<p>haha this is a great forum. I'm from norcal, i have brother at USC and one at stanford. after the first semester freshman year, my USC brother came back totally socal. is was into the way he dressed, sun-bleached hair, those shirts with crazy designs on the shoulder. he had a different attitude, loved the beach, and was crazy into film--and of course he loves socal. my other brother, after first semester (well quarter) freshman year at stanford came back completely energetic, dressed in random pieces of bright clothes (or just short, short shorts and sweat-head band), had a kind of "hippie" vibe (but not super tree-huger, love the world thing) and talked about going snowboarding a lot in tahoe, and body surfing in santa cruz. </p>
<p>norcal does not have that bad of traffic, compared to the crazy twisting highways of socal, but as a college student that shouldnt be a factor. </p>
<p>where you'd want to go totally depends on personality, visit each. but either way they will convert you to be one of them, and you'll have an amazing time!
good luck :)</p>