tingtongtay

So I am trying to decide between three programs: UCSB, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and University of Minnesota. UCSB is ranked the highest (number one) and University of Minnesota is a bit lower, UIUC is right behind UCSB. For my visit I enjoyed UMN the most, but I can not get over that it is not highly as regarded, but does that matter? Should I worry about the rankings at all? Also how and when in the world did UCSB become such a highly regarded science and engineering school?

I CAN NOT DECIDE!!!! I liked minnesota or UIUC the best, but should I really care about rankings? How in the world is UCSB ranked so high in the Leiden rankings, NRC rankings, etc.? I never heard of it as a prestigious school until recently.