UCSD, UCSB, UCI, Case Western Reserve...please help me.

[janar]

Hi all,

Firstly, I am happy to get admissions from those universities. I am applying for PhD in Computer Science.

I applied 9 and rejected 2, got admited 4 waiting 4.

Now it seems i have to make my desision. Surprizingly the funding oppportunities are all same for all schools.

So which school should I choose? I am a Mongolian. I don't think there would be any Mongolian community in those Universities. So that is not an factor to evaulat.

So please help me. Any comments are welcome.

[ElusiveMuse]

I have lived in all the cities where these schools are located, so I can give you input in terms of that. I know nothing about your field though so I have no idea if one program is better than another. But I would want to live in Santa Barbara. Cleveland is a really economically depressed area right now, I dislike the conservative atmosphere of San Diego and Irvine is to far inland for me to enjoy the weather at all (too hot).

[janar]

ElusiveMuse thank you very much.

I have never been to USA. So any comments are welcome. My intended area of study is Network.

Please give me any comments.

[Nardo]

no matter where you go, it will be a sharp transition from what you're used to. I don't know much about Case Western Reserve, but as far as the UCs go, UCSB has the densest population of college students living near the university. For someone new in the country, that might be a good thing: better access to groups and clubs on campus, living closer to your fellow graduate students. More cheap places to eat and drink near by. I'm sure you can make things work at the other universities, but Santa Barbara would probably be the easiest place to start a new chapter of your life. Good Luck!!

[Yellow#5]

I agree, UCSB is a lovely student town. The downtown is very small and compact and only 30 minutes by bus from the campus ( a beautiful drive along the beach on the 101 freeway!) There is a farmers market 2x a week downtown and the atmosphere is very casual and very friendly both near the campus in Isla Vista and downtown in the city of Santa Barbara. Rent might be a little expensive, but otherwise, living is pretty easy in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara, apart from the student culture, is also full of very wealthy people. San Diego, a larger city has all different income levels ("normal" people). San Diego is a little more spread out. You might need a car there. It is a much larger city.

Apart from quality of life, only you can say which of your 4 choices is the stronger department for your interests and which school will get you more local job opportunities if you are trying to get hired right out of school.

Everyone knows California has great weather, but you probably can't tell from looking at a map how different the two California Schools are from each other.

[ElusiveMuse]

Actually, Irvine has kind of not-so-great weather. It's unbearably hot in the Inland areas of Southern California.

[belowthree]

Weather wise I'd say UCSD or UCSB. Plain beautiful wise UCSB gets a nod over UCSD. As for studying networking in CS, I'd say UCSD kills all your other options.

So I'm biased because I go to UCSD right now, but even trying to remain objective I find myself wondering why UCSD doesn't shoot to the top of your list.

[Dubya]

Actually, Irvine has kind of not-so-great weather. It's unbearably hot in the Inland areas of Southern California.

Are you guys kidding me!?! Seriously. Have you ever been to UCI? I didn't go there, but UCI is hardly 'inland'! It's only a few miles from the coast. Riverside gets hot. Pasadena gets hot. UCI is practically Newport Beach. Look at a map...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&saf ... 1&ct=title

[janar]

Hi all,

First of all thank you for all of you guys (Nardo, Yellow#5, Elusivemuse, belowthree, Dubya ). I really appreciate your answers.

Now, I have eliminated Case and UCI.

For USNews ranking and AWUR I can see UCSD's ranking is higher than UCSB. In that view I wanna choose UCSD.

But, as you guys pointed out UCSB has better living environment. So I don't know how to give a weight between ranking and living environment. Is there any one who studies in those universities?

Especially, in networking area.

Thank you in advance.

[Dubya]

I went to one of them. UCSB is definitely the more social of the two. While they're both right next to the beach, it's more accessible at SB and SB/IV are much more student friendly than La Jolla. But on the other hand, UCSD definitely has the better CS department and the location allows for easy access to other cities in SoCal and elsewhere. Santa Barbara is somewhat isolated. If it were me I would focus on strength of the program and potential advisors, how much money I was receiving, and overall fit with the dept...location would be secondary.

[ewurgler]

Hey: I went to UCSD for undergrad and still live in san diego. Though i was in the social sciences, I am very aware of how strong CS is there. I really loved ucsd and got an excellent education.

Though I am pretty sick of southern california in general, san diego has some good points. Though I would avoid living in la jolla if you have a car and don't mind driving a bit, it is very beautiful.

I've never lived in santa barbara, but I have visited several times. It is very cute but small. I would think san diego has a bit more of an "urban" feel than santa barbara, and I suspect has more opportunity for summer internships than santa barbara.

Anyway, if you end up in san diego and want some info on places to live outside of la jolla, PM and I can give you some info.