<p>UCSB - the compact housing arrangement (Isla Vista) makes for a great party scene. Beautiful setting – right ON the water. Good in physical sciences. The lowest diversity of the nine UCs.</p>
<p>UCSD - I agree with above poster – very good in engineering, especially related to medicine. Pretty campus, but not on the water as some think… Not much of a party atmosphere. </p>
<p>San Diego St. – cheaper than the other two by about $5,000, bigger, and more of a frat/athletic scene. Hardest Cal St. to get into after Cal Poly SLO. Approx. equiv. in quality to Riverside and Merced for undergrad, but very little grad school status. Has more pre-biz majors than the other two combined. The top half at SDSU could have also gotten into UC Riverside and UC Merced, but chose the atmosphere/location at SDSU.</p>