@lexluther96 i will. i’m excited to visit
UCSB>UCSD for me. I visited both campuses and there’s just no comparison. UCSB’s community and location are great, and Isla Vista is a college town. Students here, as far as I know, are very kind and not cutthroat. I also found UCSB’s campus to be more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, UCSB made the “big 3” this year in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 ranking (UCSB came in at #8 in top public schools, while UCSD came at #10 in a tie with UCD, and behind UCI at #9. Interestingly enough, The Wall Street Journal’s 2016 rankings of the top public universities included UCD at #6, and UCSD at #8.
Rankings-wise, the tier twos always come close to and pass one another. I don’t really see differences in prestige. Obviously, if your specific department is highly ranked (animal science at UCD for example), then that would make a difference. Go with what feels best. 
Guys I’m sorry but let’s be real here. UCSB was not that good of a school ranking wise until this recent couple years. The US News Ranking does not mean anything as it takes social life, location, athletics(come on now, really??), and a lot of non academic factors into consideration for the ranking. UCSD is much better than UCI, UCD, and UCSB in terms of academic reputation (except a few majors) and job opportunities(surrounding area is like a mini Silicon Valley). If you stretch a bit, UCSD is nearly on par with UCLA academically speaking, especially for all the science programs . Sure you ll have a good time at Santa Barbara and Irvine, but I ain’t gonna party through the last two years of college and come out of school without a good job offer. These two years are vital to how my life will be after college. UCSD is around top 30 in the nation realistically speaking. Their ranking has been dropping because of the expansion of the school (they just invested 1.8 billion into expansion and school development) as well as their lackluster athletics program, but the companies don’t care about all the rankings. Most companies (especially businesses in California) value UCSD grads much more than UCSB grads (again, there are exceptions to a few programs, don’t be telling me “but big 4 recruiting heavy out of UCSB!!”). As soon as I get accepted by UCSD I will decline UCSB’s offer. Just my two cents.
@frkfr93 https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings
“The US News Ranking does not mean anything as it takes social life, location, athletics(come on now, really??)”
This is not true. It seems like you read this sentence “Many factors other than those spotlighted here will figure in your decision, including location and the feel of campus life; the range of academic offerings, activities and sports; and cost and the availability of financial aid” in the 3rd paragraph and mistook the factors students consider with which to make a decision about what school to attend and the methodology of how U.S News ranks schools. If you read the whole article, it shows at the bottom the indicators with which they use to rank schools. They are Graduation and retention rates (22.5 percent),Undergraduate academic reputation (22.5 percent),Faculty resources (20 percent),Student selectivity (12.5 percent),Financial resources (10 percent),Graduation rate performance (7.5 percent),Alumni giving rate (5 percent). None of these indicators suggest they use any of the variables used above.
@frkfr93 There are 3 tiers 1. UCLA UCB 2. UCSD, UCI, UCSB, UCD 3. UCM,UCR,UCSC
Depending on your major the schools can be moved around in different orders. You’re nott going to “wow” anyone by saying you went to UCSD over the other 2 tier schools
UCSB wants math req done by fall or you will get rejected. In my case a couple years back, I was taking stats last spring term and got kicked out of TAG, and was told by regular UCSB admissions I would also get rejected unless there was some math on the transcript (any math, even non-transferable) with a letter grade. I had an A in Int Algebra (non-transferable) and that saved me. They were very clear they needed to see a math course with a letter grade even for regular admission or it would be an outright rejection.
I assume that’s still the policy. It was not noted on the website, which I thought was a major issue. You could appeal if you get a good math grade. I’ve heard of them reversing.
@enpz45 @frkfr93 As an actual hiring manager, and recruiter for a F500 company, I completely ageee with @enpz45 and the assessment of UC tiers from an employers standpoint. There are certain schools, like Stanford for example, that are in tier of their own and the university name alone will open doors. The other hundreds of universities will virtually open the same doors with limited exceptions. What many recent grads fail to realize is that we hire few students from career fairs. Most recent college grads will need to network, use LinkedIn, rely on alumni, etc AND have the people skills to do well in an interview. I’m a UCSB grad and we’ve hired plenty of UCSB candidates that shine because they’re both smart and have the people skills (of course we’ve hired many great UCSD, UCD grads as well). My point is, please do not get caught up in rankings where there is minimal difference. Employers will mostly view UCSD, UCSB, UCD, etc in the same fashion so please spend the 4 years where you’ll be happiest and where it’s a good fit for you. Best of luck!
@Ohm888 i dont think thats right because im taking my first math ever in college in my spring semester and i got accepted… sooo idk how that works with whoever told you that youd be rejected without a math on your transcript. I did put math on my TAU for spring semester tho so maybe that made a difference?
@futurelawyer88 You may have been accepted even though your TAG was rejected.
Look at condition number 4 on this link
http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/PDFs/ucsb-tag-fall-2017.pdf?sfvrsn=8
That was the rule @futurelawyer88 . If you look at threads from 2013-14 you will see it mentioned plenty. Maybe they changed it. But it was 100% true.
UPDATE: look at #22. Post is 2010 but was still in effect at least two years ago. It applied to all applicants.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/921762-ucsb-rejection-p2.html
Ok i’m OCD, what can i say? Adding another link from 2015 just so you see I’m not a nutcase @futurelawyer88 
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19001855#Comment_19001855
And if they cancelled that rule, that’s great. I know they got flack because it was not noted anywhere.
@Ohm888 haha i appreciate your evidence!! Youre not a nutcase
Ucsb ranked higher than UCD AND UCSD so that says a lot
@BayAreaRecruiter Thanks for the input!! That makes me feel better about thinking that UCSB might be a better fit for me. Everyone from California keeps telling me to choose SD over SB, but no one from OOS gets that; many actually think Davis is better than any of them, but overall, most think SB is better than SD. It’s good to know that one probably isn’t going to open more doors than the other.
UCSD stands for socially dead. It’s isolated.
Wait so are we gonna go with the ranking or not? I was saying that ranking doesn’t matter as UCSD overall have a better academic reputation and better job opportunities. Theres one person saying that ranking does not matter, and another person saying UCSB is ranked higher therefore better than UCSD, UCD, UCI… I did not say that going to UCSD or even UCLA will wow anyone when you are trying to find a decent job. I meant if you are serious about what you study and value academics more, depends on majors but most people will choose UCSD over UCSB or UCI. And to the guy who says UCSD is isolated and socially dead, that may be true for greek life. However, for people who wants to focus on career opportunities instead of partying opportunities, UCSD is 20 mins to San Diego downtown and have many, many big firms nearby including Qualcomm HQ, It’s the opposite of being isolated as UCSD is practically a city school unlike UCSB which is purely a college town with no nearby internship opportunities. UCSB is almost on an island and you call UCSD isolated… I mean UCSD is building a trolly (equivalent to metro) station right ON campus. Have you even toured the campus before saying its isolated? Le sigh. UCSD is expanding the campus and accepting more students to fulfill a 40,000 student number goal. With the trolley running in a year or two you can get to downtown SD whenever you want for internships and fun things to do and be back in 15 minutes or less. Maybe you can say the same for UCSB one day if they build a hyperloop station on campus but good luck with that.
@frkfr93…everyone was stating their personal preference and that if you use rankings, it’s pretty much a wash comparing the schools. You came out swinging with UCSD is “by far” better academically. I wouldn’t say any school is by far better than the other within UCSB,UCSD,UCI,UCD. It’s just personal preference in that zone and one school might have an edge over another based on major.
I know that SD was commonly considered to be the best out of the bunch. When I was in HS, the common understanding of the ranks was this: UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, UCI, UCR, UCM. I know it has changed a bit now though, and that UCI, for example, is better for certain programs like engineering.
LIsten to @BayAreaRecruiter. Choose the one that is the best fit for YOU! If you are continuing on to med school or other professional school, they will be looking at your grades and MCAT etc. scores—not whether you received them at UCB vs UCLA vs UCSD vs UCSB vs UCI …
@calmom17 Agreed! They’re so close in rank that it’s not really going to matter. Go to the school with the best program at that point.