<p>I am an immigrant from Hong Kong.
I am not confident with my English, but I picked Political Science as my major coz I wanna know more about government system.... interesting subject, but not easy. </p>
<p>I applied to UCLA, UCSD,UCD, UCSB and UCR in last Nov and I has been admitted to all campuses. </p>
<p>I couldn't imagine that UCLA would admit me after they read my "poor" personal statement. I get a GPA 3.7 now. If I enter UCLA, I am afraid English would become my obstacle since the major in UCLA is competitive. I am afraid that my GPA will drop to two point something. </p>
<p>I am choosing between UCLA and UCSD now... can someone talk something about the political science undergraduate program between these two schools? Thanks. </p>
<p>Which one would be a better school for immgrants transfer students?</p>
<p>I am also thinking about to earn a Master degree after earning my BA...</p>
<p>Their grad program is ranked higher than UCLA’s, and I’ve heard great things about the UG program as well.</p>
<p>If UCLA admitted you, then they must think you will be successful there. Pick whichever school you like better. I don’t think that UCLA will be much less competitive than UCSD.</p>
<p>Like your reply.
When I saw US news, I saw the ranking of UCSD and UCLA…
My family has been broken up into support me to go to UCLA and another group UCSD… UCSD offers a better program.
Dad:UCLA, Mum:UCSD , Sister supports me whether I enter UCLA or UCSD… she said that I should choose from my heart.
My sister is a bus. econ major in UCLA now and she was admitted to UCB last year, but she didn’t go there.<br>
My friend also separate into two groups… all my god…
First group: go to UCSD because it has a better poli. science program…
Second group: go to UCLA, the name sounds great… and near home…
Maybe because of my Chinese background…
UCLA sounds more famous among Chinese…
Some friends argued with me why I don’t go to UCLA…
I feel crazy of that… I wanna stop the controversy. </p>
<p>In personally, I wanna go to UCSD in my heart. Great school and stronger program. UCLA seems like a dream school for many students in LA. At the same time, UCLA is famous in Hong Kong. No one knows what is UCSD in Hong Kong…</p>
<p>Graduate School rankings are not equal to undergraduate rankings or experience. The Political Science major at UCLA requires only 40 units of upper div poli sci classes, which means that at least half of your classes you take at the UC you choose will be from courses other than poli sci (since you need 180 units to graduate and I assume you already have 90 or so). I would be willing to wager that the average class at UCLA is better than the average class at UCSD.</p>
<p>I got into both and I choose UCLA. If you visit both, I feel you’ll make the same decision as well.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry a lot about being an immigrant, both schools have a huge Asian population and I know quite a few Asian international students who were also accepted to top UCs. The UCs obviously think your English is up to par, and there’s always tutoring to help you out. I would go with UCLA, if I were you, especially if you intend on going back to Hong Kong. Here in CA we all know what an amazing school UCSD is, but in another country, UCLA might be what catches an employer’s eye. You never know. That’s my opinion though, not everyone puts as much emphasis on prestige. Both schools will give you a great education. In the end, just decide on what is most important and what feels right. Visit both schools if you haven’t already. It will make the decision clearer.</p>
<p>Thank you for all opinions. I like both of the comments.
That helps me a lot to make decisions.
The first thing I should do is to visit both schools…
and I will find out which one is the most suitable to me…
US is still the first choice to work after I graduate.
And I am willing to earn a MA degree here!!!
I love both California and Hong Kong.
If I cannot find a job here, I may return to Hong Kong, where I was born and grew up.</p>
<p>I kind of disagree that the average class at UCLA is better than the average class at UCSD. I think that they are basically on par with respect to undergrad education. There isn’t any objective/quantitative metric by which you could compare the two, so the point is moot anyway.</p>
<p>I was also admitted to both, and have been to both, and chose UCSD. It’s simply a matter of personal choice. I prefer living on the beach, and I wanted to get out of LA (born and raised near Westwood, live in Hollywood now) - though SD and LA’s undergrad engineering programs are ranked the same, I found SD’s ‘filler’ courses to be of more interest to me (particularly their cognitive science and ICAM stuff).</p>
<p>However - if I were the OP and had to return to Hong Kong, I’d probably choose LA because of name recognition. It’s true that nobody in China has a clue what UCSD is! If you’re gonna stay in CA, though, I’d say that you should do some research/visit both schools and pick whichever you prefer.</p>
<p>Someone told me that the best thing after entering an university is to enter a seminar class/program… or registar for an internship or study abroad programs.</p>
<p>Do UCLA has a higher requirement than UCSD to get into these programs? </p>
<p>These are opportunities for me, especially to enter a master program or finding a full-time job in the future…</p>
<p>I cannot speak to the experience of being in UCLA’s undergrad Poli Sci program; however, I can give some insight into UCSD’s. </p>
<p>While the US News rankings—as well as others—are quite subjective and offer an incomplete picture of a school’s worth, they can serve as a relative barometer for the reputation climate and program strength within academia. The individual graduate level rankings from US News do in fact reflect a decent image of where the program strengths are in [UC] LA and SD for both grad and undergrad. In the last five-to-ten years the strength of SD’s program has improved exponentially, especially in the area of international relations. This growth is due partly to the mission of IR/PS, and more broadly, the standalone Poli Sci department. Naturally both entities draw considerable resources, connections, and clout, which then inherently strengthens the undergrad program. There are many opportunities for research, internships, and all the professors I have encountered to-date are quite approachable. LA is generally more well received, but there are many contributing factors in that: LA is around 50 years older; has competitive Division 1 sports teams; a law school; and as a result of all of those, a larger endowment.</p>
<p>The other posters made salient points regarding the word-of-mouth reputation differences between the two. However, to my understanding, SD carries respectable weight within academia even internationally. From there it would be best to determine your objective(s). If you hope to continue on to graduate school for political science (for policy or academics) you cannot really go wrong either way, but—trying to be as objective as possible—I do give a slight advantage to SD in most areas. Yet if you hope to follow on to law school, especially a U.S. Top 14, LA has a slight advantage due to name recognition. In the end it your marketability will really come down to your academic performance and CV density upon graduation. </p>
<p>Realistically both are great schools and the aspects that will matter most are fit, desired program, and what you value overall in a school. To clarify what I mean by the last point: do the US News rankings and overall reputation matter most to you? Another potential advantage for you in SD’s is its strong connection with China and Chinese Universities. The main complaint about SD is about the rather subdued night and social life on campus and due to its place in La Jolla. This is especially when compared to being in the heart of Los Angeles. However, San Diego has a great nightlife and an endless array of things to do if you are willing to venture off campus beyond just walking distance; the proximity to the beach sometimes makes it hard to go to class though.</p>
<p>Thx MLSMan. I think you give me a good idea btw UCLA and UCSD.
I don’t have a plan to go to law school.
I think UCSD has a better potential to rank higher in the future in Political Science or overall undergraduate quality.
I would like to study Comparative politics and international relations. Thus, UCSD has a better quality of these two branches of political science.</p>
<p>ucla is better for you if your from hongkong. If you plan to go back there, hongkong people only care about school brand, and Ucla is well known worldwide. UCSD is just a little toy in term of reputation, and do you think that they care about which school is better for political science? nahh lol One thing that is certain is UCLA. Also, don’t worry about your English, everywhere is the same.</p>
