[Squawks]

Hey enroutte - I am sure tzf will give you his input on UCI (or not, hahah!) but here are my comments:

UCSB: pretty place to be. Near the ocean, party place...lots of beaches. School I hear is not so good compared to say, UCSD and UCLA.
UCLA: the true party school. You'll find parties left and right. They are crazy. They have a Div I team for both basketball and football so every weekend it's crazy. They party it up - no joke. I've been there.
UCI: too many Asians for my blood. Not that I have a grudge against Asians (hey I'm Asian) but I really don't like to have just Asian homies to kick it with. Nice location, though - moderate weather, 4 miles from the beach, 30 min from LA, 45 min from San Diego. Good school, program wise. Additionally, there's not much to do in Irvine compared to SD, LA, and even Santa Barbara. Because you have so many Asians, and then there's that stereotype that Asians are overachievers...put that together and what happens?
UCD: I don't like Davis weather-wise. Hot as all hell (110 degrees sometimes) in summer. In the middle of nowhere with agricultural land all around. You can smell cows there. It's pretty flat and the actual town of Davis is small (but it's a really good town). It's more than an hour from the bay area and just 20 minutes from Sacramento (but Sacramento is really boring).