In terms of UCSD vs UCD, location-wise I pick UCSD over UCD no brainer. This is a question of whether YOU want to stay in Nor-Cal or So-Cal but regardless UCSD beats UCD location wise.
Okay, Davis is in the middle of a cowtown with the population of 65,000 people. If you drive down the highway, look to your left, look to your right.....all farm fields! Davis reminds me of Merced. It is in a rural setting and basically a collegetown.
http://www.whitcombeandco.com/images...california.jpg http://www.daviscalifornia.com/site-images/davis02.jpg
UCSD is in La Jolla and in sunny San Diego county. The weather is beautiful and it is near the beach. The homes surrounding UCSD are nice and tropical and there are palm trees to the left and palm trees to the right.
See for yourself. Here is a aerial picture of our UCSD campus
http://infrared.ucsd.edu/images/ucsd_aerial2.jpg http://www-it.desy.de/common/confere...003/chep03.jpg
UCSD wins hands down. It beats UCD in terms of academics and location. It basically comes down to whether you like the farm or the beach.
P.S. - You can always take a trip to downtown San Diego if you don't want to be on campus all the time.
https://www.memberize.net/clubportal...03/skyline.jpg http://www.goodapartment.com/photos/...45c9838df.jpeg http://www.wildnatureimages.com/imag...41011-186..jpg http://www.adventurist.net/trips/san...c-theaters.jpg