<p>I did (EE major), and I'm just wondering if anyone else did. Include the reasons behind your decision too.</p>
<p>My reasons:
1) UCLA gives better financial aid
2) I like the campus a lot
3) Not too far from home but far enough... very important to me
4) You can't really go wrong with UCLA</p>
<p>Regrets:
1) It was REALLY hard to turn down the #2 engineering school in the nation.</p>
<p>I'm choosing bioengineering at UCLA over bioengineering at Berkeley.</p>
<p>My reasons:
1) Overall quality of living feels better at LA (to me at least).
2) Pretty close to home, but far enough west of LA so that traffic can stop my parents from coming here too often. I can also visit friends at Irvine and SD more (hopefully lol)
3) Nice network of friends already attending LA to help me.
4) Regents</p>
<p>Regrets:
1) I was born at Berkeley, so I've always had that desire to return to nor-cal at some point.
2) Engineering ranking
3) Prestige</p>
<p>^^cool... anyone else?</p>
<p>Giving up chemical engineering at Cal for UCLA</p>
<p>Reasons :</p>
<p>1) UCLA is financially better for me
2) Can make my parents worry less by being within driving distance (that will not take over 6 hours)
3) The campus seemed peaceful and good for study/play
4) I liked the ChemE professors that talked at Engineering Day
5) ...........Hmmm, maybe because I don't have a deep connection to the place, and usually I end up loving the things that I initially hate or am apathetic about</p>
<p>Regrets :
1) Cal Regents <em>sigh</em>
2) Cal's beautiful campus
3) All the Chinese places and people; for once I could hear Mandarin and Cantonese be spoken all around me, instead of Korean and Armenian
4) College of Chemistry is ranked 1 in the nation....even if I got my ass kicked in the classes, it would have been nice to be able to take the plunge and to see if I sink, swim, or float.</p>
<p>"All the Chinese places and people; for once I could hear Mandarin and Cantonese be spoken all around me, instead of Korean and Armenian"</p>
<p>trust me, you'll find a lot of chinese people here (mandarin and cantonese) :rolleyes:</p>
<p>This is an Off-topic reply. </p>
<p>I didn't get into Cal's EECS and end up going to LA. If I am admitted to Cal, sorry to say that, i will go to Cal since it is closer to Silicon Valley. However, a good EE/CS degree from either Berkeley or LA won't be much different. </p>
<p>Good Degree = decent GPA + useful courses</p>
<p>I agree... that is definitely a reasonable choice. I probably would have done the same had it not been for the reasons I have mentioned above.</p>
<p>I have two friends who did...</p>
<p>One daughter chose UCLA engineering (CS) over Cal. The other chose the same thing at UCSD over Cal. There are plenty of people who choose other UCs over Cal and UCLA, etc. (and vice versa). IMO people are way too swayed by a few ranking places - especially for undergrad.</p>
<p>choosing LA over Cal, Bioengineering.</p>
<p>My S did:</p>
<p>1) More scholarship money
2) Closer to home
3) Liked the atmosphere better</p>
<p>regrets:</p>
<p>None, he loves it</p>
<p>My S just did. He wasn't swayed by the 2 v. 19 ranking. Top 20 are all good. We live 20 minutes from Cal, so he really wants to live in a new part of the state. He spent the night at Cal, did Cal Day, heard the pitch, but just didn't feel it. On the other hand, he loved the UCLA campus, the res halls (you may say, "Whaaa?"), Westwood...UCLA just seemed to have the whole package.</p>
<p>love the res halls? :rolleyes:
then again ya either love 'em or ya hate 'em...</p>
<p>i'm not engineering but i'm 20 minutes away from cal too! well, ish. i'm east of the caldecott...
...but in any case cal was too close!!! and westwood > berkeley. cept for the lack of berkeley's crepes a go go... ooooooh yummy... <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>
[quote]
On the other hand, he loved the UCLA campus, the res halls (you may say, "Whaaa?"), Westwood...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Some parents were analogizing resident halls of UCLA to rundown motels. He'll find Westwood to be somewhat boring after a while, but it's great to be at a new part of the state. Good luck to your S.</p>
<p>way to rain on his parade xD
res halls aren't always clean, but, if you know when to avoid the bathrooms (say, 2am on a thursday/friday) you'll be fine.
and westwood... never boring! well maybe that's just cuz i don't go there that much. however i have yet to get sick of it... not til i try all the glorious non-dining-hall fooooooooooood... :)</p>
<p>hmm, i don't really recommend turning down Cal for UCLA...even moreso for engineering? what were you thinking?? :(</p>
<p>calidude20: why do you say that? by just going to Cal do you think you will come out a better engineer? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>If UC Berkeley Engineering is so great, then why didn't they do better in the ASCE Student competition?</p>
<p>Midpac Conference 2007 Results!<br>
Results:</p>
<p>Steel Bridge Competition
1) UC Davis
2) San Francisco State University
3) UC Berkeley</p>
<p>Concrete Canoe Competition
1) University of Nevada, Reno
2) UC Berkeley
3) UC Davis</p>
<p>Mead Paper Competition
1) Sacramento State University
2) UC Berkeley</p>
<p>Curious - How has UCLA done in these things?</p>
<p>Since Berkeley's Civil Engineering ranks so highly according to US News, you would think that they would have won at least one of the Civil Engineering competition categories.
[quote]
<p>Engineering Specialties: Civil
New! Ranked in 2007* </p>
<p>Rank/School Average assessment
score (5.0=highest)
*1. University of CaliforniaBerkeley 4.8 *
2. University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign 4.6
3. Stanford University (CA) 4.5
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The results of the student engineering competition tell me that the US News rankings don't mean much with regard to Berkeley being the best. So anybody who chooses Berkeley over any other engineering school based upon their #1 ranking isn't getting much bang for their buck.</p>