Santa Barbara City College - Santa Barbara, California

Avery R. C.

So far I am LOVING my time here.
So far all my professors & help staff have been utterly kind & approachable folks.

I currently work in the lifescape gardens, which is a large garden space at the back of the campus overlooking the stadium. I love walking through the tropical section of the garden most of all! There are always so many lizards, rabbits, butterflies & hummingbirds around.

I love being able to come to a great college with such a relaxing & friendly atmosphere. The views are great too! There is just so much plant life & nature throughout the campus & it really helps to calm the nerves. I will say though, you WILL get your daily steps in trying to get to all your classes & the cafeteria. But hey, that's alright, keeps me healthy.
My only note is the cafeteria has great food, but it closes so early!

I absolutely would recommend this college for anyone who wants a great scenic college experience.

Jeremy R.

I have had a great experience going here. I am currently finishing up my first semester here (3rd semester of college) after moving up from La Jolla. Three professors are great and the ocean view can’t be beat!

Christie A.

Really beautiful campus! Sending a special thanks to my academic counselor Katie as she helped plan how to get my degrees and suggested the amazing early childhood education classes I took to get those! If you want to take an amazing course- then children's literature is very memorable! I'll miss going to this campus! 📚

Jihea C.

First of all, the view is amazing. You can literally see the ocean in the campus. The professors are really enthusiastic and professional. Also, the school provides lots of helpful services for students, such as stress relief, job internships and etc. I really recommend taking Summer classes for quick credits and studying. Also, there is a free bike shop in the campus, where SBCC students can fix their bike for free. It's called BiCi Centro. They learn how to fix their bikes.

Cristina G.

SBCC has an impressive amount of programs and services for students from all paths of life! Faculty members that challenged and encouraged my learning! Happy and proud to be an alumni

Kaitlyn D.

The time I spent at this college was overall a great experience. The campus is beautiful, I’ve enjoyed almost all of my professors and I believe there are lots of great resources at this school. The professors are brilliant and (mostly) all seem to love their jobs and love to see their students succeed.

Alex S.

*UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM - 09/20/23*

Quite possibly the worst academic counseling staff I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with. I can't speak for all the counselors, but the person I talked to didn't even seem like she was trying to help me map out a plan for my academic career. The meeting felt very rushed, like she wanted to be doing literally anything else with her life. Find another job if you're that bothered by taking time to help students who need guidance.
Also, she fought me on what I wanted to major in I told her my passions and goals, and she completely disregarded me and tried to get me to sign up for classes that didn't involve my passions. And then she argued with me about my choice in major. It was incredibly bizarre and extremely irritating.
And then she had me go through a ton of trouble to find some information to send to her, but then never responded or used the information to help me like she said she would. That was months ago. So I sent her a follow-up email that was ignored and then sent another email after that to see what happened with the information, and I still have not received an answer to any of the emails as of yet.
Also, I had a lot of trouble signing up for a class that SHE recommended, and when I reached out to her for help, I was completely ignored.
Absolutely unacceptable. I don't know what the rest of the academic counseling staff are like, but my experience was horrendous and I would recommend to anyone looking to go to SBCC to think of another community college to go to, because I GUARANTEE you'll find better and more supportive staff than the person I had to interact with. Sure, it was only one awful interaction, but it was so incredibly aggravating and terrible that I am not even looking forward to attending this college anymore, like I was previously.

UPDATE - 9/20:
Turns out this counselor REALLY screwed me over BIG TIME. She screwed me over so bad that I won't be able to transfer to the UC school I was planning on transferring to. I will not have enough credits by the time I'm supposed to transfer, and by the time I do have those credits, I will be a senior, which the UC will not accept. She screwed up the entire trajectory of my academic career, and I am devastated. I spoke to another counselor who was absolutely amazing, but they had to break the news to me that I would not be able to go to my dream UC. There are no words to describe how crestfallen and irate I am at the situation. This could have been completely avoided if the first counselor had communicated with me, but she didn't, so here we are.

Again, if you're planning on coming here as a stepping stone to transfer to a UC or a CSU, PLEASE do yourself a favor and go somewhere else, because I guarantee you'll get better communication and better help elsewhere. I don't know what to do with myself now.

To anyone reading this, if you still decide to go to SBCC, hopefully your experience is better than mine.

Alton P.

It is a great place to watch the sun move across the sky ✌🏾❣️