<p>I know that UCB is ranked higher than UCLA for EE (#3 vs. #13), and that UCB is the "better school" for engineering, but thats not entirely what I'm concerned about.
I have yet to visit both campuses but am fairly certain that UCLA will work out better for me all around, probably even financially. I firmly plan to go to graduate school (aiming for MIT).
Keeping all of this in mind, I don't want any "UCLA pwnzz UCB" or "Duh... UCB is the clear choice!" but just an evaluation of whether the rankings are worth considering UCB for EE over UCLA.
How much will a choice between LA and B make a difference in getting into graduate school (especially MIT or similar), and how much job difference will it make AFTER the first job.
Also, if UCLA is in fact a reasonable choice, what advantages are there to attending UCLA over UC Berkeley... ie: i've heard that Berkeley is all around tougher, so would that give me more opportunity/time to get better at something else? I'm sure there are plenty of good reasons to attend LA for EE... please share them.</p>
<p>go with the one you are most comfortable with, from what it looks like UCLA is the right place for you. If you think you can handle the hardcore-ness of berkeley by all means go there because it would look nice to have a 3.5 at berkeley rather than at UCLA. But seriously UCLA and CAL are really no different, just go with your instinct or better yet visit and see which fits you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.
All you engineering majors, what are some things that you particularly like about UCLA's engineering programs? It doesn't matter whether UCB offers these things or not... I just want to get a "first-hand image" of the engineering program at UCLA since rankings don't tell me much. And how do you personally feel that you compare with other engineering programs throughout the nation, in general? How confident are you in being able to get a good job or get into a good grad school for engineering (again, you don't necessarily have to compare with Berkeley)?</p>
<p>What I like about UCLA's Computer Science program is that it encourages you to specialize in something useful outside of your major (Mathematics, Economics, Linguistics, Atmospheric Sciences, etc.) as part of your degree requirements. Not every Computer Science program encourages that, or even allows that. :rolleyes:</p>