<p>I just wrote this long, detailed entry about what I think of Irvine (bottom line: pleasant, but not exciting), and I deleted it. It's worthless. I think the best and only advice for someone considering UCI is to go visit the campus. That's the only real way to know how well it fits you. The problem with taking people's advice off message boards like this is you can have two conflicting ideas, and neither of them is wrong. Which of them is right for you is sometimes impossible to determine (from this medium anyway). So visit UCI, SB, Davis and whatever other schools you're considering, even if it seems like a lot of work, time, or money that you're giving up. It matters, because you'll be spending four years of your life at that college, and you'll want to enjoy it.</p>