<p>very cool information.</p>
<p>Also it can be useful to look at WHAT is ranked. For example, US News and some other popular ranking sites rank even undergraduate programs by the graduate program focus. While having smart people in your field on campus is definitely a plus though, I think having an undergraduate focus where undergraduates are more likely to get research opportunities and other opportunities instead of taking a back seat to graduate students, makes for a better undergraduate program. UCSB is graded down by US News for this, but I like that over half of seniors are working on original research there. I also liked that European ranking that ranked research institutions not by peer review of the program, but by how many times the research is actually quoted in peer reviewed articles around the world. UCSB was number 2 in the world in that one.</p>
<p>I’m biased, I have loved the school since I was 17 and enrolled there. Davis is a terrific school., and like UCSB is in a true college town. Irvine has an extremely reputable reputation. They are all good schools.</p>