<p>So as the May 1st deadline is quickly approaching, I'm just like any other student who is torn between two drastically different schools. Here are my options and any and all opinions are appreciated. </p>
<p>IN THE LEFT CORNER WE HAVE: The University of Alabama costing almost $15,000 a year due to my generous merit scholarship. Over 2,000 miles away from home, Bama boasts strong greek life and awesome sports (both HUGE factors for me). Not only a beautiful campus, for such a huge school they are definitely able to provide the perks a small school would have (individualized attention, lots of mentors, small class sizes) especially as a member of the honors college! Bama is truly situated in the epitome of a college town and has unparalleled amount of spirit and alumni loyalty. Culture wise, as a child of two parents who grew up in the South, I am not only used to the Southern culture but I embrace and truly love it. BONUS: I may be able to graduate in four years with both my bachelors and masters. </p>
<p>IN THE OTHER CORNER WE HAVE: The University of California at Los Angeles costing a little more than $32,000 a year, all of which my mother is willing to pay. Just under 2 and a half hours from my home, UCLA has academic prestige for days and ain't too bad at sports either. The campus for the most part is really really beautiful, although some buildings are older and can feel cold and sterile inside. The surrounding area can't be beat though as it's surrounded by the famous three B's (Brentwood, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills). However, I'm not a fan of the city too much and I feel like the school tends to take backseat to 'the great city of Los Angeles'. It is DEFINITELY not a college town. The alumni at UCLA are great and I think I would be able to find a job after I graduate do I not choose to pursue more education. I also think that I would have no problem graduating in four years. Oh and I'm basically in honors college but I don't think there's much benefit at UCLA.</p>
<p>THE FACTS: I am currently undeclared so my major isn't really impacting my decision, however I see myself taking a humanities route. I am an only child so I'm really close to my parents and I think being sooo far away could take a toll on them. I am politically and personally very conservative, which worries me about feeling out of place at UCLA. After college I don't know where I want to be but I could imagine myself living in California or North Carolina. Money isn't an issue when paying for UCLA but of course my scholarship at Bama plays a huge impact in my decision. I'm also worried about going to Bama and not actually wanting to be there for four years after the newness wears off (same can be said for UCLA though...)</p>
<p>I think UCLA is a much better option since money isn’t an issue. Westwood is an amazing area, the UCLA campus is beautiful, and academics are top-notch. Academically, UCLA is definitely a notch above Alabama. I don’t think you should worry too much about feeling out of place politically at UCLA. Most students will be liberal, but there will also be conservatives. I think UCLA’s environment is pretty open and accepting of different perspectives.</p>
<p>This is one of the types of colleges so many wish they had a chance to go to. I would go there. Every aspect - academically, socially, quality of life - lly, UCLA is ****ing awesome</p>
<p>Tough decision. You have to figure out what factors are important to you in deciding something like this. You seem too split between both universities.</p>
<p>UCLA has the edge on prestige undoubtedly. On the Alabama forum, they have a thread called ‘the look,’ or something similar, which is about the look they get from people when they tell them they go to Alabama. That doesn’t mean that the school isn’t fine, but the public prestige hasn’t caught up with it. It likely won’t for decades either.</p>
<p>To some degree, what school you should pick will depend on where you want to live after you graduate. If you want to live on the west coast (or Southwest), you should pick UCLA, as that’s where it’s pull will be strongest; If you want to live in the South (or Midwest), Alabama will probably have the edge. I think UCLA also has the edge on the east coast but can’t be certain.</p>
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<p>UCLA is diverse in just about everything that can be imagined, including political beliefs. The kids might not be as conservative as they would in a place like Alabama, but we have our share of conservative groups as well.</p>
<p>The biggest problem I see is that it looks like you could find yourself personally happy at either university. As a result, picking either is difficult. Try to find out what external factors you care about most, and see which university does a better job of helping you deal with them.</p>
<p>You’re in the same spot my nephew was in 2 years ago. Bama and UCLA were tied for his top choice. He visited Bama and fell in love (uh, UCLA is not beautiful…only people who’ve never seen beautiful campuses think UC campuses are beautiful…lol…and I’m a UC grad)).</p>
<p>It was a hard pick, and went down to the wire. He did enroll at UCLA because he wanted to be able to come home for all family celebrations (we’re a big Italian family that celebrates everything). He has told us that he sometimes regrets his decision because he is premed and he knows that UC grads have a tougher time with med school acceptances, while Bama grads do not (my own Bama son had a very successful med school app cycle this year.).</p>
<p>I want to comment about the post that refers to the “the look”. First of all, it won’t take “decades” for that to stop. It already is declining. Secondly, that is referring to some people’s friends/families’ reactions, not future employers or grad school adcoms. </p>
<p>In the end, it’s up to you. Since you would be saving a LOT if you attended Bama, then flying home for long weekends and holiday breaks would certainly be affordable.</p>
<p>Notice that the title of the thread is ‘tired of the look’ indicating that the OP received ‘the look’ on several occasions. This is supported by other posters in the thread</p>
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<p>Rather than being petty, i think the thread does a best job of exemplifying UA’s reputation, especially outside of the south. Granted, Alabama is trying to change that, and it looks like it’s working. However, as i noted earlier, it will probably take decades to change (academic perception changes very slowly in most cases.)</p>
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<p>Perhaps yes, perhaps no. I think you’re being naive if you think there aren’t employers who do this however (especially outside of the south.)</p>
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my quote: Secondly, that is referring to some people’s friends/families’ reactions, not future employers or grad school adcoms.</p>
<p>Perhaps yes, perhaps no. I think you’re being naive if you think there aren’t employers who do this however (especially outside of the south.)*</p>
<p>I’m not naive. I’m from California. I’m not a southerner. </p>
<p>And, again, those posts about “the look” had to do with uninformed friends and family. their “looks” don’t mean squat. Their "looks’ don’t translate into “you’re destined to be living in your parents’ basement.” My goodness, do you have any idea how many regular folks outside of any region haven’t heard of or don’t know of the quality of various schools? </p>
<p>I’ve had Calif people give me the “look” when I’ve mentioned Rice, Vandy, Williams, WashU, and Tufts. They don’t know much/anything about those schools or they think WashU is UWashington!. </p>
<p>and, yes, there are people who think the UC’s are beautiful. Bless their hearts; they haven’t seen truly beautiful schools.</p>
<p>I loved Southern California, but I am going to suggest you look at the AP/CLEP credits at Bama.</p>
<p>If you are truly undecided, going to a school like Bama with generous credits may provide you with flexibility to dual major easily if you are having difficulty choosing one path.</p>
<p>The fact that Bama is not the top academic school was a high positive on my son’s list. To him, he could take advantage of the all the honor’s college has to offer without the need to constantly compete for research positions, etc. It isn’t that he plans on slacking, just that he felt the pressure to always protect the GPA in order to find opportunity was not going to be at Bama. And taking off this pressure would give him the internal mental freedom to spread his wings and take courses that are of interest but outside of his normal comfort zone.</p>
<p>I am not a huge believer in choosing a school based upon where you wish to live after graduation. Maybe that would hold true for your first job, but I have college friends scattered around the country and around the world. </p>
<p>I envy your choices – You really will get a great education at either school.</p>
<p>I grew up in LA, graduated from Cal Berkeley, and my son is a National Merit Scholar at the University of Alabama. Rankings, prestige, and perceptions notwithstanding, he’s getting as good an undergraduate education and peer experience as I did, if not better. He’s double majoring, is challenged academically, will graduate in four years, has a great social and extracurricular life, and absolutely loves it there. </p>
<p>You’ve got two great choices in UCLA and UA–what we call a high class problem. You won’t go wrong either way. Best of luck.</p>
<p>My D had to choose between these two schools as well. She went for Bama for undergrad and the University Scholars program. She then desires to go onto med school with UCLA being her top pick. As for the whole “going to Bama over UCLA will hurt your chances…”, malarky. My D already has a top surgeon at a very well known Los Angeles hospital that has offered her the chance to shadow him over a summer during college. He found it exciting for her that Bama gave her such a great merit offer. However, one strike against UCLA for her was that it is OOS and that extra $22k per year was money she could put back for med school and living expenses in LA. </p>
<p>Longhaul, you are correct. Where one goes to school now does not play that huge of a part in where one intends to live or secure a job after graduation. If that were the case then the population of Alabama would have been exploding over the years due to all of their grads staying in that state. People are way to transient nowdays that where one goes to college is playing less and less of a factor in being able to secure a good job.<br>
BTW, if it does just look at where the alumni groups are located for the schools. There are strong alumni groups all over the country for most schools.</p>
<p>Yes, OP you have two great choices for college that many kids would envy you in a heartbeat. In the end, you have to pick the one that YOU want to call home for the next 4 years. Which one do you feel is “YOUR FIT” and then follow your dreams .</p>
<p>Honors students at Bama get priority registration for classes. In almost every case, they get the exact schedule they want. This perk cannot be understated. Ask some UCLA students if they’re satisfied with their scheduling process. I don’t know specifically about UCLA, but we hear UC schools can be problematic.</p>
<p>So, I should clarify that when I say money isn’t an issue, I mean that if it’s important enough for me, my mother will pay for me to go to UCLA. However that almost $70,000 could go a longggggg way in paying for grad school. And as far as the AP credit, my school doesn’t offer AP so I won’t be coming in with any credits besides 3 from a class I took at a local University. And if you’re unaware, my scholarship at Bama covers up to 20 hours a semester which is almost unheard of.</p>
<p>stanfordbound, yes, that $70k could go a LONG way for grad school and living expenses in grad school. If you actually add it up over the 4 years with a full ride at Bama you are looking at saving over $70k. With your stats you could do the University Scholars program at Bama and graduate in 4-5 years with both your bachelors and masters. Or double major. Then move onto the next step of schooling with zero debt and a tidy savings. That does say a lot! Imho, there is no need to go into debt at all for undergrad. Especially when given such a nice package by a very good school. No it is not Harvard, Yale, etc. But, Alabama is not exactly stuck in the dark ages as some believe. </p>
<p>You have visited both schools and they both sound like a great fit for you. However, that fit is different at each school. You need to weigh the positives for both schools that you like and determine which positives over the next 4 years is more important to you.</p>
<p>I should also add that for Alabama, I have a roommate, nice honors dorms picked, orientation paid for, and flights booked for that. Although I’m trying to not let this impact my decision, naturally it is. </p>
<p>And as for the look, that’s also something that’s holding me back. If I do go to Alabama the 30 kids from my school who got rejected from UCLA are going to hate me. They ALL give me ‘the look’.</p>
<p>Go where YOU want to go (and your parents support your decision to go there). </p>
<p>Kind of sounds like you have already made up your mind. Just trying to justify the choice. Those kids from high school, you did not take their slot at any school. They didn’t have the stats to get in on THEIR work. </p>
<p>Best of luck on whatever school you end up attending.</p>
jk, jk</p>