You missing one big point here. Due to the budget cuts and increased demand all the UC are being more selective. IIt is not due to a push by the administration of UCR and UCSC to focus on higher academics or research- they do that anyway. These two campuses and Merced will be the go to for students who are not as accomplished as kids say at UCLA/UCB. Riverside has a 50% grad rate after 4 years and has the lowest GPA requirements for incoming freshman. Your 3.8 GPA is not correct at all.