UC's in General, but mainly UCSC vs UCR

[fisherman67]

@Justinbecause

Hey! UCSC and UCR are both very good schools, but UCR can’t beat UCSC’s location. UCSC is located 25 minutes away from silicon valley and 50 minutes away from the heart of San Francisco, so if you’re interested in computer science or computer engineering, this will be one of the best schools you could go to in the nation. Also, please don’t make the mistake of choosing your school based off of rankings. I know UCSC and UCR are ranked behind other UC’s like UCSB and UCI, but the academics are pretty much the same. All the UC’s have near identical curriculum and will all provide you with a top tier education. Academics at UCSB and UCR, as an example, are extremely similar so you won’t have any significant advantages attending one over the other. A couple months into college, you’ll completely forget about the “prestige factor” of college and you’ll never look back at it.

If you’re still deciding between UCSC and UCR, apply to the school that you see yourself enjoying more. If you want to live on a campus that’s in a forest overlooking the ocean surrounded by wildlife, go to UCSC. If you want to live in a desert that’s close to Los Angeles, go to UCR.

By the way, US News ranks schools with a methodology that doesn’t really determine how good a school is. They put things like average alumni giving rate, faculty compensation, class size index, undergraduate academic SURVEY, and graduation rates. Sure, these hold some meaning, but how does any of these determine how good of an education you’ll get? Pretend like you never knew about these college ranking websites and then choose between schools. You will be much happier and successful going to the college that you love rather than one that “ranks higher.” The UC schools are the best public schools in the nation, so comparing UCLA to UCSC is like winning $1,000,001 vs $1,000,000 in the lottery. Best of luck to you during the admission process!

Agree with most of what you said above…Northern California coastal location near silicon valley and computer science favors UCSC. The first new Medical School in California in 50 years at UC Riverside (Thomas Haider Program is popular and brutal), and one of the few with Business Administration (my major back in the day) would favor UCR although you can really do well at any UC. UC Riverside has surpassed UC Santa Cruz nationally on US News 2021 ranks ( #88 national rank (UCR), #97 national rank (UCSC-tied with Merced now)) although US News is mostly just window dressing. UC Riverside is closer to the desert (Palm Springs about an hour away), but the climate is actually more like the interior valleys of California. A number of Northern California students at UC Riverside say the climate is very similar to Sacramento but not as cold or foggy in the winter. Is best to research the specific majors at each college and take a tour of each location as well to make the final decision…you cannot go wrong at either one!

[pbcparent]

This thread seems inactive since last October, but it’s exactly the question on my mind. My son is accepted to UCR and waitlisted at UCSC, which is a lot closer to us, and our preference. I’m curious to hear from anyone who would prefer UCR and why. I am not originally from California, and if you had asked me 30 years ago, I don’t think I would have made any distinction between the two. If anything, I had met more researchers from UCR and held Riverside in high regard.