UCSB vs. UCD vs. UCI- The Final Answer

College Search & Selection
1

<p>After a lot of research on this topic, I found a lot of biased opinions and decided that I'd make a thread for this topic myself. </p>

<p>Rankings(201(3-4)
US NEWS~~~~~~FORBES~~~~~~~ARWU~~~~~~WMNUR~~~~~~LSCR~~~~~~AVG
UCD- 39~~~~~~~UCSB- 96~~~~~~UCSB- 35~~~~UCSB- 22~~~~~UCI- 61~~~~UCSB-52.4<br>
UCSB- 41~~~~~~~UCD- 99~~~~~~UCI- 45~~~~~~UCD- 23~~~~~~UCSB- 68~~UCD- 56.8
UCI- 49~~~~~~~~~UCI- 112~~~~~~UCD- 46~~~~~UCI- 84~~~~~~~UCD- 77~~~UCI- 70.2</p>

<p>UCSB is the highest ranked by three sources, UCD is the highest ranked by one source(the most popular source), and UCI is the highest ranked by one source.
UC Davis is the lowest ranked by two sources, UCI is the lowest ranked by three sources. </p>

<p>Rankings aren't the only factor in finding which college is the "best" but they do give a lot of insight.
There are also a ton of other factors which determine which college one chooses. </p>

<p>College Prowler is a great resource in comparing the three in a variety of ways. In terms of academics they are all tied with an "A-".
<a href="http://colleges.niche.com/compare/default.aspx?schools=University%20of%20California%20-%20Santa%20Barbara%2CUniversity%20of%20California%20-%20Davis%2CUniversity%20of%20California%20-%20Irvine&tab=tab-rankings"&gt;http://colleges.niche.com/compare/default.aspx?schools=University%20of%20California%20-%20Santa%20Barbara%2CUniversity%20of%20California%20-%20Davis%2CUniversity%20of%20California%20-%20Irvine&tab=tab-rankings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Another factor to look at is income.
According to Payscale.com's 2014 report:
UC Irvine's Average Starting Salary is $48,900. Mid Career Salary $97,200(Ranked 65)
UC Davis' Average Starting Salary is $49,000. Mid Career Salary $97,000(Ranked 68)
UCSB's Average Starting Salary is $46,300. Mid Career Salary $96,200(Ranked 71)</p>

<p>To compare to other schools: UCLA(77) $49,600, then $95,300
Harvey Mudd(1) $73,300, then $143,000</p>

<p>There you have it. My opinion is that they are extremely similar, and you can be successful at any three. If I were to pick one out of the three, I would choose Ucsb because they are about equal in terms of prestige/academics, but the location, weather, and social atmosphere of Ucsb is the most attractive to me.</p>

2

<p>Note- You must view this on desktop or the chart will be very hard to read…</p>

3

<p>very cool information.</p>

<p>Also it can be useful to look at WHAT is ranked. For example, US News and some other popular ranking sites rank even undergraduate programs by the graduate program focus. While having smart people in your field on campus is definitely a plus though, I think having an undergraduate focus where undergraduates are more likely to get research opportunities and other opportunities instead of taking a back seat to graduate students, makes for a better undergraduate program. UCSB is graded down by US News for this, but I like that over half of seniors are working on original research there. I also liked that European ranking that ranked research institutions not by peer review of the program, but by how many times the research is actually quoted in peer reviewed articles around the world. UCSB was number 2 in the world in that one.</p>

<p>I’m biased, I have loved the school since I was 17 and enrolled there. Davis is a terrific school., and like UCSB is in a true college town. Irvine has an extremely reputable reputation. They are all good schools.</p>