Berkeley and LA (gahh)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So like many before me apparently I am in the tricky situation of choosing between Berkeley and LA (unless I get off the waitlist at the top choice... but that's not gonna happen) Anyway here's the rundown
I currently live in Berkeley. I love it here, the campus, the weather, the people. My pops works at the Uni, so I would be seeing him and my younger sibling quite often if I stayed (kinda a plus kinda a minus). Normally it would be an easy choice. Unfortunately I was admitted to spring semester to Berkeley. Which apparently means I would have to start school in the spring and just hang around until then. Not ideal.... I know I'll still get the Berkeley degree yada yada yada... but I'm a little worried about missing out on the college experience (meeting the roomate, joining the club ect. ect.) And even that might be ok, but I would be living at home and I have a fear that I am going to morph into yet another "Berkeley person" and never leave (scary thought people), as so many people from my hometown have, if I don't get out and meet new people.</p>

<p>Right, so basically that's all the cons about Berkeley (I don't really need to elaborate on the pros- It's great and it knows it) Right now even with all those cons Berkeley is about tied with LA. </p>

<p>So really what I am looking for is a current or former UCLA (for which I was admitted to the fall) to give some reasons as to why UCLA is better Berkeley, beyond the above circumstances.</p>

<p>(if it helps I plan to major in MCB, but who knows how long that will last...)</p>

<p>THANK YOU!</p>

2

<p>Starting in the Fall term might make it easier for you to make friends, rather than coming in halfway through the year.</p>

<p>Have you visited the UCLA campus? Royce Hall and Powell Library are a good place to start. Check out Westwood just south of campus, as well as BelAir, Brentwood and Holmby Hills just north of campus. What are you interested in majoring in? You might want to talk to some students and faculty members in that area. </p>

<p>Good Luck to you in making your decision. :)</p>

3

<p>I visited in during admit weekend. It all seemed a bit …over produced. However being a nor-cal person obviously makes me biased. I do agree though that the campus and surrounding areas of UCLA were nicer than those of Berkeley. Not that much nicer though. I plan to major in molecular biology and talked to one of the pre-med students at LA, who also had the choice between LA and Berkeley. He chose LA because he liked the “atmosphere” better. (of course he was a conservative Mormon… so that kind of makes sense)</p>

<p>It makes sense about making friends though… Although to be fair, my high school will be well represented in both cal and ucla (double digits) so friends might not be too big of a problem.</p>