Pretty much what the title says. Is parking available, and if so how much is the parking permit? I’m a junior in HS and I’ve been driving the old family car - I was wondering if I could take it as a freshman to UCLA. Is it more of a hassle than a convenience, or is it useful to have in Westwood? I live in Arizona, so I might be driving home for breaks and stuff. Thanks!
It is discouraged. It can be done, but probably expensive to park, etc…
According to this website:
https://main.transportation.ucla.edu/campus-parking/students/student-parking-prioritization-process
You will be at the bottom of the list when it comes to assigned parking, which means it is highly unlikely that you will get assigned a spot on campus. If you really really want your car, you’ll probably need to pay for a spot in Westwood (there are a few long term parking garages where you can rent a spot) which can get to be over $150/month. Getting around LA is fairly cheap and easy by bus or Uber so a car isn’t strictly necessary.
@picklesandtwigs Thanks for your input! I’ll see if I can convince my parents to rent a garage because I love driving 
@UCBUSCalum Ok. Judging from your username, I assume you attended USC?
Yes, I attended both UC Berkeley Haas, USC Leventhal and then got a CPA license. As a grad student in LA, I lived in an apartment in the middle of the USC fraternity row area. I had a car. In the USC area, it is better to have a car to get around LA.
I know this kind of deviates from my original thread, but supposing I will be a national merit semifinalist or finalist, I will apply to USC because of their scholarships. What I want to ask you is, does USC live up to its name as a big, party, football school? Or are there excellent academics there, comparable to some of the higher tier UC schools like Cal and LA? I personally am not much into the party scene, so I’m just afraid I might not fit in there. My main reason for college, like many other people, is to get an education that will prepare me for a career. Since you have attended both, which would you recommend academics-wise for undergrad? Bonus question: did you like the Bay Area or the LA area more?
USC’s academics are good, just like UCB and UCLA. I do believe that UCB weeds out a little more students than UCLA or USC. This is especially true for someone trying to get into the health professions (medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry, etc.), engineering, computer science or any other majors, which have good job opportunities such as business, accounting, etc… You still have to score well on the graduate standardized tests if you want to go to a top graduate school or program.
Like USC, there are students who are notorious party goers at UCB, UCLA or any large universities. All 3 schools have a lot of students that dislike parties. It just a matter of the type of school friends you hang out with or what your purpose is in college. USC has good football teams, but not in recent years. UCLA has good basketball teams. UCB has more Noble Prize winners than UCLA and USC combined.
Academically, UCB, UCLA and USC are all good. Also, the GPA and SAT to get into those schools are similar (excluding athletes or under represented minorities). UCB is known to be tough on the GPA. UCLA is probably a little less tough and USC is probably a little less than UCLA.
I like both the Bay Area and LA. The Bay Area seems a little more sophisticated, environmentally conscious, etc. while LA seems be glittery, Hollywood like and the stars. That is my opinion but maybe someone else might feel differently.
Thank you so much for all your insight! I’m not sure what exactly I want to major in, but I have a couple subjects that seem interesting:
Finance/accounting
Computer science
Chemical engineering
Industrial engineering
Applied mathematics
Optometry
Which of the schools you mentioned (or even any other school in the country that aren’t total crapshoots) would be the best for any of those majors?
Again, thanks for all your replies.
Not to downplay the AZ schools, you might want to consider attending one of the AZ schools (UA or ASU) to pursue those majors where the competition might not be as intense as in a competitive CA schools (UCB, UCLA, other UCs, USC, Stanford). You’ll need good grades to get hired or for graduate school or optometry school. Anyway, it would save you a lot of money to go on for graduate work or optometry school.
So a competitive, highly ranked undergrad is not crucial to getting into a good graduate school?
What I am implying is that if you went to UA or ASU, you can still get into a good graduate school or an optometry school. You need to do well in school and also score well on the graduate admission test. If everything is equal (GPA, graduate admission test), the graduate admission would probably choose the applicant from the competitive-high ranked school over the less competitive school. In this world, with so many factors such as application essay, experience, activities, in addition to GPA, test scores, not everything is equal. I am sure there are UA or ASU students who get into graduate programs at Stanford, UCB, Harvard, etc.