This is a work in progress so I'll highlight a couple things most prospective students don't catch. These opinions are solely my own.

• Housing is mother f'ing expensive. Even on campus. The rental increases are every f'ing year.. Average rent per bedroom in 2004-2005 was $579.13 with an average rent increase of 6.6%/year over the last three years.
• You don't get paid much; especially when you factor in the cost of living.
• Orange County is a nice place to be, but you're not that close to Los Angeles. Factor in the traffic and you're very far away.
• Living off campus is quite nice, but mother f'ing expensive.
• Make sure you have guaranteed funding before you show up here.
• The faculty at ICS rock. The computer graphics lab is the lab that has the most fun.
• The food is pretty good.