<p>Hey! Thank God I found this post before I started losing my mind about deciding where to go. I have quite a few questions so you just might want to brace yourself.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I want to pursue an Econ major but I hear that the students to teacher ratio is very large and that it is difficult to get into many classes. Is it true?</p></li>
<li><p>With the Cali financial crisis on the loom, would that affect the UCs esp, UCLA a lot?</p></li>
<li><p>UCLA’s rep is more of that of a party school and even though I’ve heard it’s not a compulsory college experience, does the reputation in any way spoil chances of recruitment?</p></li>
<li><p>(I understand there might be bias to this one but I just HAVE to ask,) how is UCLA better than Carnegie Mellon?</p></li>
</ol>
I want to pursue an Econ major but I hear that the students to teacher ratio is very large and that it is difficult to get into many classes. Is it true?</p>
<p>Some of the popular lower division classes will be very large, in addition to being in great demand. Yes, the student-to-teacher ratio can suck penguins at times, but things like this are unavoidable at any large institution.</p>
<ol>
<li>With the Cali financial crisis on the loom, would that affect the UCs esp, UCLA a lot?</li>
</ol>
<p>Instead of “on the loom,” it’s more like on the recovery. UCLA has been anticipating stuff like budget cuts and had some kind of fund to address this. I read about it in our school newspaper, but that’s about as much as I remember. But yes, financial issues have affected the UCs. But USC and CMU and NYU and Princeton have been hit by the national economy as well.</p>
<ol>
<li>UCLA’s rep is more of that of a party school and even though I’ve heard it’s not a compulsory college experience, does the reputation in any way spoil chances of recruitment?</li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t understand your predisposition. Party school? Look at UC Santa Barbara or San Diego State University. We do not get into Top 25 National Universities (according to my arbitrary rankings and methodology) by partying night and day. You’ve “heard” it’s not a compulsory college experience? Not everybody will be partying like elephants. The only things that spoil recruitment chances are your study habits and work ethics.</p>
<ol>
<li>(I understand there might be bias to this one but I just HAVE to ask,) how is UCLA better than Carnegie Mellon?</li>
</ol>
<p>**UCLA is probably larger, and it’s in Los Angeles. Arbitrary qualifications abound. We have great weather and a pretty campus.</p>
<p>does UCLA allow students to go for co-ops??</p>
<p>We do not have official co-ops really. From what I can tell, it’s not endorsed by UCLA Housing, and I’ve only read horribly bad things about it. You can read about it here, I guess.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there are co-op jobs. But there is SRP Student Research Program which you can get course credits (no paid) and work for faculty members.</p>
<p>What kind of on campus jobs can an engineering major do, like related to technology? And how do u sign up for assisting with research? Oh also most on campus jobs are paid jobs right? Sorry if I’m asking dumb questions, I’m an international from the middle east so lots of this stuff is completely new to me!</p>
<p>Also do you pay for using the gym? Or are those facilities included already in your fees? If you do pay, how much is it? I can’t seem to find a link to this kind of info anywhere</p>
<p>@Abcd3f3 for your first year, you probably will get to know some professors, you talk to them to see if they need you. School is busy enough for me, I have not been able to work yet. :P</p>
<p>Is there potential for a high school social peon to do well in the social/Greek scene?
I moved during junior year into an insular Californian community where everyone’s known everyone for most of their lives. It’s a bubble. I’m really struggling to fit in here and I can’t wait for college and to go back to Los Angeles (spent my childhood in the Santa Monica area). Do I have a fighting chance with friends, dating, etc, or will I be forever alone?</p>
My main concern:
As an out-of-stater/someone from as far away as New Jersey, do you think I would feel lonely/disoriented/not fit in well? How are most out-of-staters doing? </p>
<ol>
<li><p>What’s the area surrounding the campus like? How many/how much urban areas are there nearby? What do students do for fun… any clothing stores/malls? (There are shuttles, right?) And how far away is downtown LA?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it actually hard to get into classes? (How hard is it to graduate in four years, and how bad is the budget?)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hi~ I am UCLA’s 2016er and I am considering about applying for honor program in Psychology. As I am also interested in Cog Sci, I want to try double major in both Cog Sci and Psych. Would that be too irrational to do this way? And what about the research of decision making in UCLA?</p>
<p>I’m in for Mechanical Engineering, but I want to switch to CS, do you know of anyone who’s successfully change into CS? Also, in my freshman year will I be allowed to study Biology as one of my classes?</p>
<p>Also can you please tell me how choosing classes for quarters works? I’ve read up but I’m still confused about everything to do with choosing classes! Thanks!</p>
<p>do you know of anyone who’s successfully change into CS? Also, in my freshman year will I be allowed to study Biology as one of my classes?
I have a friend who switched from bioengineering into computer science. You can enroll in whatever classes you want to take. Just add Life Science 1 or 2, depending if you want to start with evolution and ecology, or cells and tissues, respectively.</p>
<p>**Also can you please tell me how choosing classes for quarters works? **
Your first quarter classes will be chosen during the summer when you attend Summer Orientation. Your Orientation Counselor (a current student or recent graduate) will guide you through it. In short, you will enroll in 3 or 4 classes (they dissuade you from taking more than 3 classes your first quarter) at the same time as the other freshmen at your orientation session. Typically, you will be sitting in your Orientation Counselor’s dorm room and using his or her computer to enroll in classes. You’ll be in a group of 10 other freshmen with your Orientation Counselor, so you’ll have to pick the longest straw or win rock-paper-scissors to enroll before the others.</p>
<p>After your first quarter, you will look up your enrollment time online on your student account, URSA. You will have two passes: your first pass you will be allowed to enroll in 10 units of whatever classes you want. A few days later you will have your second pass so that you can enroll in (in your case, a student in HSSEAS) up to 21 units total. The enrollment times are staggered and supposedly random within class standings.</p>
<p>PM me or whatever if you need more detailed answers or want to be friends. I probably won’t check this thread that often.</p>