<p>My parents had a friend come over and stay at my house for a while who goes to UCLA. He says that if he had a second chance, he would've gone to a smaller private college. He says that class registration is a nightmare (sometimes classes are scheduled once a year and if you miss it you have to wait and year and the whole process is something he has to check every hour or so) and you would have a hard time getting a letter of recommendation if you wanted one since classes are so big that you barely know the professors (people are lining up at office hours just to introduce themselves to the professors haha).</p>
<p>I know a lot of people (especially parents) who want their kids to attend UC-Berkeley or UCLA etc... because of the brand name. So my question is, do you think it's worth what it costs to go to a UC school today?</p>
<p>*wow I am really off on my grammar today, it should be "schools" in the title, not "school's"</p>
<p>Our counselor strongly advised us against applying or even visiting UC schools becAuse of huge classes and other fallout of the budget cuts. We are oos though, there are financial considerations for the California folks obviously.</p>
<p>For an out of state student I would answer with a resounding NO. For in state students there are a variety of factors: budget, financial aid, major, etc.</p>
<p>Yes (for in-state) - both of my kids received excellent educations, had on-campus jobs, received letters of recommendation, internships, and multiple job offers when they were done. They also got to know some professors pretty well. </p>
<p>It could be that the experience changes depending on the major and also what the student makes of it.</p>
<p>I know some kids who did go to UCs from OOS. They all had some connections to the schools that made them want to go there, such as having lived near there for a time, having friends there, a special program, etc. They all loved their experiences and did well at the schools. I am not a proponent of big schools, but some students like that environment with all the amenities that come with it and feel that the drawbacks outweigh those benefits. My son who went to large, though not super big state school, majored in a field that had a small department and got a very personal experience at college despite the size of his school. But certain majors would not have had the same experience. So, the UCs could make sense in certain scenarios even for OOS kids.</p>
<p>As for in state, they have better reputations than most any state university, rivaling the top private schools in some cases. And they hold a tremendous cost advantage as well. However, if a student is not the sort that is ready to deal with the impersonal nature of a big state school, the big classes, the bureaucracy in registering for classes, getting housing, getting paperwork done on time, the mass care due to the number of students, the cutback from the state, a smaller school might be a better choice. There are kids out there who just might have a chance of succeeding at a small college whose chances at a school like a UC are far less. I’ve known even diehard state school proponents admit that certain kids are high risk in a big state school who would be mid risk in a small private environment.</p>
<p>Well, only the anecdotal experience of one in-state kid’s experience, but the education was great and well-worth it. No problem whatsoever communicating with professors, getting classes, dealing with registration or anything else that people are worried about with a “big” school.</p>
<p>It really depends on the student’s needs. My brother went to a UC and never had any trouble getting classes, graduated suma cum laude (not sure if that’s how you spell it) and got great letters of recommendation for law school. One of my parents teaches at a small private school and a lot of his students seem to need to be coddled and seem kind of needy (constant emails, coming to the professor with personal problems). For in-state, there is no better bargain than the UC system if you don’t mind being a small fish in a large pond, for out of state it depends on if the person was able to get any scholarships or might possibly qualify for in-state tuition after the first year or so.</p>
Lucky him! At my small private college many major requirements are only offered once every two years. Those classes we have to take whenever they are offered regardless of scheduling conflicts. Sometimes that means that we cannot complete a double major because both majors require courses on a two-year rotation that are taught at the same time. Or imagine two faculty in your major department being on leave in the same semester(s), when the department only has three professors to begin with. </p>
<p>If I were choosing colleges again, I would happily trade the personal attention for big lecture halls if it meant that I had more than 2 electives in my major to choose from.</p>
<p>I’d like to point out that almost no one here addressed the issue of the UC system’s budget. It was cut by 1/3 last year in conjunction with mass layoffs, shorter library hours, tons of cancelled classes, etc.</p>
<p>Honestly it depends on what portion their budget comes from state funding. If they operate like UMichigan, no problems really since they are mostly independent of state finances (or so I’ve heard). But if not, 1/3 is a HUGE cut. And based on that and the fact I live in NY I would not even look at UC anything.</p>
<p>b@r!um. It refers to overall operating budget. Note that this article is from over 1 year ago. It was only 20% cut then but it’s roughly 1/3rd as of 2010.</p>
<p>California’s crisis continues while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders inch slowly toward agreement on the deep cuts necessary to close the state’s massive $26 billion budget shortfall. Now, even as California continues to pay its bills with IOUs, the University of California, the nation’s leading public university, is being forced to cut its budget by $813 million — or 20%. It is highly unlikely that these cuts will be reduced by a budget agreement in Sacramento.</p>
<p>My friend has been keeping a close eye on the California budget crisis as his father is a government employee (and as such, his family’s financial situation depends heavily on how this issue is sorted out). According to him (and I agree completely), the budget situation will not be resolved in the foreseeable future. At BEST, the UC system’s budget will cease to collapse further. Realistic projections are that it will continue to shrink by a moderate amount. Worst case projections are that it could become half of what it used to be pre-crisis.</p>
<p>A restoration of the UC system’s budget to what it was pre-crisis is nothing more than a pipe dream. Take into account that even private institutions like Harvard lost nearly 1/3rd of their endowments in the crisis.</p>
<p>I have to be honest in that I feel no sympathy for institutions that over-reached during the good times, and are now suffering in the bad times as a result. Speaking of bad times. Check out this short clip that shows just how bad things have gotten.</p>
<p>Most of the analysts I’ve seen (in reading their articles) have all concluded that the current situation is more akin to what the Japanese have experienced for the last 20+ years than a simple downturn in the “cycle”. Unemployment rates are expected to remain above 10% for the next 15 years, and government debt is only going to continue increasing during our lifetime.</p>
Seems like that 20-33% cut refers only to the state funding after all.</p>
<p>According to the financial report below (page 5), the overall UC operating budget in 2008-09 was somewhere between $13 and $19 billion (depending on how it’s counted). $813 million out of $19 billion is less than 5%.</p>
<p>I have a hard time believing that a university could absorb a 1/3 cut to the total operating budget at all. Cutting library hours and hiring only 10 instead of 100 new faculty certainly doesn’t do that.</p>
<p>It all depends on your major. S went to UCLA '05, but he majored in Design|Media Arts; the program accepted 55 students. So, he experienced a combination of a small program within a large university. His GE requirements were in large lectures with TAs overseeing sections, but the bulk of his classes were small. BTW, he started out OOS but was granted in-state residency midway through his junior year.</p>
<p>Yes, his major courses were held in “temporary” buildings and he graduated before the completion of the new building. But if you ask him now, he would say it was totally worth it. He’s developed a great network from the faculty and students in his major, plus he got to meet so many more people outside his major. He hasn’t been without a job since graduating.</p>
<p>Of course, because their budget is tied to the state, the UCs haven’t fared as well. In fact, they had to close the design library. But IMHO, I still believe the brand is worth a great deal.</p>
<p>Thank God they haven’t been as devastated as I had feared. I just got the wrong impression what with all the panic about countless cancelled classes, mass staff layoffs, shrinking student resources, shorter library hours, record-high tuition increases, larger class sizes, etc.</p>
<p>While I was still attending community college in California, our classes become flooded with UC students looking to fulfill electives and graduation requirements on the cheap, particularly during the summer.</p>
<p>I’m a UC alum, and I believe that these days, better options exist outside the UC system. I wish it weren’t so.</p>
<p>Today our son departs for Willamette University in Salem, OR. He was admitted to UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara but turned them both down for Willamette. We met several UCSB students on campuses in the Pacific Northwest, students who were looking to transfer out of UCSB because they couldn’t get the classes they wanted. We’ve heard similar stories about all the UC campuses from recent graduates of local high schools.</p>
<p>As for the cost question, if you are a strong enough student to gain admission to UC San Diego, you can probably get enough merit aid from private schools in other western states, and it will be enough to at least match the cost of attending UC. My son received a great merit offer from Willamette. His costs there will be somewhat less than at a UC campus. </p>
<p>The opportunities at a small private school in the Pacific Northwest can definitely exceed those in a large, overcrowded public California university. For instance, Willamette students have access to a wide range of internships in Salem, including internships in the Oregon state capitol, which is right across the street from campus. Although school hasn’t yet begun, the head of career services has already asked students to email their resumes, provided personal feedback on these, and offered suggestions for students who want to work the first year. My son has already contacted a faculty member at nearby Tokyo International University (which has a close relationship with Willamette), and it looks as if he can obtain a paid position as a part-time tutor there in the spring.</p>
<p>In addition to the private schools, the public universities in other western states like Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming are welcoming California students right now, and they aren’t overcrowded.</p>
<p>Two of mine have attended UCs, yes they are huge campuses, but if the fit is right, it is possible to make the best of the experience and learn to dominate the red tape. DD is now in med school, so she was able to connect with profs, get good grades, good LORs, etc. I for sure that two girlfriends who also applied for med school at the same time DD did also got in, so they, too must have been successful.</p>
<p>She made it work at Berkeley and enjoyed the big school, football, Greek, etc all around life. Another less driven person could get lost in the madding crowd</p>
<p>Another DD watched her sisters and chose a small private LAC and that was the right choice for her. But when the only prof who teaches XYZ is on sabbatical, that class is not offered at all. I think there are just some classes only taught by some profs and it all depends on their schedule</p>