<p>I know there have been quite a few of these threads, but I'm having some real trouble, so please help a fellow CCer out. =/</p>
<p>So these past few days, I've been thinking long and hard about choosing between UCLA and UCD. Crazy? On one hand, I have UCLA. It's a prestigious school with top-notch academics and athletics, a great campus, and is close to home. UCD is a step down in the academics category, also has a great campus, has a true college town, and would take me away from home. </p>
<p>I have been thinking about how I want to live away from my mom and live by myself so I can gain experience in living alone. I'm also sort of sick of the hustle and bustle of LA and the horrible traffic that comes with it (I live in SoCal). I love riding bicycles, so I think I'd have a joy of a time getting to and from classes at Davis. I hear it's boring up there, but I'm not much of a partier anyway, so it doesn't really concern me. Just a few good, friendly people around me and I'm happy.</p>
<p>So, really... is my thought process off the heezy? Is the UCLA brand name too good to give up? I guess I wouldn't mind going to UCLA that much, but Davis just seems much more relaxed and laid-back. I feel like Davis would be the better fit for me, but getting a UCLA degree sounds like the more secure route. So confuzzled. Help, please D=. Thanks, danke, gracias, 감사합니다, graci, shie shie, arigato.</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to go to UC Davis. Not as prestigious as UCLA, but not by a far margin. Honestly, I think it is so important to have the college experience while you can. As a transfer, we are already late in the game so our last years should be what seems right for our own lives. Move out, go ride a bicycle in a college town, enjoy northern California, and just go to UCLA for grad school.</p>
<p>Dude honestly if you feel a lot more comfortable going to UC Davis, go there. You wanna be in a place that you love.</p>
<p>Based on what you think Davis is like, it seems like a better fit for you. However, the safest way is to get out to Davis and see what it’s like there for yourself. Also visit UCLA if you have the time. That way you can be sure of your decision.</p>
<p>If I were you I would definitely choose Davis. So what if UCLA is more prestigious, Davis is still a great institution. Dont deprive yourself of the opportunity to break away from home and experience something totally different. It sounds like you would really enjoy the Davis atmosphere and possibly thrive in that environment. Remember, its not about where you go but about what you accomplish wherever you end up.</p>
<p>I was born and raised in the Bay Area but have always wanted to end up in SoCal. I owe it to myself to go now that I finally have the opportunity to, and I think you owe yourself the same :]</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using CC</p>
<p>Definitely give it a shot :). I’m a bay area native, but I too wanted to experience the other side of cali - socal - and it’s definitely been a cool but very different experience. going to ucr at the moment (fresh and now soph). but i got accepted to davis recently as well, so i’m definitely going back north.
but anyways, you can tell people that you lived all over cali…and not just socal where you grew up lol. my friends back at home think that’s cool haha. truthfully, you might get homesick at times and you’ll miss socal a lot (i definitely get that vibe a lot of times), but you’ll learn so many new things in the long run that it’s probably worth the experience. so i say you do it. but if you’re still a little mixed on your decision, go visit both campuses and see which one you can see yourself at more.
best of luck, and congrats on your acceptances.</p>
<p>@shorstuf go with ur gut tells u. Both are great colleges.</p>
<p>You obviously sound like you would rather go to UCD. Prestige isn’t everything- Hell, I’m going to UCSC because I feel like it is a good fit for me personally…if I cared about the rankings, I wouldn’t be going there. That aside, you can always go to grad school at UCLA so then you have the best of both worlds: Prestige and an awesome undergrad. Anyways, don’t let the prestige of UCLA keep you from finishing out what is left of your college experience the way you want to. Definitely go with your guy feeling otherwise you may end up settling on UCLA and constantly wondering about what it could have been like at UCD.</p>
<p>what kingdomsroa48 said, if ur planning on going for graduate school, it doesn’t really matter what ur undergrad school was.</p>
<p>Thank you all greatly for your responses. </p>
<p>I visited Davis a while back when I was surprise visiting a friend at Cal, but I didn’t really give it much thought. I think I may be attending Transfer Day on the 11th at Davis, so I’ll give it a long hard look this time around =P. If I do decide on Davis, let’s pray my mom doesn’t kill me for not choosing UCLA, lol (Asian mother, dreamed of sending kid to UCLA since forever, you know the drill). </p>
<p>Thanks, again, everyone! I enjoyed reading all of your responses!</p>