interesting thing about SBCC is that they have the dorms - that gives him the opportunity to have a more “regular “ college experience there, which virtually no other community college does. (Our daughter almost went there; she ultimately decided on another community college, and is now here at Cal - she was accepted at all 6 UC’s she applied to - not using TAG). One of my worries was that UCSB, which the SBCC students live very close to, is a real “party school”, even now...SBCC has a great reputation for the quality of their education, among CC’s. If he enrolls in TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee), and maintains good grades, he’ll be guaranteed admission at one of the UC’s (excluding UCB and UCLA, which don’t participate). He’ll be guided into the right courses to meet the A - G (IIRC) class requirements. I’m sure there’d be a huge pipeline to UCSB, should he enjoy SB. I know nothing about sports there, but can’t imagine there wouldn’t be plenty of other like-minded kids to play with. I’d definitely encourage it!