3.0
Oct 15, 2012
Former employee, more than 5 years
Santa Barbara, CA
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
Some departments (materials science, theoretical physics, for example) are able to attract the best talents in the world. Obviously the location and the Institute of Theoretical Physics helps. I was dissatisfied the whole time when I was a student there, but once you are out of the place you realize UCSB does offer a very good environment to conduct world-class research, primarily due to stellar academic reputations of individual researchers (but not necessarily the university itself).
Cons
The university itself does not enjoy as high a reputation as its research capacity demonstrates. The undergraduate student body is uninspired at best. Too many superficial Hollywood types from SoCal.