UCSB vs. UC Davis vs. UC Irvine

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
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<p>Greetings!</p>

<p>This is another thread about deciding on a school. </p>

<p>I was admitted as a Regents Scholar to all three of the above schools, which includes automatic admission into their individual honors program. UCI gives $2,500/year, UCD gives $7,500/year, and UCSB gives $6,000 a year. I was also admitted to UCSD and UCLA, but with no benefits or scholarship money.</p>

<p>Rank-wise and academically, I don't think there are substantial differences between these three schools. </p>

<p>I am not yet sure what I will major in.</p>

<p>A part of me wants to accept Davis's great scholarship offer, but I live in San Diego, so I'm worried that I won't be able to see my family as often. Davis is one of the safest college campuses in the country, however I'm not a fan of rural places. If I were to choose a school solely on its location, I'd pick UCLA. Davis has a lot of school spirit though.</p>

<p>Another part of me wants to take UCSB's offer, but I'm not so fond of the party school reputation. The students at UCSB are really nice and laid-back though, so that's a plus.</p>

<p>UCI's location is pretty ideal, an hour and a half away from home. I could come back to San Diego practically any weekend I wanted. $2,500 a year is not much though, considering my parents' income is not high enough to pay for college, but is not low enough to qualify us for good amounts of financial aid. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for all the input! I know it will help others in my situation too.</p>

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<p>You need to not see UCSB as a “Party School.”
The only reason it is said as a “Party School” because everyone lives so close and everything in nearby; thus more parties occur.
You don’t need to attend any of those parties.
People get a misconception of the school because of that reputation.</p>

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<p>UCLA is your only real choice what ever it takes :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input to both!</p>

<p>prouduscdad, the reason why I’m afraid of going to LA or SD is because, even though they’re great schools, I know lots of students who’ve had bad experiences going there. Do you have any insight on this, possibly?</p>

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<p>I had a similar dilemma last year. I completely agree with bignerd16. Isla Vista is where a huge majority of students live after their first year. It’s an area 1 mile wide, 1 mile long. No matter what college you go to, there will be parties. Perhaps UCSB has more because of Isla Vista, but it is completely your decision whether you want to participate. If you don’t participate, it’s no big deal, and there are many other social events and opportunities to meet people. The “party school” reputation is skewed, and certainly creates a misconception about this top ranked university.
I have friends at both Davis and UCI, and none of them seem to be as happy with their decision as I am. I absolutely love UCSB: I’m getting an awesome education, I’ve made tons of friends, there are opportunities to do research, community service, get a job, etc, it’s on the beach, it has amazing weather, and there are are tons of ways to have a great social life!</p>

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<p>diana3 You have a big decsion and I would hope my kidding around is not taken too seriously. If you want the “college” experience avoid UCI it is a commuter school even though they are trying to change that image. 48% have cars UCSB <5%. UCLA has a much higher ranking look into it.UCD is in a rural area if thats your thing. I attenced UCSD very similar in demographics to UCI. I am encouraging D to go to UCSB if she gets rejected by USC. Her choices were almost like yours. Good luck and I am sure you will do well no matter where you go.</p>

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<p>Glab3bk, that sounds awesome. I hope I can convince my parents of it. Thanks! </p>

<p>Prouduscdad-- Haha, leaving UCLA out of that list wasn’t easy, trust me. I too feel like I might be making a mistake. I love the LA area, and UCLA is an incredible school with a highly respected reputation. In fact, I’m having doubts until this day. However, at the other schools I get the perks of priority enrollment (which is important in grossly overpopulated state schools), priority research opportunities, chance to have sessions with the professors etc. Basically, I’ll get better treatment at the “lesser known” schools.</p>

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<p>Yes, it is an amazing university, and it’s slightly unfortunate that people, particularly parents look down on UCSB because of this false “party school” reputation.</p>

<p>Also, I disagree with prouduscdad that UCLA has a “much higher ranking look to it.” It’s like 10 points higher than UCSB, UCD, and UCI, which all have benefits that UCLA perhaps doesn’t offer.</p>

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<p>Good points gla3bk. The truth is you will get out of the school what you put into it. A few notches in ranking should not make much differerence. The thing I am not sure about though is this: Will the schools reputation influence job prospects when your done.</p>

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<p>Whether or not a university’s reputation influences a prospective employer or graduate school admissions officer, one cannot deny that a GPA of 3.5+ at a prestigious university, like UCSB, UCD, or UCI is exceptional. Therefore, I think that, no, the reputation will not influence prospects so long as your GPA, test scores, essays, letters of recommendation, and extracurriculars represent you in a positive light.</p>

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<p>I hate to completely ignore your post, but UCLA is the way to go.</p>

<p>I don’t think reputation is important when it comes to, for example, Harvard vs. Yale, or even Harvard vs. UCLA (that’s a bit more debatable IMO). But when it comes to UCLA vs. UC Santa Barbara…I think it makes quite a difference. UCLA’s reputation rivals that of many Ivy Leagues.</p>

<p>Despite the fact that you’ll be receiving no merit aid at UCLA, you’ll be paying in-state tuition for world-class education.</p>

<p>Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara are all GREAT schools, don’t get me wrong…but they just don’t compare to UCLA. You say you would pick LA on location alone. Well, that’s important. Couple that with school spirit that puts Davis’s to shame, and a drive that is not that much further away from SD (by the way, why did you rule UCSD out so quickly?) than UCI, I think UCLA would be worth it. Anyways, I think you’ll quickly find that you won’t be going home on weekends as often as you may think, regardless of where you ultimately decide to go to school.</p>

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<p>Alright. . .</p>

<p>Will you be fine with a fairly rural area (UCSB) or do you think you’ll be happier in a metropolitan area, with many places to go (UCLA)? </p>

<p><a href=“No,%20%5Bu%5Dthis%20is%20not%20a%20loaded%20question.%5B/u%5D%20Sidenote%20self-though:%20If%20I%20was%20offered%20the%20chance%20to%20go%20to%20UCLA%20back%20then,%20I%20would%20have%20snapped%20it%20up%20in%20a%20heartbeat.%20.%20.if%20only%20lawd.”>size=1</a>[/size]</p>

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<p>To compare UCLA to Harvard or Yale is laughable in terms of name recognition. Perhaps it would make a lot more sense to compare Berkeley to the Ivys, but not UCLA.</p>

<p>In reality, the quality of the education you will get at most, if not all, higher level learning institutions such as the UCs and the Ivys is probably going to be about the same. The real difference between theses schools is based on the perception of “prestige” which the Ivys, for whatever reason, have. The reality is that you as a student will be the most important factor in how well educated you become. Are you going to school to memorize or to learn? </p>

<p>With that said, all the UCs are outstanding educational institutions and each one has various particular academic strengths and weaknesses depending on the field of study. </p>

<p>For example, last year at Christmas, I was at the mall at the Coach store buying a purse and wallet for my wife. The young girl working at Coach who was showing me the purses started to ask about my LMU class of '83 ring that I was wearing. She was telling me how she had graduated last year from UCLA with a mathematics degree with honors and can’t find a job other than in the mall. I told her that the economy will improve and that a math degree from UCLA is very presigious and she will eventually find something. TRUE STORY.</p>

<p>Go look at the campuses and see if that’s where you want to live for the next four years of your student life. Do some research to find out the REAL reputation the school has for the education you’re wanting by calling prospective employers that you may consider to work for after graduation and ask them how aggressively they pursue students from a particular school. </p>

<p>For example, I am a CPA and the CFO of a large company. My daughter wants to study economics and accounting as well. So, we knew if she was going to stay in So. Cal, she had a choice of either going to LMU, UCSB, UCLA, USC or Pepperdine due to they offer a high quality accounting education. So, we did our homework by calling the firms and contacting the schools and found out where the Big 4 accounting firms like to recruit their newhires from. As it turns out, all the accounting firms aggressively seek students from each of these schools. They are all considered top tier recruiting schools by the firms. So, my daughter chose UCSB because she likes the area.</p>

<p>Good luck on your choice.</p>

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<p>There is rural and there is “rural” rural by the beach vs rural by the cows and pigs. I would worry about budget cuts affecting quality as we move forward.Thats why I encouraged my kids to apply to USC. One twin got in and the other is going to be put on a two semester transfer plan coordinated with USC. The financial packet from USC was unbelivable. It is going to cost me much less to send son to USC than D to UCSB.</p>

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<p>@rwscpa</p>

<p>I don’t think comparing UCLA to Harvard is as laughable as comparing UC Santa Barbara to UCLA or UC Berkeley, in my opinion. But yes, as you said, I agree that comparing UCLA to Harvard is a bit of a stretch.</p>

<p>Of course college is what you make of it. Of course you can be successful (and in all honesty, you most likely WILL be) regardless of what college you attend, especially when all of your options are wonderful. And of course you can have trouble finding a job regardless of what prestigious college you attended. I hardly think your anecdotal experience meeting a UCLA grad in the mall is proof that it is just as hard to find a job out of UCLA as it is out of LMU. At the end of the day, UCLA is a world-class institution and UC Santa Barbara is not, and I hardly think LMU and UCLA are similarly well-known (although I know you’re not trying to argue that, at least I don’t think).</p>

<p>No one across the Atlantic will have heard of UCSB or UCD or UCI. The chances of someone on the other side of the planet having heard of UCLA are significantly higher. Whether or not that is important to you is a different discussion, but regardless of reputation I still feel that UCLA offers an undergraduate college experience unrivaled by any of the lower- or mid-tier UCs.</p>

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<p>Perhaps you should take a look at rankings and then restate your point about comparing UC Santa Barbara to UCLA as laughable.</p>

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<p>KevRus, I was also admitted to Berkeley as of yesterday. What are your experiences there, and do you like it?</p>

<p>If this information changes anything, I’m hoping to go to law school, hopefully a highly-ranked law school, after I graduate. I heard that once you enter graduate or professional school, the name of your undergrad. doesn’t matter anymore.</p>

<p>And rwscpa, yeah! The reason why SB is one of my options is because of their accounting & econ. program. They are the only UC with an accounting major, and I was hoping to major in accounting.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for all the input so far!</p>

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<p>@gla3bk</p>

<p>I’m not talking about rankings, I’m talking about reputation…but if rankings are that important:</p>

<p>ARWU: Harvard - 1, UC Berkeley - 4, UCLA - 12, UCSB - 33, UCI & UCD - 48
USNWR: Harvard - 1, UC Berkeley - 21, UCLA - 25, UCD - 38, UCSB - 42, UCI - 45</p>

<p>UCSB, UCD, and UCI are all ranked near University of Miami, UT @ Austin, Penn State, and Case Western - all fine institutions! UCLA and Cal are both ranked near Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, and Notre Dame - all exceptional institutions - in the USNWR (even higher, near Yale and UChicago, in the ARWU).</p>

<p>@diana3</p>

<p>Congrats on your acceptance to Cal! :D</p>

<p>Perhaps once you enter graduate school the name of your undergraduate school doesn’t matter - I don’t know if anyone can really claim with certainty that that’s the case - but I do know that it could matter in terms of getting in to those graduate schools.</p>

<p>I’ve absolutely loved my time at Cal. Next year I’ll be a third year. We’re actually almost done for the summer - we’re on the semester system unlike most of the other UCs except Merced, I believe. I really prefer the semester system to the quarter system. It’s a lot more reasonably paced, in my opinion, and it gives you more time to digest class material. Also, we get out super early for the summer (very early May) which is always a plus.</p>

<p>I’ve never experienced any of the supposed “negatives” of attending a large public school like UC Berkeley that many people often worry about. I’m right on track to graduate on time, and I’m a double major. I’ve never been turned away from a class I’ve wanted to take. I don’t know anyone who has not been able to graduate on time. All of my classes this semester have 30 students in them or fewer, most of them having about 15 students. I get lots of 1-on-1 interaction with my professors. In fact, I got a paid research position just by getting to know one of my professors in office hours. I also have another job which I absolutely love, and I’ll also be studying abroad in Germany next year. Berkeley has really allowed me to take my education to the next level!</p>

<p>Berkeley’s my favorite place in the world. I love coming to a school with so much school spirit. Having our football stadium right on campus is always a plus (I’m looking at you, UCLA :P), and the energy around campus on gamedays is just awesome. Before coming here I didn’t even consider myself a sports fan, but now I definitely am.</p>

<p>I also love being so connected to San Francisco and the Bay Area in general. There’s always something to do (or, more importantly, eat!), whether it be on campus, in the city of Berkeley, or in San Francisco. The city is just a quick BART ride away! The Bay Area is an awesome place to be as a college student. </p>

<p>So yeah! I love it here! You should come visit on Cal Day. It’s what made me realize I wanted to go to Cal. Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions! :)</p>

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<p>@KevRus, UCSB isn’t world class and UCLA and Berkeley are? How so? How do you define world class? </p>

<p>From what I see in the real world, I don’t think it matters a whole lot where you undergraduate from if you’re going to go to grad school or law school. For accounting, it matters because of the firms’ interest in the school.</p>

<p>As far as the rankings on the list you’re showing, the gap between 1st place Harvard on that list and 12th place UCLA is miles wider than the gap between the UCLA and UCSB gap in the context of the perception of education quality. I honestly doubt the education is any better at Harvard than UCLA or UCSB, but the perception that it is is there for sure.</p>

<p>All of them are outstanding, but some institutions just have that name recognition that’s so recognizable worldwide.</p>

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<p>Go to college where you feel comfortable. I agree wholeheartedly with the above poster, where you go for undergraduate has barely any effect on what you do in the future (just like “reputation” wise). As a high schooler you’re sort of fed with the whole “it’s all about the name” but when you actually attend college you learn a big lie, especially when most of your senior friends from UCLA can’t find jobs. My good friend’s cousin from Cornell who majored in chemical engineering with a low GPA and barely any internships under his belt can’t find a job, despite the fact that he went to Cornell. No surprise. It’s really about the GPA, the programs that the schools offer, and the internships/research experiences that you do. Trust me on this. It’s not about the name, it really isn’t. A person from UCR who has a bunch of internships under their belt and a high GPA vs a person who graduated from harvard with little to no job experience and a low GPA will get the job, hands down.</p>