Hello,
Recently, I have been accepted to UCLA for computer science.
A big concern that my mother and I had for UCLA was its total undergraduate size (as it is a public school). Most of my private schools haven’t given their decisions back yet, but my mother really likes private schools because of their small undergrad population.
Are the class sizes too big to get individual attention/help? What about mental health and other resources? Is the population too big in your guys’ opinions?
Does this also make internships, research, and pretty much anything at campus super competitive to get?
Thanks.
S18 has hugely enjoyed his time at UCLA and gets plenty of attention from professors. But he has had to seek them out, by going to office hours and paying attention to their research focus. I wouldn’t say it is super competitive in class (though many people pay careful attention to their grades), but quite a number of popular ECs are, for example there are about 500 applicants for tour guide positions and fewer than 10 places. And as you would expect, there are lots of super talented students applying.
So it took S about a year to adjust to that and figure out where he fitted in. Finding a niche where he could excel worked very well. Not too different to his first year in a large high school (going from 90 students per grade in middle school to 450 in high school), just at a different scale. But above all you have to be proactive in seeking things out, they don’t just come to you. And a lot of very large scale events are organized by students, which I think would not be left to them quite so completely at other colleges, see for example spring sing Spring Sing - UCLA Alumni
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It’s not the size of the school or the class sizes…it’s how you as a student seek out help, go to office hours, attend study groups, etc.
I went to a college my freshman year that had 1000 students total. My classes were teeny. I can’t tell you the name of any professor I had.
I transferred to a public university with almost 30,000 students. I got to know many of my professors very well and even kept in touch with them long after college.
If you want to get to know professors…and you seek out help…you will find it.
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I also went to a private college (7500) and transferred to a large public (40k students).
I agree that YOU have to step out and find your people. When you start taking your major classes for CS, you will notice your core group of good friends in the CS major. You will also make friends from your dorms and your internships.
I didn’t have a lot of friends at the private, but I had lots of friends, in different majors, at the public. I met my friends in the dorm, and at my on campus job, and at my internships. If my school hadn’t been so big, I wouldn’t have had all of these different activities that helped me with my interviews.
UCLA has a positive energy that keeps that campus alive. As for services, everything is right there. It has a School of Medicine. it is highly regarded and a CS department that is highly recruited. If you need help, You start off by asking your RA. They are very helpful.
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I wrote a post several years back that may have some useful advice about making a large public seem smaller. It is at Some Tips for Succeeding at UCLA (2007 edition)