<p>Hello, I am in the process of researching schools, specifically UC schools based on their physics program. I have been consumed with working on my college application and doing homework and I would like to ask the community for some help to guide me in the right direction.</p>
<p>Here are the schools I am applying for:</p>
<p>UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz (Don't know how I feel about UCSC)
UC Riverside
UC Merced</p>
<p>My question is, which of these schools have a well rounded physics program, and could you rank them? Specific information will always be appreciated. </p>
<p>If anyone would be kind enough to talk to me via AIM or IRC, I would really appreciate it. </p>
<p>it would probably look like this:
tier 1: UC Santa Barbara
tier 2: UC Davis/UC Irvine
tier 3: UC Santa Cruz (Don’t know how I feel about UCSC)
tier 4: UC Riverside/UC Merced</p>
<p>UCSB has a highly renowned theoretical physics program IMS. It’s ahead of UCLA’s, and i believe is only second to Berkeley in the UC system.</p>
<p>From what I’ve gathered, UCSB has a really strong physics program, almost on par with Berkeley’s. And it also helps that UCSB has a beautiful campus with amazing students.</p>
<p>I have heard that UCSB had a good Physics program, but I never knew what kind and how good. I will start looking at UCSB more, and I do agree that it is a beautiful campus. </p>
<p>If anyone has any personal experiences with any of the schools, whether in physics or any other major, I would be happy to hear it.</p>
<p>Some of the physics departments at your list of schools have a lot of professors and grad students and relatively few undergrads. That can open up a lot of opportunities to get involved early on with a research group.</p>