UCB EECS is direct admission to the major, so there is no incentive for cutthroat competition (unlike for pre-meds). Also, the introductory CS courses that L&S CS majors need to earn a 3.3 GPA in to enter the major are not graded on a curve, so there is no incentive for cutthroat competition in those courses.
However, UCs should be expected to be more economy-class than wealthy privates like Northwestern and Rice. UCs will also have different student demographics in being less skewed toward students from higher SES backgrounds.
What is it that you do not like about California? Note that different parts of California can be different from each other in many aspects.
The one that admits you and which you can afford, if any of them do admit you. All should be considered reaches; you need to include affordable safeties that you like in your college list.