#1 Are you staying in Southern California? UCI has a good reputation in So. Cal., but is not well known in the rest of the nation. If you want to leave California after college, you may want to go with the name recognition.

#2 Are you positive you want to be an engineer? UCI has a good engineering program, but what if you realize you’d rather be an archaeologist? UCLA has stronger academic programs in other fields which is a benefit if you change your mind (or even if you want to double major).

#3 Do you want to have “fun”? Irvine is a nice little town, with a neat mall. The Anteaters have some good sports teams…. BUT c’mon UCLA!!!! GO BRUINS!!! NCAA FOOTBALL!!! NCAA BASKETBALL FINALS!!!! UCLA is also closer to major entertainment and nightlife centers. UCLA has very active social organizations and a large Greek system.

UCI has a moderate Greek system, and it’s closer to Disneyland. If that stuff matters to you, then UCLA sounds a better fit.

#4 How competitive are you? Graduating from a more prestigious school will help with landing higher paying jobs. Graduating from UCI you may have to finish near the top to land the top jobs. Think about it this way. If you borrow $100,000.00 for 5 years of college, and you make $80,000.00 per year to start with, you will rapidly have more money than if you take out no loans for college but only start with $60,000.00 per year.

If you are certain that you want an engineering degree, and you are a studious individual, and you don’t intend to leave California after college, then UCI is probably the better choice.

Otherwise…. Go Bruins!

Choose a field of engineering that interests you or a few and look on the website to see how many faculty do research in that area.

I would say overall there should be a big difference. I think UC Davis is near Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, that would be excellent intership/research possiblities there.

Check out their sites. See what kind of other facilities these campuses offer.