Accepted for Fall 2015 - questions about college life

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

I got accepted into UCLA and I’m trying to decide between UCLA, USC and Vassar College. I’ve applied undecided but I’m planning to do something humanities/arts related…

  • What are some bad things about UCLA? I've heard that students become quite unhappy with it after freshman year for some reason but is this true?
  • Is it difficult to get the classes you need to graduate? Or the classes you want?
  • What are the dorms and food like? Is it hard to live with 2 other roommates? Do you get cleaners in the bathrooms and common areas?
  • Is it easy to get lost because it's a big university? Are you able to develop relationships with professors at all?
  • What is the social scene like? Is it hard to get into parties if you're not part of Greek life?
  • What's your experience been

Any help at all would be great! Thank you

2
  • It's true. And there are too many reasons. While there are many bad things about UCLA, one of the reason students are not happy is because of the difference between expectation and reality. You are probably a good student in high school, but then you are just an average or even below-average student at UCLA with average or below-average grade. And many of them are away from home for the first time. It's just complicated and different for everyone.
  • Yes unless you are a regent scholar.
  • dorms-->small, expensive, and old. food-->Some say good, some say bad. Food here is definitely above average, but it's still dinning hall food after all. You eventually get tired of eating the same food over and over again. roommates-->it's really up to you. I know my roommate from high school so it's alright. I live in a plaza so yes, someone comes in weekly to clean it for you.
  • UCLA isn't that big. It's actually the smallest UC I believe. During your first or second years, you professors will teach lectures of 200 students or more so it's quite difficult. Some of them are just lecturers so they don't really care. Some of them like doing research more than talking to students. But this is more of a situation in south campus so I'm not sure about north campus. I didn't try since I prefer learning by myself.
  • If you want to party there are some of the best ones here. When it comes to partying, UCLA students are the craziest and most creative in the nation. And you can definitely be a part of them if you want to.
  • I would definitely go to USC if I can choose again since USC is only about 4k/year more expensive for me. Many things happened that I don't even want to think about it. Fighting a case with a professor for 7 months before winning the case, staffs/administrative being always slow and unresponsive, being frustrated when many of my peers were cheating in a curved class and I was being a nice student and getting low grade while professors didn't care, not getting into the class/dorm room/parking permit,etc I wanted, bike/phone being stolen... But then, there are also good times. I guess life is just good and bad, the expected and unexpected. And there will be bad things if I go to USC instead. Besides all these administrative/staffs/professors problems that come with the lower tuition of UCLA, my life at UCLA has been pretty great.