Brown vs. UCLA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>Hey everyone,
So I’ve narrowed my schools down to UCLA, Brown, or UCB and would appreciate input to help me make my decision. Here are the issues that are important to me:</p>

<li><p>Academics - I really have no clue what I want to study. I’m interested in environmental science, but also computer science. But I do want very strong overall academics, and I want to be surrounded by smart people.</p></li>
<li><p>Social Scene - Also very important. I’ve heard UCLA is the most lively, then Brown, then UCB, but I could be wrong.</p></li>
<li><p>Cost - UCLA and UCB are way better deals, cost-wise, as I’d be paying the full tuition to Brown. I’ll be getting a couple of school-specific scholarships to UCLA and UCB (including regents), which lowers the cost for the UC’s even more.</p></li>
<li><p>Location - Lived in CA all my life, and I’m accustomed to awesome weather. Don’t know if I could survive in Providence.</p></li>
<li><p>Prestige - I’ve heard Brown and Berkeley are about equal; UCLA might be a little bit less, though it seems to have been pretty selective this year.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>There are a lot of other issues (size obviously, opportunities for undergrads, etc.)</p>

<p>Writing this, it seems UCLA/UCB is a lot more practical a choice than Brown. Everything seems to be leaning towards the UC’s.But going somewhere new could be good too. Any input?</p>

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<p>Berkeley is better for grad school IMO. We had a transfer from there the year I transferred and he complained about class sizes.</p>

1 Like
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<p>Some of the things you’ve heard seem to be quite different than what I heard before I applied… but I can tell you about the winter: It’s not really that bad, especially if you go home for break. I’m from Arizona and apart from a few times that I was really really cold (most of which were due to underdressing on my part), the winter was quite manageable.</p>

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<p>Have you visited all three schools?</p>

<p>Before I was accpeted early to my top choice school I had intended to apply to Brown. I also applied to UC’s since they had an earlier deadline and would have chosen Brown over any UC.</p>

<p>Brown wins:</p>

<ol>
<li>The demographics of the UC’s is very different than Brown. I prefer Brown</li>
<li>Graduation Time frame. Unless you are Regents or Honors registration at the UC’s make it difficult to get the classes you want prolonging graduation. This is why it takes many student longer to graduate from a UC. You should keep that in mine when calculating costs. Brown wins.</li>
<li>Enormous class sizes in many general classes at LA and UCB. Brown Wins</li>
<li>Berkeley has a reputation for being for competitive vs collaborative. Brown wins</li>
<li>Personalized vs lost in a big crowd. Brown wins</li>
</ol>

<p>CA wins:

  1. CA weather vs snow. CA wins for me
  2. Big Football games. CA wins
  3. Cheap airfare to get home to visit, easy to fly or drive home for the weekend. CA wins.
  4. You probably have a lot of friends going to LA and Berkeley. CA wins
  5. Cost. CA wins (tuition, clothings - not needing a new wardrobe, airfare, regents merit aid if offerred)</p>

<p>I have friends at all schools that say they love it, I have friends at Berkeley that don’t love it. </p>

<p>Good luck, it is great getting those acceptance letters but it sure can be hard to choose. Personally I think when it comes down to it you just have to follow which school really feels like home when you visit. I knew UCLA and UCB were not my dream schools as soon as I stepped foot on campus and they are both very beautiful schools</p>

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<p>I’m going to recommend UCLA out of these three. Although it might be the lowest in prestige, the difference is extremely small. It has great weather, a smart student body, and is probably the most fun of the three campuses (obviously open to opinion). Since you’re getting regents, I’d definitely recommend going to one of the UC’s. </p>

<p>Ordinarily I’d recommend Brown, but with finances considered, I’m definitely going with UCLA. But some college tours would be a great idea (though Brown might not be feasible)</p>

<p>One reason I’d choose LA over Berkeley is that although both schools are competitive, Berkeley’s known for being VERY competitive, and that’s just not the kind of environment I like being in.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all your help. I actually still haven’t visited UCLA, and though I’ve visited Brown, going to their “A Day at College Hill” will help me get a feel of the school. arcadefire, you mentioned the difference in competitive-ness between UCLA and UCB students. While I’m not naturally competitive, I like being surrounded by bright, motivated people. How would you classify the student body at UCLA?</p>

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<p>Well, the caliber of kids that get accepted to UCLA is pretty much the same as those that get accepted to Berkeley. In my experience, usually kids get accepted to one and denied by the other. The kids I know that have gone to UCLA have each been extremely intelligent.</p>

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<p>Yeah, that makes sense. What about UCLA compared to Brown? Of course, it’s hard to judge how “intelligent” a student body is, but I guess my one worry about going to a UC is that I’ll be a “big fish” (I’ve kind of felt like one throughout high school), when I’d like to be in the middle of my class. Obviously, both UCLA and UCB have awesome student bodies, though.</p>

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<p>Just so you know where I’m coming from, I’ve never actually been to UCLA or Brown myself so my impressions are only my impressions haha. However, I have done a lot of research of my own since I’m trying to transfer to either Brown and UCLA. With that said, in my class, some of the top kids when to UCLA, while a few others went to Ivy League schools. The ones that went to UCLA from my experience were just as intelligent and motivated as the ones that went to the Ivy League. I think you’ll find a lot of brilliant people at either, and a lot of hard workers at either, and maybe a few lucky slackers at either. </p>

<p>But about that “big fish” syndrome, that’s something you’ll have to decide. UCLA is big, there’s no getting around that, so you may feel that way. However, I know that class sizes do decrease considerably by the time you’re in upper division.</p>

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<p>Even the most strong supporters of UC schools on the more general site will say that the quality of the Brown student body on the whole is higher. Whether they agree that everything else goes with it, or that student body quality matters, is a totally separate issue.</p>

<p>However, I do think the average student at Brown is of a higher caliber than the average UCLA and UC Berkeley undergrad and I’m not sure anyone would debate that.</p>

<p>If that’s what you’re struggling over, than there is a clear choice. If that’s not important to you, many other factors come into play, most of which are “big school” versus “small school”.</p>

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<p>Oh I don’t disagree with that. I’m just speaking from personal experience, but judging by acceptance rates the average Brown student is of a higher caliber than the average UCLA student. However, I doubt it’s too huge of a disparity, and from my experience, I know plenty of ivy caliber students that went to UCLA.</p>

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<p>I actually went to UCLA for a year and a half, then transferred to Brown where I’m in my last semester.</p>

<p>I chose UCLA initially for many of the reasons you stated, I’m a CA native, got the Regents scholarship, etc. I kept wondering what life would have been like at Brown the whole time I was at UCLA, and eventually I decided to transfer to Brown for a “smaller” atmosphere and a change of pace from CA. My sister goes to UCLA now, and I think both are great schools. Brown is a better fit for me though.</p>

<p>To address the intelligence level of students, both have intelligent students, no doubt. But differences emerge in taking, for example, the common lunch conversation at the dining hall. In my experience, UCLA students would discuss UCLA athletics, their social life, and other casual conversation. At Brown, these things are discussed to a lesser degree, and intellectual ideas come up more often- people will be more likely to discuss global issues, current events, extend discussion from the day’s class, etc. Brown’s dining hall is usually playing CNN and it has a stack of copies of the New York Times everyday.</p>

<p>Academics- Both schools will give you a good CS education. I know Brown’s CS department has connections with Pixar, Google, etc. I don’t know what UCLA’s connections are, but I know CS majors there who have gotten great jobs.</p>

<p>Social Scene- Definitely bigger at UCLA, people travel in large groups more, frats are more prominent. There’s a lot of social activities that go on at Brown, but not to the same extent as at UCLA.</p>

<p>I think for me the main thing that I like about Brown is that my friends and classmates are from all over the world and have pretty varied perspectives. I have found overall discussions here to be more intellectually stimulating, and I enjoy being challenged in that way. I won’t diminish cost as a major factor though, as UCLA beats Brown hands-down in that area. Either way, you’ll be going to a great school.</p>

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<p>I really don’t think you can or should make the decision between those schools based on how intelligent the students will be. I go to Brown, but I know a lot of people who are at UCLA and Berkeley. And trust me, there are lots of really smart people at UCLA and Berkeley!</p>

<p>And as for the weather issue, don’t let that be a showstopper. I also lived in CA all my life, and the winter in Providence was definitely bearable.</p>