What does this even mean???
The Universities of California are public colleges sponsored by the state’s taxpayers. They are not “struggling”. They are crowded because they are popular.
Don’t make assumptions about the colleges and universities in the country based on where you currently attend. They’re all different.
You can’t assume that every UC is going to be the same. I’m going to quickly summarize where the schools are in California.
Davis and Merced are in the middle of farmland in Northern California. Davis has easier access to large cities. They are both agricultural schools.
UCR is in the suburbs. Some students don’t like the location because, unlike most California myths, the location is not near a beach. Getting to the beach is a pain
UCLA is in a very busy section of Los Angeles. There should be easy access to most things that you need. It’s a very large campus and it’s also extremely busy.
UCB (which you are not applying to) is in a very busy section of the Bay Area. The city has a lots of restrictions on what kinds of businesses go into the area. Lots of Mom and Pops, homeless, and “interesting” characters.
UCI tends to be a commuter campus.
You can get to the beach from there but it’s really busy.
Most of these schools require a car because the public transportation is awful.
The mistake that a lot of new students make is that getting to the campuses is easy.
California is a large state. It takes a while to get from San Diego to San Francisco. Traffic, on our freeways, is intense. Car insurance is expensive. Gas is expensive.
Maybe it doesn’t make much difference to you, but your parents will be spending a lot of money, if you reside out here for school on everything.