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[adventure]

I might get an offer from UC Santa Barbara (in the humanities). Any comments on the school's scholarly reputation, student body, quality of life, cost of living in the city (I know the housing is a huge issue but was told that they are building heavily subsided houses for (new) faculty to purchase). How one compares it with UC Santa Cruz or Irving? Thanks for any information.

[lackademia]

Rich white republicans, spoiled, drunk college kids with a sense of entitlement, a Latino service sector that can't afford to live anywhere near their jobs.  Sounds like paradise.  As for Irving, I don't think this Texas town is a fair comparison, despite being the corporate HQ for Chuck E. Cheese's.

[nailman]

I might get an offer from UC Santa Barbara (in the humanities). Any comments on the school's scholarly reputation, student body, quality of life, cost of living in the city (I know the housing is a huge issue but was told that they are building heavily subsided houses for (new) faculty to purchase). How one compares it with UC Santa Cruz or Irving? Thanks for any information.

I spent a semester there (in the sciences) in graduate school, and a friend recently became a faculty member there. I really like the area, although the cost of living is fairly high. I am not sure how it would compare to Irvine (which also is a pretty expensive area) and Santa Cruz (also very expensive). I think by California standards all three are more or less "normal" high California prices. Having subsidized faculty housing could certainly help, although I haven't heard much about that.

I personally really like the Santa Barbara area. I'm not really a big city person, and so I find the moderate size really appealing. My friend who moved there recently was initially a bit disappointed after moving from a bigger city because it doesn't have the same cultural opportunities, but now that he's been there a few months he really likes it -- he says there's enough to do in his spare time, but not so much to do that he's distracted from his work as a new faculty member. There is quite a reasonable selection of good restaurants, etc., in the area, and they change all the time. The campus and town and beaches are pretty.

Scholarly reputation: Well, in the sciences and engineering it's very good, generally speaking -- not as good as Berkeley, UCLA, and possibly UCSD (depending on the area) but better than many of the other UCs (probably somewhat better than Irvine and Santa Cruz, for example). But this is field-dependent so you should consult people/rankings in your particular area. Generally all of the UCs are strong in most areas -- not necessarily top 10, but many in the top 30 or 50. Irvine is the newest (except for Merced, which is really still starting).

Anyway, not sure how helpful that is. For myself, if I had a decent offer from UCSB I'd take it in a heartbeat. I'm sure with work the cost of living stuff can be dealt with, and it's a nice, safe, clean area with good quality of life where I'd love to raise my family. And the weather is nice.

The only big downside as far as I'm concerned is getting other places from there: The airport is tiny (although I understand they're expanding it) and flying out of LAX or Burbank is a pain (Burbank not so much as LAX). My friend has given up on flying out of LAX because it's too inconvenient, so he just flies out of Santa Barbara, which is much more expensive and takes more stops.

In terms of Lackademia's remarks, yes, there is a big latino service sector, typical for socal, and yes, they have to live far away. And in terms of drunk college kids, I don't think Santa Barbara is particularly worse than any of the other UCs. The thing that is unique in Santa Barbara is the town of Isla Vista, which borders one side of the campus and is basically the student ghetto. Since students, and only students, live there, there's a high concentration of partying and drinking on relevant nights. But in terms of percentage of the student body I don't think it's any different from any of the other UCs (just my personal impression; I haven't seen a study on this).

To the other poster: I think the OP means Irvine (UC Irvine) not Irving, but I am not sure.

[pink_]

Santa Barbara is beautiful, and I liked the campus the one time I visited it.  I know a couple people in the humanities there, both faculty and grad students, and they seem happy.  But cost of living would definitely be an issue, as it is with most UCs, and the humanities are somewhere in the middle of the UC pool.  UCLA and Berkeley are the clear frontrunners here, Irvine is up there too.  Don't know what the status of Santa Cruz is these days . . .  The nice thing would be that you would be able to get books from the other UC libraries easily, and the campus is right on the ocean--hard to beat that.  One of the seminar rooms in the humanities bldg (I was there for a conference) had a beautiful view of the water.

If they can help with housing, moving expenses and start-up (and they really should), I'd jump at the offer.

[jossfritz]

Three things about UCSB:
1. Well, it's beautiful there. Stunning really, and I consider myself fairly limited in my appreciation of the natural surrounds.

2. In the humanities, I really only know their English department which is great. Indeed, I think it's been growing in reputation pretty steadily, with a healthy mix of solid (even star quality) senior scholars with many very good younger scholars who will no doubt be continuing to do interesting work as they advance in their careers.

3. Compared to Santa Cruz, well, I think Santa Cruz has a bit more by way diversity and restaurants, bookstores, etc. But Santa Barbara is not nearly as run-down as SC. Compared to Irvine? It all depends on how you feel about being in a suburb of LA.

Take that job!

[pippin]

You forgot all the trust-fund hippies, with their tinkly earrings, sipping organic carrot juice and talking about their trips to Tibet.

I really like SB, actually. I'd live there if I could get paid enough. But I can't...I'm too old to live in an efficiency.

[superabound]

I think pippin more correct than lackademia. Santa Barbara is filled with rich liberals (or liberal if it doesn't threaten their real estate values). The district has  had a Democrat in House of Representatives for many years. And Santa Barbara is insanely expensive. Unlike many places in California where you can move inland and find something that might be affordable, at Santa Barbara there effectively is no inland because of the mountains. Ventura is a little cheaper, but not much.

I lived there for three years. It is stunningly beautiful. Riding your bike to work in the middle of the winter with the beautiful ocean on one side and snow covered mountains (a rare treat) on the other can't be beat. But, it's a tourist town. Downtown on Friday afternoons fills up with people driving up from Los Angeles, but if you're at UCSB you are more than 10 to 15 miles from downtown. However, the downtown Farmer's Market is very good. The town is filled with "beautiful" and augmented people and celebrities (such as Oprah and Michael Jordan in Carpenteria). It can get to be a little sickening. And again it is insanely expensive. Really.

[humanista]

But cost of living would definitely be an issue, as it is with most UCs, and the humanities are somewhere in the middle of the UC pool.  UCLA and Berkeley are the clear frontrunners here, Irvine is up there too.  Don't know what the status of Santa Cruz is these days . . . 

Not to get into quibbling about rankings, but my sense was always that behind Berkeley and UCLA, UC Davis is next in reputation (they certainly have some programs in the natural sciences that are among the best in the US), along with UCSD.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

OTOH, the UCs, except for Merced, Riverside, and Santa Cruz, are all top 50 R1s, so there you go. all An offer from UCSB is not to be scoffed at, particularly if they are working on solving the affordable housing crisis with subsidized faculty housing. Go for it.

[adventure]

I really like SB, actually. I'd live there if I could get paid enough. But I can't...I'm too old to live in an efficiency.

Will a salary about 70k allow a decent living for a family of three there (assuming the subsidized faculty housing priced something around 400k to 500kwith school-financed loan for the housing)? Will an academic couple each with such a salary make a quite comfortable living there?

[locutus]

But cost of living would definitely be an issue, as it is with most UCs, and the humanities are somewhere in the middle of the UC pool.  UCLA and Berkeley are the clear frontrunners here, Irvine is up there too.  Don't know what the status of Santa Cruz is these days . . . 

Not to get into quibbling about rankings, but my sense was always that behind Berkeley and UCLA, UC Davis is next in reputation (they certainly have some programs in the natural sciences that are among the best in the US), along with UCSD.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

OTOH, the UCs, except for Merced, Riverside, and Santa Cruz, are all top 50 R1s, so there you go. all An offer from UCSB is not to be scoffed at, particularly if they are working on solving the affordable housing crisis with subsidized faculty housing. Go for it.

I've always heard that UCSB was an up and comer currently along the lines of Davis in terms of rep. A friend of mine tells me that their physics department is much better than you might suspect and gets a lot of the high quality people that might have been initially aiming for UCLA or Berkeley.
Maybe similar is true for the humanities?

[asterix]

I really like SB, actually. I'd live there if I could get paid enough. But I can't...I'm too old to live in an efficiency.

Will a salary about 70k allow a decent living for a family of three there (assuming the subsidized faculty housing priced something around 400k to 500kwith school-financed loan for the housing)? Will an academic couple each with such a salary make a quite comfortable living there?

There was an article (that I can't currently dig up) in the Chronicle a few months back about faculty salaries and how people in different areas made ends meet.  One of the profiled individuals was an engineering prof from UCSB.  He owned a house, but could only manage by having a roommate as well as renting out an apartment attached to the house.  As I recall, his University salary was in the $110-120k range, but he also earned about equal that amount through outside consulting.  That's just one data point, but without serious help on the housing costs it looks like it could be a stretch.

[errant]

I've always heard that UCSB was an up and comer currently along the lines of Davis in terms of rep. A friend of mine tells me that their physics department is much better than you might suspect and gets a lot of the high quality people that might have been initially aiming for UCLA or Berkeley.
Maybe similar is true for the humanities?

Definitely a rising star in physics. The department boasts three Nobel laureates and various other luminaries in their fields. Top notch workshops at the Kavli Institute. Amongst public R1's it still ranks below Berkeley in physics but is right up there with the rest and is probably a shade better than the other UCs.

[superabound]

Will a salary about 70k allow a decent living for a family of three there (assuming the subsidized faculty housing priced something around 400k to 500kwith school-financed loan for the housing)? Will an academic couple each with such a salary make a quite comfortable living there?

Make sure there isn't a long waiting list for that housing. But even with subsidized housing I would think $70K with a kid would be harsher than "decent" living in SB.

[nailman]

I really like SB, actually. I'd live there if I could get paid enough. But I can't...I'm too old to live in an efficiency.

Will a salary about 70k allow a decent living for a family of three there (assuming the subsidized faculty housing priced something around 400k to 500kwith school-financed loan for the housing)? Will an academic couple each with such a salary make a quite comfortable living there?

Exactly what do you mean by cost of living, or living comfortably? To me it seems like housing is the biggest unknown in the equation, and if you've got an idea that the subsidized housing will run 400-500k it seems like you should be able to answer this question yourself.

From the little I know about the UC loans, I think this sounds like a reasonable possibility to me, even on one faculty salary, especially if you can perhaps (as some UCs are doing) negotiate for money towards a down payment as part of your package, if they do that in the humanities.

I doubt you'd feel rich. But at least if it were me and my family, we could get by quite comfortably on that there with that sort of a cost for housing.

It seems like if you could get two such incomes you would do very well.

Again, it probably all depends on what you expect: If you expect to be driving a Mercedes or a BMW and eating out every night, there is no way you'll be doing that on 70k (or perhaps even 2x70k) with payments on a 400-500k house. On the other hand if your idea of living comfortably is being able to own decent car, make the payments on your house, and be able to go out to dinner or an event occasionally, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it on 70k (or especially on 2x70k).

$400-500k is pretty reasonable pricing for most of the areas the UCs are in now (except Merced, probably). I would think you'd do fine on the starting UC salary. But again, you should probably do the math for yourself -- I don't know how much money you're used to or want to have.

While I was posting someone came along and wrote that $70k with a kid would be harsh. Heck, I'm living in another expensive area in California where we're getting by on just over $40k with a kid. We live frugally and aren't rich by any means, but we're not going into debt. We bought the house a few years back so our payments are less than they would be if we bought at $400K today, but not $30k less. I dunno -- ask the faculty there -- but I think you'd do fine as long as you don't expect "comfortable" to mean "buy whatever you want". To mean, "comfortable" means "have everything you need, and then a little to spare for an occasional treat".

I would take it. But see if you can get money towards a down payment as part of the offer.

[canadia]

Rich white republicans, spoiled, drunk college kids with a sense of entitlement, a Latino service sector that can't afford to live anywhere near their jobs.  Sounds like paradise.

The political side has been discussed, but I've known a few Gauchos in my time, even "partied hard" w/ a few of them.

And they all pretty much said that yes... there's always a party going on, but that it doesn't get in the way of studying b/c the only ones that are doing it every day are the City College kids. And my informal experience of SB City College kids tends to confirm that.

I have a colleague that did his MA at UCSB and PhD at UC Irvine and he said that the "slacker" thing is somewhat of a stereotype. Sure you have one or 2 more per class than at, say, Davis or San Diego, but they're still very smart.

Minority students have a difficult time adjusting to the Blond Bombardment, which is the actual term used by those pre-college summer programs that are now for "first generation college students" and NOT just "ethnic minorities" but are nevertheless comprised by 98% students of color.

And yes. Santa Barbara is gorgeous.