<p>I'm a student at University of Edinburgh (UK) who's considering a year abroad at UCLA (hopefully) for my third year. I just wanted to ask some general questions about living expenses, lifestyle etc.</p>
<p>First of all, all my friends insist that living in LA without a car is almost impossible. Are all the UCLA students here willing to confirm that? I don't particularly mind forking out for a car, but it'd be nice to know so that I can research a little bit more on the matter. Also, if I do need a car, does anyone have any suggestions? I don't have a particularly tight budget. Basically anything under 10,000 is fine, maybe a little bit over. Preferably a bigger vehicle.</p>
<p>Also, I don't particularly want to live in dorms. Can anyone give me a rough guide to where most UCLA students rent? I know the campus is a pretty upscale area. If I get a car, then I don't mind commuting a fair distance to get to class, as along as it's not ridiculously far out. And what can I expect to pay?</p>
<p>Lastly, the application process for year abroad actually doesn't allow me to narrow my application down to UCLA alone. I am only permitted to apply to the University of California system, from there on, I'm placed into one of the universities at random (I think.) Which other ones would you guys recommend? I'm leaning towards Berkeley as I know a fair bit about the place and I've visited before. I hate the idea of San Diego because it's just too slow paced for me. How far out is Santa Barbara from the L.A? Or Irvine?</p>
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First of all, all my friends insist that living in LA without a car is almost impossible.
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<p>Yes, especially if you plan on living off-campus like you said.</p>
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Also, if I do need a car, does anyone have any suggestions? I don't have a particularly tight budget. Basically anything under 10,000 is fine, maybe a little bit over. Preferably a bigger vehicle.
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<p>Get something reliable like a used Honda Civic (although not big by American standards). Check out Craigslist or Autotrader.com to search.</p>
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I'm leaning towards Berkeley as I know a fair bit about the place and I've visited before.
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<p>If you go to Berkeley, you don't have to worry about a car...</p>
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How far out is Santa Barbara from the L.A? Or Irvine?
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<p>A couple hours north by car. Irvine is about an hour south by car...depending on traffic. But, I would recommend UCSB over UCI, especially for a foreign exchange student.</p>
<p>well it is actually not too bad to not have a car at UCLA since a lot of the time you'll be spending on campus and all the closer places(santa monica beach, Hollywood, Downtown LA) can be easily reached on bus and its only 25 cents per ride for students... matter in fact if you get a car you'll be spending about $1000 simply on parking permit, and thats if you can get one since majority of the students couldn't since there isn't that many parking spots... if you don't want to live on campus(and enjoy #1 dining in the nation) then get a university apartment, they are cheaper than on campus housing and only minutes away from campus</p>
<p>To be honest, the dining here isn't that great, but it does seem wonderful (especially at Covel and De Neve) if you've just come here (I've been eating the same stuff for over a year, so I can get pretty tired of it). </p>
<p>If you're international, I believe you can get a place in the co-op at UCLA; otherwise apartments near campus are an average $500-600 a month. A car would definitely be nice to have, as it's just a lot more convenient than the public transportation system we have here (it's about twice as longer by bus than it is by car, mostly because of the many stops you have to take). Whether you can get a parking permit, however, is a different story.</p>
<p>public transportation in l.a. can get you anywhere, so a car isn't necessary at all. traffic actually makes driving a really big pain. </p>
<p>also, why not live in the dorms? it'll surely add to youre experience abroad and will help you meet people. it will give you a well-rounded experience here.</p>
<p>Wherever you end up you're going to have a ball. When the exchange rate works in your favor to the extent that it will coming from the UK, oh man, it's gonna be fun. </p>
<p>Major reason why I can't fulfill one of my college goals of studying in Kings College, London..</p>
<p>if you live in the dorms, don't worry about a car. it will be hard to get parking, and you don't need it. you can get to close places by bus, and faraway places by amtrak (more time than driving, but doable, especially to places like san diego or santa barbara).</p>
<p>i second the honda civic. very reliable and popular. but you only need it if you're in an apartment, and you can very well live without one. there are apartments aplenty in westwood village. some people save on rent by living in santa monica and commuting.</p>
<p>if you end up at berkeley, it's true you don't need a car. BART (subway system) gets you all over the bay area and is cheaper than driving/parking, especially with the bridge tolls. </p>
<p>santa barbara is another place to enjoy the california environment. great beaches and fun place to be.</p>
<h2>if san diego is too slow for you, don't even consider Irvine, Riverside, or the others. LA, Cal, or SB are likely your best options, although SB is different in that the nightlife is primarily composed of house parties. </h2>
<p>(the rest of this is LA specific) </p>
<p>the car thing depends on what you're planning on doing. living in the dorms and spending most of your time on campus? not necessary. getting a job, exploring the area, or just gtfo of campus occasionally? probably a good idea. while public transportation technically can get you anywhere, it's nothing like the public transportation you're used to. it's slow. <em>really</em> slow. and sometimes unwieldily complicated. </p>
<p>where you decide to live also depends on the car thing. most students rent in an area directly to the west of campus (the closest building being ~ 2 minutes away on foot and the furthest being anywhere from 10-25 minutes on foot depending on how far out). however, parking here is hard to come by. you'd either need to find an apartment/room with a parking space, rent a parking space from someone else (ranging from $100-$200/month depending on demand), or deal with street parking. which is harder than it sounds, with constant street cleaning restrictions and 2-hour only spots taking up the bulk of the available space. if you don't get a car, this area is awesome to rent in. it's also awesome to rent in with a car, albeit more difficult.</p>
<p>if you choose to get a car, it might behoove you to live a little further away. apartments south of wilshire are available (~30 minute walk to campus with shuttles available). parking is somewhat more available in this area. other cities to look at include santa monica, century city, palms, brentwood, beverly hills, west hollywood, and culver city- all of which are within 6ish miles away, maximum. rent in these areas could span anywhere from $900 for a studio to $2500+ for a 2 or more bedroom apartment. A good rate for a private room is anywhere from $550 to $1200 depending on the area and the amenities, parking, etc. Just look at craigslist to get an idea of what prices tend to be average for the above areas.</p>
<p>Also, just how serious are the students at UCLA?</p>
<p>Over here in the UK, it tends to be the case that everyone works HARDCORE to get into a university like mine and then we all just start slacking because there's really not a lot of set work to do. I take English Literature and History of Art (double major with honours) and I only get 2 essays per semester for English and 1 for History of Art. The hardest course I take is my minor, which is Chinese and involves regular testing and homework.</p>
<p>I hear that that's not the case over in the US and that there's frequent coursework and testing? Anyone care to verify?</p>
<p>It really depends on a case by case basis. There are a lot of people who work hardcore and there are a lot who don't. Does the UK have a test you have to take to get into a university? Because if you have to take a test to determine whether or not you get into a university, that's probably why UK students work hard before getting into a university. </p>
<p>In the quarters system, it feels like you have a constant workload + testing. If you end up in a school where you have the normal semester system, it feels like things are spaced out a little bit and you can slack more.</p>
<p>Well the last two years of high school (which are called college over here in England) are comprised of AS (Advanced Subsidiary) and A2 (Adavanced) Levels. The grades achieved in these two years are rounded up to determine which universities you can get into.</p>
<p>So, I guess you could say that we take tests... but some people don't do A Levels to get into university, it counts as a high school diploma of sorts.</p>
<p>What's the difference between quarters and semesters?</p>
<p>santa monica and west hollywood are among the more expensive places to rent in LA, especially santa monica. try culver city, palms, mar vista, or west la - pretty close to campus (decent driving distance) and cheaper. if you want cheaper, that is.</p>
<p>By test, I mean like ONE test you take to determine if you get admitted into the school of your choice. But I have a clearer picture of the system you have.</p>
<p>The difference between the quarters and semester system is that the former is 10 weeks and the latter is 16 weeks. Both will cover about the same amount of material, but one is over 1/3 shorter. So with the quarters system, you tend to work more since everything is quicker. </p>
<p>People work hard everywhere you go. In UCLA, you'll find those who are serious and those who are not.</p>
<p>santa barbara's chicks are SOOOO much hotter than those at LA, BUT i dont mind the ones at LA though, i would UCLA and UCSB got the hot chicks...you will turn gay if you go to Cal. but if you go to santa barbara, beware of its unique strain of syphillis-syphillis santa barbaris. </p>
<p>forget honda civic, go american with the ford mustang GT, my ride, got to admit, its a good feeling to drive your car after walkin for 4 months</p>
<p>dunno much about housing, but i'll be stayin at the Houses next year</p>
<p>and tom, the dining SUCKS...im sick and TIRED of the pasta at covel...DISGUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>^ ...eat somewhere else, then. and why would he waste money on a mustang? only things it can do well are go in a straight line and waste insurance money.</p>
<p>anyways, stick to used japanese cars. hondas and toyotas have cheaper parts simply because they're everywhere, but nissan and subaru are fine. new american cars are catching up to japanese ones...but they're new.</p>
<p>semester actually covers about the same material as two quarters, maybe a little less...case in point: math 31a/b (single variable calc), 32a/b (multivar) are one class each at Cal. here "a" is one quarter, and "b" follows in the next quarter.</p>
<p>some people slack, some don't. however, the overall atmosphere is more serious compared to "lower" universities.</p>
<p>I am not going to base my decision on how hot the girls are. And I'm a gay girl.</p>
<p>And there is ABSOLUTELY no point in me spending money on a Mustang if I'm only staying there for one year. Believe me, I've even looked into buying vintage muscle. It's not so much the money for the car that I'm worried about. It's the insurance, which I've heard can really sting over there in the US.</p>
Go starve then. You wanted to lose weight, correct? I believe you complained about this in the "dressy" thread.
You don't mind the ones at LA? Right, since they're there to please you right? For the record, syphilis isn't v. prevalent in this part of the nation, it's more like in Southeastern U.S.
It's a mixed bad and like others have said, pretty dependent on major too.