I am a biology major at a community college. When it comes time for me to transfer I expect my gpa to be in the 3.6 range. I love both campuses, but its coming down to which school will be easier for me, and at which school will it be easier for me to raise my gpa. So I do not know which one I would want to go to.
Why worry about the decision now since acceptance do not come out until next year. I would wait until you have been admitted before making this decision since it may be made for you if you are not accepted into both.
If you want to know which school you have a better chance at, use this link to look up transfer GPA’s by major for each school: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
Due to the competitive nature of all the UC’s, I would apply to several for the best chances.
In terms of your concern about which is easier, I am sure both will have significant academic challenges and I doubt anyone will claim that one or the other is easier for bringing up a GPA. What you should consider is where you will be more comfortable attending in terms of your living situation and the campus, including any financial considerations. Where do you think you will be able to do your best work?
Another problem is that I know that I know that if I went to either one of those schools I would be extremely happy. The problem is though that based off of what I saw on assist going through the general physics sequence is what San Diego wants, but Santa Barbara wants different physics courses. Is the chance of acceptance equally difficult to get into both of those schools? Because if UCSB is easier I can play it safe and focus on classes for that school. But if I focus on the classes UCSD wants and I get rejected then I have to stay at my CC college for an extra year to complete the physics classes UCSB want, and then try to apply there. Hopefully what I said makes sense.