I recently was accepted into UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the Campuswide Honors Program at UC Irvine, for neurobiology, neuroscience, and biology, respectively. I know the obvious choices should be between UCB and UCLA, but am I missing out if I decline honors at UCI? If I do, is UCB or UCLA a better choice for me? I think I would be fine in either Nor Cal or So Cal, at first I didn’t even bother considering UCB but when I got in I seriously started thinking about it. Thanks!
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Don’t go to Irvine. These sort of honors don’t mean a whole lot when you can be going to an all around better school
UCI has a decent reputation (I applied and was accepted there for bioengineering as a Regent’s Scholar and CHP), but UCB and UCLA are much more prestigious. What are your plans for later in life? I know people who go to Irvine for pre-med and get accepted to amazing med schools. I also know someone who did her UG in engineering at UCI and then went to Caltech for grad school. I think that Irvine has a lot to offer. It’s a nice campus–I got to see it last summer–but it just depends on what you are looking for.
So, I wouldn’t necessarily write Irvine off, but if prestige appeals to you, then the main debate should be UCB vs. UCLA. I can’t offer much info on UCLA–other than the fact that, as a CA resident, I do not like the LA area that much–but I had a friend who recently went off to UCB. It definitely has a “hippie”/progressive sort of vibe (not saying this is a bad thing, but again, it depends on what you are looking for). Of course, I’ve heard that UCLA has a similar political atmosphere. Anyways, both UCB and UCLA are beautiful campuses with amazing reputations. Perhaps you should ask yourself which you actually prefer: NorCal or SoCal?
If you are really trying to decide between these three, you should just take a roadtrip through CA and visit them all. Talk to the heads of your departments, tour the campuses, meet current students in your field of interest.
Wish I could offer more advice! Hopefully someone on here will know more than me.
@Sam998 @danceologist thank you so much for your insight! Yeah I will definitely be visiting each one! (Lol unfortunately Cal Day and Bruin Day are on the SAME day this year:( )
What! That’s so unfair–especially since there are a lot of top applicants who applied to/were accepted to both UCLA and UCB. They really are forcing you to choose favorites. 
I would suggest that you attend the one that you have the most questions about (or the one that you are leaning towards more at that point), and then just plan a separate outing to the other one. Best of luck!