I only applied to UW and UCSC due to time constraints. I was going initially to take a year off to figure out my life but my adviser decided I needed to send apps out two weeks before most deadlines. Great fun.
I'm at UW now finishing out a MA in a different program and I was readily rejected... now just waiting on UCSC, which I feel like would be a great fit. I keep telling myself there's no way I'm getting in so I don't get my hopes up but it's so hard not to! I need a break from checking Gmail every 5 seconds!