UCSB is nothing like the stereotype suggests. Yes, of course, there are parties but they are definitely limits to it. There isn’t any pressure to do anything you wouldn’t want to do. Making friends is easy and people are generally friendly. The neighborhood is chill. Now coming to the academic aspect of the university, it is definitely one of the best public universities. The professors are usually nice and care about your grades. However, the classes are hard, especially if you’re a STEM major. There are a lot of resources to help you thrive academically though, would recommend using them. The university works on a quarter system so time it all seems very fast, there isn’t much time to procrastinate. If you got in, you’ve deserve it, but you will need to be diligent to keep up.