<p>pixeljig,</p>
<p>UCSC has an excellent CS program (and I’m not just saying that as I’m an alum). It is strong in other sciences. Although UCSC has long had a hippie dippy reputation, historically the science departments were the best funded. Check out the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at [Home</a> | Jack Baskin School of Engineering | UC Santa Cruz](<a href=“Baskin School of Engineering – Baskin Engineering provides unique educational opportunities, world-class research with an eye to social responsibility and diversity.”>http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/)</p>
<p>That said, UCSC and Stanford couldn’t be further apart as schools. Stanford’s campus is clean (boring?) but UCSC is one of the most beautiful campuses.</p>