What a beautiful beautiful beautiful school what a beautiful blue beautiful beautiful place…read morethe people are really cool here too. there's a lot of diversity actually it's a huge school so there's a lot of people I had so many years of free counseling amazing course counseling I really like all the extracurriculars offered here having been out of college for a long time I've never been anywhere like this I lived some of my best years here

My first time to the University of California, Santa Barbara was for the 3rd Summit on Diversity in…read morethe Minerals, Metals, and Materials Professions in July 2018. I arrived the night before the start of the diversity summit. The campus was well marked on the streets, though I did get lost trying to find my lodging accommodations. Slowing down as I drove my car, I eventually spotted a building matching the description I had. The workers were friendly and clearly directed me to where parking was for those of us attending the summit. I had signed up for the conference of my own initiative following attending a conference for the corresponding professions in March 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. Finding parking that first night was my first sigh of relief I had made it. Then, walking my small suitcase towards the lodging building, I noticed a tunnel with lights running parallel to the tunnel entrances/exits up the sides and across the top of the tunnel. Pausing to take a look, someone on a bicycle rode through the tunnel and the lights blinked as they passed each strand. So cool. My lodging was comfortable, I was happy I had chosen to pay for everything myself in addition to choosing the summit myself. It helped build my confidence that I could call the shots in my own career. Summit sessions were held across the following two days in multiple on-campus buildings. Talent brought in spanned academia, national laboratory researchers, and people in industry. A few talk highlights included a presentation by a man from a company that had decided to pull his slides at the last minute for proprietary (intellectual property) reasons - he had to improv his entire talk. Another man, from my university (University of California, Berkeley) and a different department (Materials Science and Engineering) commented on how he hoped some day a Nobel Prize (corresponding disciplines: Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry) would be awarded to someone who cared enough about diversity to attend this diversity summit in advance of being awarded the prize. I enjoyed the on-campus meals (catered) we shared together as well. The weather was beautiful and we could watch an on-campus lagoon for wildlife. A birdwatching guide and binoculars had been provided in my room. All around, I had a lovely time.

Santa Rosa Hall is a two story residence hall on campus. It's one of the three "shorties" (along…read morewith Anacapa Hall and Santa Cruz Hall). It's also the one with the worst layout, with long winding hallways and unnecessary turns to get to your destination. The floors are coed, but all the boys live in the same hallways, and the girls live together in adjoining hallways. There's two living learning communities in Santa Rosa: Black Scholars (east wing) and the Wellness Floor (west wing). Dorm rooms are 169 square feet (13 by 13), most of them holding three people. There's bunk beds (XL Twin mattress), one lofted bed, three desks, and an extra clothes drawer for the third person. Closets are decently sized, with two drawers inside. In addition, there's shelf space above the doorway and inside the closets. Dorm service is every two weeks; they vacuum your floor and empty your trash cans. Bathrooms are communal style. Depending on how long your hallway is, you'll be sharing the bathrooms with thirty to sixty people. I never had to wait to use the shower, and it can get relatively empty since most people are out. The bathrooms are clean daily during the weekdays (less during the weekends). Since you're living with others, people do make a mess inside. Santa Rosa is the oldest dorm. The west side of Santa Rosa has major plumbing issues, they had to close the bathrooms for a week to fix them. Like the rest of the dorms, there's study lounges, kitchenettes, laundry rooms, and a recreation room. Sometime unique is that Santa Rosa has its own small gym on the second floor, and a Steinway grand piano in the formal lounge. Outside, there's patio seating and barbeque grills. The sand volleyball and basketball courts are also nearby. What's great about Santa Rosa is its central location compared to the rest of the dorms. You have great access to the other dorms, the dining commons, and the University Center. Across the street is the Psychology building. I have friends who enter the building to get to a dining common to save travel time, and they live in different dorms. It's also relatively quieter compared to the rest. If people want to play ping pong and Anacapa's recreation room is full, they'll come here because chances are it's empty. Depending on the incoming class, that could change any year.

"The Allosphere Research Facility is a 3-story high spherical space in which fully immersive,…read moreinteractive, stereoscopic/pluriphonic virtual environments can be experienced. Housed in the California Nanosystems Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Allosphere enables works in which art and science contribute equally and serves as an advanced research instrument in two overlapping senses." That was the official sciency bit. Layman description is more like, "WHOA!!" Followed by crapping your pants. Someone twittered a heads up to me that the Allosphere was having a tour today at 1 pm, and seeing how I was taking my lunch break at 1 pm, I thought, "why not?" Sucks that a visit here requires enabling the parking monster with $3 for an hour's visit, but the parking structure #10 is connected to the building, so at least you don't spend 30 minutes of your precious hour hoofing it from some parking lot in a different zip code. Inside, it's like your own little I-max, but you're immersed in detailed imagery of molecular structures. Static 3-d renderings can be rotated and enhanced, with additional illustrations of ionic movement. If that's not mind-blowing enough, the images are "sonified," or translated into audio, so you get a surround sound of pure electronica, and these are also projected within 3 planes, so as you move through the molecules, the sound moves with you. When I visited there were only a few speakers throughout the sphere. In time, there will be some 400 speakers. The guide did not go into too much detail of the commercial and educational value of this project, it was probably way too highbrow for us. But anyone with a joint and a big bag of doritos can see the vast entertainment value.

I said it in a previous review, so here I am doing it. I make good on my words. At least, I try…read more It's a code I live by, kinda like a pirate code. Anyhooz... Without a doubt, a large part of my adult making was fashioned by my association with the fine professors and colleagues that made up my college career. I don't know where I would be, or even who I would be, today without these peoples' wonderful guidance over my life for 5 terribly short years. There was a saying amongst us - Once you go geo, you can never go back. No truer words were ever spoken. I personally can't think of that many other majours where, once you take a Geology 101 course, you can't view the world through the same eyes ever again. So much love I have for this majour; but mind you, I actually majoured in a very special field subcategorized from these supreme beings - a little known field called Paleobiology. "What's that?" you say. Why, it's the study of ancient animals; more specifically, prehistoric animals. As I once told my mum all those years ago when she wished for me to study veterinary medicine - "Mom, yes, I do love animals. But I love them even more when they're dead." Strike that. Make that millions of years dead. So what makes geology, and more particularly this department, so worthy of praise? of 5 uber stars and more? Can ya really ask me that? It's pure love, baby! In no other majour can you find a WHOLE department chock full of HOT ladies and gents, all with the same desires and passions as you for all things hard and bony. (Oh, did I mention that geology's perhaps the dirtiest majour ever, pun intended? I didn't? My bad. Consider yourself warned) In case you're confused, yes - geology is the study of rocks. But because paleontology is part of the geology department, I made the bony reference. I think I'm digressing. I blame the extra beer I had tonight. Webb Hall houses my beloved department, and, not only is it filled to the brim with uber hot grads and undergrads, but some of this country's finest professors. In fact, we had a lot of national heavyweights walking amongst us at any given time. My own dear professors (there were only 2 on faculty that had anything to do with paleo stuffs) were world reknowned for their findings and breakthroughs in the paleo realm. I miss them a lot. I wonder sometimes what they'd say should they ever find out what became of me. Back to the subject. The entire building is stunning, and I recommend a field trip around and through it should you ever be in the area. Located in what I used to call the "hard core" section of campus, this area housed the Biology, Geology, Chemisty and Physics departments. And then there's a little path that leads to the Engineering area, but that's an entirely different kind of review. Let's not go there, shall we? Stretching from the Physics department, past our little brick building, and to the end of the Biology department spans a row of tall eucalytpus trees. I love eucalyptus trees. Not only do they drive all manner of bugs away from the area, but also there's nothing quite like coming out of the building after getting your rocks on to the lovely and enchanting fragrance of the boughs, swaying gently in the warm breezes that would drift in from the adjacent beaches. You'll find your peace there, amongst those buildings and trees. In and around our wonderful 2-level brick building are the massive rock gardens. One way to tell if you're a geologist is if your rock garden is inside your house. Trust, we had it covered! One of my favourite tales is of how one of our profs, during an intro course, fooled one of his students into licking one of our rocks. Mayhaps I'll tell you the tale and explain the joke sometime. I always find it hilarious. Aside from the trees and the rocks, we also had the coolest computer lab. I spent many hours there, both day and night, engrossed in all things techie. This is where my love affair for computers truly started. I used to sleep with them. They knew me better than my boyfriend did. One day I'll go back there and visit. But until then, you should go visit, dear Yelper. Perhaps you, too, shall discover a love that you didn't know existed. Perhaps you, too, shall be mesmerized by all the fine men and women roaming those very halls. Then, we'll have yet another thing in common. We'll talk.

Best department ever. We have the exclusive maclab and bagel sales on Tuesdays (sometimes)…read more Everyone is friendly and interested in geology just as much as the next person in Webb Hall (unless you're a undergrad just taking a geology class for a GE) but overall, this is my second home :)

San Miguel is an eight story residence hall on campus. It's one of the two "towers" (next to San…read moreNicolas). Boys and girls live on alternating floors, with around 25 people each floor. The living learning communities here are Scholars, Creative & Performing Arts, Chican@/Latin@ Scholars, and Green Living. There's also gender inclusive housing available. Most of the rooms are doubles. The ceilings in these rooms appear to be higher than the two story residence halls, but the size of the rooms are mostly the same. Bathrooms are communal style. You will be sharing it with your hall mates. There should be plenty of sinks, stalls, and showers. Like the rest of the dorms, there's study lounges, kitchenettes, laundry rooms, and a recreation room. San Miguel is right next to Ortega Dining Commons. There's also a large lawn next to it with an outdoor stage. Many events are held here. San Miguel is right next to the lagoon, so you get a view if you're on a high floor. People do complain about the smell if you're on that side of the building. It's also close to the University Center. However, the elevators aren't the best, and it takes longer to get to class if you live on a high floor.

Probably the best residence hall I could have lived in. The way that this building is set up…read morepromotes a fun and social lifestyle. All doors are able to stay open without being propped and the fact that RAs are one per two floors forces you to get to know people!!! The lounges are pretty nice and are always full of fun people. The only downside about almost all housing at UCSB now is that most of these already small rooms are now triples. This shouldn't be much of an issue though because living on campus means you are right in the middle of all the fun and you shouldn't have to spend much time in your room!