Handful of questions about UCSB! (Bureaucratic stuff, EEng, et al)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
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<p>Let's start off by saying that I've always been fond of SB. It's a good (not top) school, and the location is nice.</p>

<p>Also, I've been admitted to Michigan (OOS, I'm IS for CA), Berkeley, SD and Irvine. I'm now trying to decide a few things, and I've come up with a few questions:</p>

<p>-I've heard that SB isn't as 'crowded' as Berkeley and LA. That is, most UCs have a reputation of crowding tons of students into lecture halls, and that students often have a hard time registering for courses (and thus can't graduate in 4 years). Bureaucratic issues. Is it really true that SB isn't as problematic in this respect as the rest of the UCs (namely UCB, LA, SD)?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I can pay in state for SB. Or I can pay 18K more per year and head to Michigan (no, I don't mind the weather, transit, etc). Any tips as to choosing one over the other? Michigan is amazing and expensive, SB is good and less expensive (though tuition looks like it will only climb up up up).</p></li>
<li><p>So... Is SB really a party school? I feel like that's an old stigma that just hasn't gone away.</p></li>
<li><p>I've heard that the Electrical Eng program here is a hidden gem. Thoughts?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>THANK YOU. Do note that I'm also perusing older threads and getting insights that way too. Just wanted some fresher perspectives as well.</p>

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<p>I’m EE.
I can tell you it’s good if you plan on doing undergraduate research in prep for graduate school. I am not an expert in rating an academic program, but from first-hand experience I can tell you that there’s a lot of gaps in the curriculum (i.e. things not covered that future classes assume you know, but you never end up covering). There are lot of local engr companies that hire, but it’s really competitive. Also, there’s not enough computer science courses in the program which sucks because most of the local companies are in software. For example, my class never even touched on C++ or Java. A couple of d*<em>ch</em>b*g professors here and there.</p>