My daughter got her first College acceptance letter! UC santa cruz! ** UPDATE: GO SLUGS!

[FirstLight]

Last edited Sat Apr 24, 2021, 03:25 PM - Edit history (1)

It's her second choice after Berkeley, and it might be more feasable cuz housing for students at least exists in santa cruz, the Bay is crazy. Besides, we're from Tahoe so the vibe of mtns would make her happy.

We're gonna take a trip to go really see how it feels... and she applied to a bunch of schools so we still dont know...probably be getting letters all month.

Im just so damn proud of HER...she is the one who pursued homeschooling aso she could graduate HS a year early. SHe is the one on student senate and comittees with her community college, she is the one to know what she wants to do and gets it done Meanwhile she has major disabilities (blind in her left eye since birth, cyst in her brain, major athsma and possibly fibromyalgia) and she just keeps truckin.

I hardly want to take credit for such an amazing young lady, but you know...she's pretty cool

Update: we went down last weekend and had a blast. Really beautiful and great vibe. She saw lots of young and LGBT folks she could get to know, so that was fun (our little town has no young LGBT community) She was holding out for Berkeley, but they didnt accept her...so it's gonna be USCS Banana Slugs!

[SheltieLover]

1. Congrats!

[tblue37]

2. Congratulations! nt

[Nevilledog]

3. Go Banana Slugs!

[panader0]

4. Good for her.

Be proud--you deserve to be.

[Foolacious]

5. My alma mater!

Go Slugs!

The mascot wasn't officially The Banana Slugs in my day, but we all knew that's what we were.

Congrats to you and your daughter!

[onecaliberal]

6. Congratulations! So happy for you both.

[alittlelark]

7. The campus is truly Gorgeous !!

[MLAA]

8. Yeah! You go girl!

And you have every right to be proud of her. What an amazing young woman. 💕

[bobnicewander]

9. Congrats

to you both.

She's way cool!

I love love and knowing how happy this made you because of your love your post grabbed me and I got misty eyed as perhaps your family did.

[cojoel]

10. Uncle Charlie's Summer Camp

Is a slang name it was called when I lived in Santa Cruz. The school is quite good in many areas and the campus is stunningly beautiful.

Congratulations to your daughter!

[FirstLight]

11. I dont even know if she knows this but I have a freind that works there too...

Old HS BFF, and she ended up being a career counselor at the university! I already emailed her and asked for any housing hook-ups she might know

wheeeee! Im more excited than she is, but she just got her 2nd vax shot and is low level and tired now

[rsdsharp]

12. Congratulations, to you and your daughter!

That’s terrific.

I understand what you’re saying about Berkeley. A hundred years ago I was accepted by the law school (then Boalt Hall). I didn’t go primarily because of the housing situation in the Bay Area. Well, that and the financial aid package was basically move half way across the country and we’ll talk about it.

[FirstLight]

13. my mom was happy but sad that she might be "far away"

but she cannot let that stop her! My folks did it to me when I was younger and they didnt want me going anywhere beyond where I could live at home (which was hell)...

I will fight for scholarships etc and we will find a way so she has good housing ....

[Karadeniz]

14. I think congrats are in order to the whole family... but especially your daughter!!!

[tonedevil]

15. Very cool...

my daughter graduated from there in 2006. She was at Kresge Collage.

[c-rational]

16. Congrats to you both!

[Shaddox]

17. Hey! How great is that!! What an amazing lady. You should be proud!

[wysimdnwyg]

18. Congrats!

I love Santa Cruz. My sister is in the south Bay Area, and I make it a point to spend a day in SC every time I visit.

[FirstLight]

19. Dont know if you recall, she was the one invited ot Stanford Summer Law program in 2019

she decided that week that "stanford sucks" lol...but she was stuck in OLD dorms with no AC or elevators hahahha welcome to college

[3catwoman3]

20. It sounds as if both of you have much...

...to feel proud about.

[Iggo]

21. YAY!!!

[wackadoo wabbit]

22. That's my alma mater; &, at least when I attended, there wasn't a finer school for an undergraduate

education anywhere. I actually transferred to UCSC from UCLA after a year specifically because of this.

At UCLA (and, I'm fairly certain, at Berkeley as well), undergraduate students will find themselves to be just faces in the crowd in huge classes of literally hundreds of students. When I was at UCLA, tests were often just multiple choice scanton exams. I probably could have hired someone to take my exams for me.

At UCSC, on the other hand, classes were small and intimate. And you learned, a lot. The professors knew not just your name, they knew you. I was offered many opportunities — working in a lab training a monkey, being encouraged to take graduate classes while still an undergraduate, being invited to attend small teaching staff seminars given by visiting professors from other universities, etc. — that would have been unheard of in the feedlot-sized classes of UCLA.

Plus, there were some amazing alternative classes that I would have been unlikely to find at a larger, more traditional college. A course I took on utopias, in which, for my grade, I was tasked with writing a paper explaining what my idea of a utopia would look like and how it would operate, has influenced my thinking ever since.

Of course, things may be very different now from when I attended many moons ago, so what I'm writing may be totally out of date. But if UCSC is still close to what it once was, your daughter might want to seriously consider it.


P.S. And the campus really is gorgeous!

[FirstLight]

48. She's holding out for Berkeley, I like UCSC better...

Looks like housing there would be easier too. We all know the bay Area is crazy expensive right now.


But she wants to go into Politial Science and knows that Berkeley holds more prestige in that field, then again she's also gonna get her Masters so THAT should be where she goes for the foo-foo college.

She's going as a transfer student, so at least she will be focusing on upper division.


We're going for a visit & virtual tour at UCSC in a couple weeks....she could fall in love!

[wiggs]

23. Congrats to her and to you! My girls had same priority...berkeley first, UCSC second. Gorgeous

campus, great area. What does she want to study?

[FirstLight]

49. Poli-Sci and Sociology...she wants to go into public office

literally wants to be a Senator!

[Celerity]

24. Massive congrats to both her and you!

[BobTheSubgenius]

25. Huge congratulations to your daughter, obviously.

But you can take a bow, as well. She didn't grow up in a vacuum. Be proud of both of you. But especially her.

[WarGamer]

26. congrat's to you too...

Sounds like you've done your job well.

[KPN]

27. Awesome. You SHOULD be proud! Congratulations to you

but even more so to your amazing daughter.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

28. UCSC is freaking awesome as is Santa Cruz area in general ...

I partied there a few times back in the day (at the school) and I've partied in SC and Capitola and Aptos more times than I can count.

My alma mater is basically the next large campus down the coast at SLO ... did she apply there or is she dedicated to UC? It's still a great school and way cheaper.

Congrats to your daughter, she sounds amazing.

I wish I was going to college on the Cali coast again ... I miss it like every day.

[MineralMan]

39. Cal Poly SLO! My Alma Mater.

But that was long, long ago. I lived in the are for 35 years, though. Another great place to go to school and to live.

[FirstLight]

50. she only applied at UC's

but Santa Barbara was on the list too...

[greenjar_01]

29. Banana Slugs forevah

Hit the Mystery Spot and do your Lost Boys tour.

[FirstLight]

51. Mystery spot is definitely on the list!!!!

and she's never seen the Boardwalk...they are opening partially when we are planning a visit too!!!

and I will have one shot by then, she's fully vaxed

[Dream Girl]

30. Nice! Good going!

[niyad]

31. Congratulations! So very happy for both of you!

[FirstLight]

32. an interesting link is that I spent 2 summers at camp in those woods

"Frontier Ranch" at mt Hermon,,,,,very churchy, but also cool outdoors stuff

[CaptainTruth]

33. I remember UC Santa Cruz!

I loved it when I lived in N CA. On a scale of "most serious to most laid back," Stanford would have been at the top (most serious) of my list, with Berkeley in the middle (a lot of very VERY smart & serious folks, plus a lot of "Berkeley" folks, kindred spirits), followed by UC Santa Cruz where you didn't have to show up for classes & you could invent your own major.

I don't mean that in a negative way. I think in many ways UCSC was way ahead of the curve, before other learning institutions caught up.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Former Santa Cruzan here - congrats! Here's some tips:

UCSC, while known somewhat as a stoner/party school, has a lot to offer. Faculty ranges from Angela Davis to Tom Lehrer (now retired), and everything in between. The Greatful Dead’s archives are housed on campus.

As for housing, try to get something in Santa Cruz proper, preferably on the West Side, especially if she doesn’t have a car, or even if she does- traffic on highway 1 is a nightmare coming from the south in the morning, and returning south in the afternoon, so Capitola or Aptos might be difficult to get to class on time. Start looking for fall housing soon- it’s a cut throat market. I think UC prefers students to live on campus the first year or two anyway.

Santa Cruz is a very progressive town, although the city council is often filled with many local business owners. Certain parts of downtown can be risky at night. Other than that, it’s a vibrant town with lots of uniques shops and eateries, and of course beaches and redwoods, and the amusement park at the Boardwalk. It’s kind of like a smaller Portland near the ocean.

Hopefully, COVID restrictions will be relaxed somewhat as your daughter gets into her first year- Santa Cruz has/had an amazing live music and arts scene, especially for a town of its size and location away from big metro areas. Many great artists on tour who stop at Seattle, Portland, SF on their way down the coast, will add a Santa Cruz show before heading to LA.

Congrats again, and good luck to your daughter!

[FirstLight]

52. thanks for the tips!

I looked a bit at the rental market...definitely better then here in Tahoe or even the Bay for that matter!!!

She's a transfer student and has a partner and pets, so on campus isnt really an option.


Then again, she's also thinking she could avoid moving for another year and do most of her classes online ...she's pretty nervous about moving to the big scary city. I personally think Santa Cruz will be less of a culture shock since she's used to the mountain-town vibe.
But then again, I grew up in Oakland Hills/Berkeley and we have friends down there and visit, she's familiar with the area and has people there she can reach out to if needed...

[StrictlyRockers]

35. I went to UCSC and majored in History

Because I didn't get into my first choice, which was Berkeley

I have also lived here in Santa Cruz for the past 46 years, it's a great town.

[FirstLight]

53. Nice!

I think the vibe is similar to Tahoe where we live now and she grew up. I think she'd be happier there...and her dog too!

But she's still hopeful for Berkeley! so we shall see...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

36. Congratulations

[central scrutinizer]

37. Tom Lehrer was a math professor there

[link:http://

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[erronis]

47. OMG. This brings back so many memories. Please keep posting Tom's fooleries!

He, along with George Carlin and all the other knives in the heart of pomposity and false sanctimoniousness are the best signs of real humanity.

[MineralMan]

38. Well, UCSC has a reputation for being a party school,

but going to a University is what you make it as a student. the UC system can offer an excellent education at all of its campuses.

[skip fox]

40. Good deal. It's an exciting time for her, her parents and friends

[wryter2000]

41. That's wonderful

I'm sure she'll fall in love with UC Santa Cruz.

Berkeley Bachelor's and PhD here.

[Sedona]

42. Santa Cruz is an absolutely STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL place

I'd live there in a heartbeat if there was work for me there.

Make some extra time to explore. You'll never want to leave

[reggaehead]

43. Noce

I live innSanta Cruz County. She will love it here.

[Steven Maurer]

44. Would be proud to see her as a Banana Slug!

My Alma Mater still sports the most delicious counterculture of the entire UC system.
I'm fairly certain that she'd feel at home there.

[Lemonwurst]

45. Great news

It feels so good once you get to this point. Our youngest just committed to a college last weekend and boy, what a process it’s been! Best of luck to your daughter, she sounds like a remarkable woman.

[FirstLight]

54. I'm really stoked for her!

I only finished my AA at Lake Tahoe Community College (as a single mom in my 20s)....I never got to go through that process as a teen...so it's been super exciting for me too

[Evolve Dammit]

46. That's awesome! She sounds amazing and I appreciate your pride. Best part of being a parent IMHO.

[DFW]

55. Congratulations on the start of a new chapter!

Both of our daughters opted to go to school in the USA when the time came. Not anything as idyllic as Santa Cruz (from the description), but still pretty exotic for two girls who grew up in Germany.

But still, that feeling of leaving them off on their own, and then watching them succeed—as we all know your daughter will—is a very special time in any parent’s life. Take it from one who has been there twice. When you leave her there, your thought is, “I hope she’ll be alright,” where her thought is, “I’ve got this.”