<p>It’s popularity, pure and simple. In my day, many years ago, UCSC was the most difficult of all the UC’s for admittance. Several of my friends had to “settle” for Berkeley and UCLA because they were denied admittance to Santa Cruz. Another was denied at Stanford, but picked UCSC over the other UC’s to which she was admitted. Forget about the trends in application popularity. Enjoy your school, and yes, it is most definitely the most beautiful campus, for sure!</p>