<p>Berkeley and UCLA are the nicest two campuses I have laid eyes on. Not only that but each is bursting with electricity. Whether visiting or studying, one can never be bored at either school. Even then, they are both completely different. for those who have been to both, which campus/atmosphere do you like better and why?</p>
<p>i actually didn't like the berkeley campus when i visited. its kinda cold and unfeeling there. some parts of it are pretty nice, like the campanile and stuff like that. but i'll take powell library, royce hall, and the socal sun any day.</p>
<p>I'd like to visit the Berkeley campus some day...</p>
<p>...so would I</p>
<p>Maybe you caught it on a bad day. California weather is nice everwhere, North and South.</p>
<p>I've only been there at night during my cousin's graduation. I didn't notice the campus as much as I noticed the feel. Pretty cool.</p>
<p>I live in the bay area and frequent CAL alot, and ive visited UCLA on a sunny day, i have to say that the atmosphere of UCLA is just more sociable than cal, and really the areas are nicer and it seems more like a presitigious university than cal does. </p>
<p>i still love cal and their football though</p>
<p>Both campuses are nice, but I'd have to say I like the Berkeley campus more. </p>
<p>Berkeley has more variety of architectures, landscapes (lots of evergreen trees, streams running down across campus, etc.), and a mix of interesting people. It also has a more "old college" feeling - you really feel like you're studying at a university (not just a school). The surrounding city culture also adds to the uniqueness of the Berkeley campus. </p>
<p>UCLA's campus is nice and clean, but I thought all the buildings looked too similar (red brick buildings). Also, the campus felt too enclosed. The surrounding areas might be "cleaner" though - it just adds a different kind of feel to the UCLA campus than Berkeley. Some prefer this. UCLA is more for the metropolitan type I think.</p>
<p>Anyway, those are my thoughts.</p>
<p>I used to live in the east bay about 10 minutes from Cal and now I go to UCLA. I like the UCLA campus better and the surrounding area. Ucla's campus is just so beautiful with all the brick buildings everywhere and its so nice, clean, and oragnized. Cal's campus seems a little more colder because the buildings are made of grey asphault that resemble the oakland court house..in my opininon. Then there's the random little mini forests scattered around campus, that potheads hide in and smoke weed....
Cal's surrounding neighborhood, which is basically telegraph gets old real fast. There's is mix of old hippies, war veterans, every type of homeless people you can imagine, drugged-out people, little high school and middle school kids, some other randoms, and then the college students. A lot of "out casts" kick it there besides the college kids. You got the ravers, clubbers, gothics, stoners....blah blah. it gets old real fast. Then what neighborhoods are adjacent? montclair, rockridge, montclair, albany, alameda, ghetto parts of oakland and the not as ghetto parts of oakland...all are boring. I guess you can drive 20 minutes to SF and go to the haight, or 1015, or whatever...but that also gets boring after 5-10 times. And the only decent malls are like 20-30 minutes away in Concord, Pleasanton or Sf.
Then theres the surrounding area of UCLA;Westwood, Belair, brentwood, beverly hills, hollywood, venice, santa monica, malibu. Theres always something to do and a new club/bar to visit. The beaches are wonderful and the views are gorgeous... Dont every try to swim at a bay area beach!! </p>
<p>I guess the weather is better than other parts of the US overall but, after living in LA. Bay area weather sucks. Its gloomy and grey, yes there are a few days that are sunny and beautiful. But almost every day is sunny and warm in LA. I think the layer of smog keeps UCLA at nice constant warm temp.....It only rains like 10 times a year in LA. And you can take so many roadtrips while in LA. So far i've been to Vegas, san diego, mexico, santa barbara, arizona. I guess you can go to humbolt or lake tahoe while going to cal...woohoo.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on what you want and what opportunities you want while in college. People say berkeley is full of stoners...well so is ucla!! berkeley is just right next to telegraph that has like 10 smoke shops on 2 blocks....but i can tell you from experience both have a similar amounts of pothead students. Ucla does have more cokeheads, but berkeley has more shroomers... Then theres people that say UCLA is full of stuck-up, rich snobs....they get us confused with U$C (dont ever go there..) yes, there are some annoying rich snobs but you dont have to talk to them if you dont want to...you can just make fun of them like me.</p>
<p>I lived in the bay for 20 years and i'm so freakin happy i'm going to UCLA...but they will never get me to stop saying "hella" here....
sorry for the long ass post but its winter break and i'm back in the boring ass bay until tomorrow.</p>
<p>The Berkeley campus is nice, outside of campus is horrendous. Serioulsy, the environment outside of Berkeley is one of the prime reasons I didn't even submit an app there.</p>
<p>I think Xfro covers it quite well. Welcome to the board, Xfro_girl.</p>
<p>I love the "old" looking campuses; that is, the gothic or romanesque architecture or colonial architectural with ivy covered walls. Both Cal and UCLA provide that. But, Cal's "old" look stems for the fact that it is old. UCLA was established in the 20th century, so it looks old but the facilities are relatively new. The new Ronald Reagan Medical Center combines the classic (not in the art sense, mind you) look of the original four buildings with a modern appeal as well. I.M. Pei designed some of the buildings at the new medical center.</p>
<p>I lived on campus for 6 weeks at UCLA because I studied there for the summer session, (I'm a senior who applied to UCLA, Cal, UCSD, UCR; I was guarenteed into UC Irvine, but didn't apply) and I love the campus. I first visited the UCLA campus my freshmen year for the LA Times Festival of Books. Ever since then, UCLA (besides Georgetown) is my favorite university. Walking up (more like trudging up) Bruin Walk and seeing the towers of Royce Hall is awesome. They keep the campus meticulously clean. The students are extremely friendly. </p>
<p>Not to mention UCLA is in a great location; it's next-door to Bel-Air and near Beverly Hills. Westwood is down the street (a short walk). You have movie premiers all the time (I saw the actress who plays Catharine on CSI and saw Tom Cruise). It is the largest of all UC campuses being 400+ acres. However, it can be a walk. It is built on two hills, the main campus on one side and the dorms on another. It's a good ten to twenty minute walk from Hedrick Hall.</p>
<p>But my opinion is bias; I have never been to the Cal campus, but I've heard that it's not in the best of neighborhoods; that is, nearby, the area isn't too great (sort of like another USC).</p>
<p>I happen to like both UCLA and UC Berkeley. I think you can like both very much. I do. The area around UC Berkeley is nothing like USC. The areas around UCLA and UC Berkeley are very different, but both areas are great.</p>
<p>Yeah, Berkeley's campus is beautiful. Surrounding city is ghetto, but got its flavor that makes it the People's Republic of Berkeley. UCLA is friggin nice, westwood, nice buildings, wear your shades so u don't get caught checkin out the nice tanned girls. But the best surrounding area in my opinion is UCSD and UC Santa Barbara. UCSB beaches are sweet, and you can't beat UCSD's studying by walruses on rocks trippiness. </p>
<p>UC Irvine campus is pretty decent. Pretty new and urbane. UC Davis, umm... its a perfect place for out of staters from the midwest, who feel at home tipping cows while drunk.</p>
<p>I like the UC Davis campus, and with the new rec center and the Mondavi Center, it is getting better and better. I don't like UCSD's campus at all. It's all spread out, and I always felt like I needed a map to get around. The beaches near the campus are great.</p>
<p>UCSD the campus is not very exciting, but outside of campus is beautiful. La Jolla beaches, the coity of La Jolla, PB, OB, and MB all provide plenty of student life off campus.</p>
<p>i didn't like uc berkeley's campus.... coming from southern california i also thought it was cold, dreary and uninviting. i live in northern cal for 7 years, so i know the weather is like that enough to keep it that way, especially on the coast. and the buildings aren't exactly majestic either. i pick ucla</p>
<p>ps i also liked irvine and davis</p>
<p>I like both campuses and their communities. UCLA has a slight weather advantage, Berleley's proximity to San Francisco gives them a plus in my mind.</p>
<p>Some people may be repelled by Telegraph ave, but others think it is more real than Westwood. Both campuses have interesting buildings and decent foliage; smart and interesting students and a number of great classes to take. It would take a lifetime to begin to use all the books in their libraries.</p>
<p>On that rare day when the weather is bad and the studying is complete, UCLA has a wonderful video library.</p>
<p>I saw Costeau teach at Berkeley in the spring of 1970 it was a perfect college moment for me. Made me think I might want to be a student some day.</p>
<p>For me, UCLA is the ideal school. Coming from NJ, I have only seen it twice. Most recently when I visited, after looking at several other schools, I have to say it is by far the nicest I have seen. I liked all the California schools I saw, but UCLA stood out for several reasons. The first is the location. Westwood is such a nice area, with a lot going on, and it seems to be very safe and clean. It is still right next to a more industrial part of the city however, so you have access to that as well. The campus was HUGE. There were so many students everywhere. All the buildings have a college type look to them (kind of like the Ivies), but at the same time, they are very large and have very new looking insides. The weather is amazing, coming from somewhere where its not always sunny and 75. The athletics are great at UCLA. I went to the Rose Bowl, and let me tell you, it is nothing like a Rutgers football game. There were so many people there, and the pride in their team (even having a mediocre year) was a lot of fun to be around. Aside from that, there were lots of places on campus to eat that I thought had fairly good food, and everything was well kept. I just can't say enough good about UCLA. If only I could get in....</p>
<p>I have been to both campuses an I have to say that the surrounding area of UCLA is a million times nicer than berkeley. UCLA has a more social, fun, sunny socal vibe. Berkeley’s campus is beautiful but in a different way than UCLA. Berkeley has a more ivy league, academic and artsy feel. I would personally choose UCLA because I feel much safer in Westwood, which is one of the most desirable, nicest areas in l.a., than I do in Berkeley. The city of Berkeley just isn’t very nice, but if you like the artsy grungy feel then Berkeley is for you. But you can’t go wrong with either schools because they are both great schools with spectacular campuses.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with the people who are saying Berkeley is dangerous or that the campus isn’t in a nice area. It’s a gorgeous campus, in my opinion. (DEFINTIELY not comparable to USC, which is actually in a horrible area.) If you like shiny and new, you’ll definitely prefer UCLA, but I have always loved older buildings, so I’m a fan of the architecture of Berkeley. They are just very different campus feels. The UCLA environment is more suburban, and nothing was built pre-1920s on campus or in the surrounding area (and much of it much later). Both campuses feature nice buildings and beautiful landscaping. Berkeley, however, is in the middle of the city of Berkeley whereas UCLA is in a suburb within easy driving distance of most LA attractions.
To my mind, there is a lot more to do in LA than the Bay area, so that’s a big difference. </p>
<p>There are definitely people who are homeless who live around the campus – I’m not sure why people are so threatened by that. It’s a genuine social problem that everyone should be concerned with, yes, but I don’t think it’s a threat to UC students in the least bit. If you can’t handle homeless people you probably shouldn’t live in any city.</p>