Thank you so much lkg4answers for the detailed answer. I really appreciate you sharing all the details.
After weighing in all of my options, I am getting inclined toward UCSB, especially given it allowed the students to take on graduate courses with no restrictions on the credits, etc. I looked at the graduate courses and those look appealing to me. The other schools seem to have more constraints about picking up graduate courses in undergrad.
Is my assumption correct?