| dude i was in the same dilemma as OP. im from norcal, i have braces, and i really wanted to enter into the socal scene, so i was leaning towards irvine right off the bat.
after i went to davis once for decision day, it was one of the ****tiest receptions ever. i thought for sure irvine was the school for me. even after visiting it and seeing how nice the campus is and how pretty the girls are, i was almost certain that i wanted to go to irvine.
but then you have to think about the reality of the situation. being closer to home is a huge plus, no matter how much you hate your parents. it doesnt matter if you have friends going to that school or not since you're definitely going to want to meet new people. there are bound to be pretty girls no matter where you go. your environment is going to change after your dorm life (apartments off campus), so you need to contemplate on which environment would suit you more.
i ended up choosing davis after realizing there are more benefits of going there. my advice is to REALLY think about it. don't just make a decision based on where your friends want you to go. i spent a couple days meeting with a couple friends in my situation to discuss the pros and cons. now i feel comfortable with my decision.
good luck to you and to those still deciding uci/ucd |