^ uhm actually a friend of mine is at UCI and she is a freshman and she is starting her research this summer.....
and UCSB's sciences are good but I'd say UCI sciences are better...however for engineering it is the other way around
US NRC Rankings in Biochemistry , Molecular Biology(Biochem, Molec Biol) 2007
UCI (52) is ranked higher than UCSB (55) for biochem....and wow UCSC (51) is ranked higher than both of them for biochem!!
UCI also allows for a lot more "connections" and oppurtunities because it is in the OC which has lots of industries whereas UCSB is in SB (i know its not really in SB it is actually 6 miles north but for the sake of this conversation) which is more of a tourism kinda place, so there arent very many big companies...