UC - San Diego

The University of California – San Diego is located in the northern suburbs of San Diego on the southern Californian coast, about two hours from Los Angeles.
It was the 7th University to be established by the University of California, accepting its first students in 1964. One aspect that sets it apart from the majority of universities is it's college system. Based on the Oxbridge system, when students apply, they have to rank in preference which of the six colleges they would like to be in (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, Eleanor Roosevelt and Sixth).
Each college has their own general education plan, and philosophy, so students, if they are lucky, can be placed in a college that suits them.

Although young in university terms, the university ranks very highly, both in the US News rankings (35th nationally), and in the ranking of world universities (14th in 2008). It is also recognised as a Public Ivy.

Why would I consider going here? Even though the university does not offer an informatics program, its BA in Computer Science comes very close when you plan your general education and elective courses carefully.

As well as being in a well respected university, the Computer Science department, based at Warren College is highly ranked and has recently opened a state of the art building.
The reasons why this would be my third choice mainly comes down to curriculum. A Master of CS is also offered by the department.

When it comes to accommodation and dining on campus, the university has a wide selection of choices. It's residence halls are a mix of traditional, and apartments spread out over the 6 colleges, as well as stand-alone apartment complexes for grad students and staff. The only residences open over all breaks are these, plus the apartments in the colleges. On campus dining is made easy, with a mix of cafes and food courts (some of them open on the weekend).

Off campus there are two shopping malls nearby, one with a supermarket.

Job prospects for me would be very high, as the university is on the edge of the tech and biotech hub of the region. Qualcomm dominates with its headquarters here and many tech companies have major bases in the area as well.

You can find out the courses I would take by clicking on the link below. Course List