Need help in deciding to go to UCI or UCSC

College Search & Selection
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<p>Was admitted to UCSC as junior transfer student from 4 year college. Just got into UCI on appeal. Need help in deciding which UC to attend - UCI or UCSC? I have heard that UCSC is similar to being at a summer camp with spectacular redwoods, ocean, and clean air--however, alot of open weed use in dorm halls and outside, which is okay by me on the weekends, but I need to be studying during the week. Also, heard that UCI is not very sociable, is a commuter school, but rumor is the students are serious about their studies.
I'm a Physics major (I may go into Astrophysics if decided to attend UCSC--since I have heard they have an awesome dept.). I also understand that UCI is higher ranked in the UC tier? Any thoughts are really appreciated...</p>

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<p>I have some friends at UCSC and they all say that while weed use is common among a subset of students, the RAs (or CAs, as they call them) are usually pretty strict about weed use in the residences. I don’t think that should be a concern for you.</p>

<p>UCSC is world-renowned for its astrophysics program, but not for physics in general. For physics on the whole, I don’t think there’s a discernible difference - UCI is #30, UCSC #40 in US News.</p>

<p>What other things are you looking for? Do you like the idea of residential colleges (UCSC)? Do you like being closer to a city (UCI) or to the ocean/nature (UCSC)? Do you plan to do research? Do you enjoy student activism? There are many other preferences that you haven’t listed and that could be important.</p>

<p>I think this should really come down to fit. Explore and you might find you like one much more than the other. I know that both have strong transfer communities, but I’ve heard from friends who transferred to UCSC that putting all the transfers into their own residential colleges really helped them to form a community; I don’t know whether UCI has something similar. Just things to think about.</p>

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<p>In my personal opinion, I’d choose UCI. There’s a reason why you appealed for the school right? I don’t like the UCSC campus because I’m not very into nature. I prefer the small city environment. UCI has a beautiful campus and is the city Irvine itself is very safe and clean. Also, UCI is populated mostly with Asians. Where as UCSC, is populated mostly with Caucasians. As for ranking, UCI is higher ranked than UCSC. It really depends on the environment and people you prefer to be around.</p>

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<p>^ it’s not quite accurate to say that UCSC is populated “mostly” with Caucasians, unless you consider “most” to be a plurality instead of a majority - according to CollegeBoard, this is its racial breakdown:</p>

<pre><code>* 1% American Indian or Alaska Native

  • 28% Asian
  • 3% Black or African American
  • 25% Hispanic/Latino
  • <1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  • 39% White
  • <1% Non-Resident Alien
    </code></pre>

<p>versus UCI:</p>

<pre><code>* <1% American Indian or Alaska Native

  • 49% Asian
  • 1% Black or African American
  • 18% Hispanic/Latino
  • <1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  • 20% White
  • 6% Two or more races
  • 3% Non-Resident Alien
    </code></pre>

<p>Asians are nearly a majority - but I’d say UCSC is on the whole marginally more diverse.</p>

<p>UCSC is also much smaller - 17,000 students vs. UCI’s 27,000.</p>