<p>I am wondering about the value of each of these school's communications major:</p>
<p>-UCLA
-UCSD
-UCSB</p>
<p>Out of these, how would you rank them? Also, if you are a comm major at one of these schools, can you provide me with your opinion on the quality of the undergrad comm major, faculty, and undergrad research opportunities?</p>
<p>UCLA, by far. </p>
<p>That's coming from someone who is a comm major, researched all three departments, was accepted into comm at all three schools, and who is currently working in the industry. </p>
<p>SD and SB can't really compare.</p>
<p>This is one of the reasons comm at UCLA is very hard to get into. It's considered one of the school's most selective majors and is generally held in very high regard within the industries that it pulls from. </p>
<p>While I wouldn't necessarily reccommend basing your entire decision on the program itself, if you're serious about getting internships and working in media, you're going to be much more successful at UCLA than at other schools. This is due to sheer proximity, reputation, and the services offered by the department.</p>
<p>SD and SB don't have true mass comm programs. SB is generally like literally the study of communication itself and not the application of it, and SD has a little more emphasis on mass but the program isn't terribly impressive. </p>
<p>I shy away from rankings because I think it's somewhat personal since you might LIKE something that I don't. But if you're interested particularly in mass comm and you're looking to work in the field, UCLA is the only program out of the three that could realistically get you there. </p>
<p>UCLA has plenty of undergraduate research opportunities if you seek them out. To be honest though there generally aren't many comm majors who do research because it helps very little when it comes time to get a job. Most comm majors are much, much more concerned with internships or doing extracurriculars that relate to their preferred field of study (dairly bruin, adteam, radio, etc). Obviously if you're looking into grad school immediately following graduation and aren't as concerned about finding a job right away, undergraduate research will help.</p>
<p>Yea, I know I'm applying to UCLA for sure, but I don't know if I should apply to UCSD's comm program or not. I'm at UCSB right now and might just stay here if I don't get into UCLA. Does UCLA have an application part of comm (on top of the theory)?</p>
<p>All UCs are going to be mostly theory based and less about the application. There are plenty of classes specific to one industry (for instance this quarter I'm taking a course in ethics and policy issues in print journalism). Where UCLA rocks is in the ECs it offers: The bruin is one of the most highly circulated papers in LA, AdTeam has won Nationals a few times, good radio and tv station. Also, because we're in LA we can get hooked up w really good internships that just aren't available in SB or SD. That's kinda what sets it apart from the other schools (we also generally have much more notable faculty in comm...LA Times/WAPost columnists, movie people, famous journalists, etc). </p>
<p>I'd definitely apply to SD to be safe because if you're looking for mass comm it will be better than SB if you don't get into LA. I suspect you know all about how ridiculous it is to transfer into comm, right? (not to dissuade you, just that I've seen some people apply who were just absolutely clueless as to how rough it can be.)</p>
<p>Ya, it's totally ridiculous. The percentage accepted into comm was something like 16% of applicants this year. Crazy...that's even worse chance than I had as a freshman!</p>
<p>Yeah, it's rough. Even though the official GPA cutoff is 3.5, it's actually closer to around 3.8 for acceptance, excluding some special circumstances or GPAs that are very slightly below 3.8. </p>
<p>So yeah, I'd always suggest a backup (and SD is a good backup).</p>
<p>Can anyone who goes to UCSD and is a comm major tell me more about what UCSD offers?</p>
<p>Is there a UCSD board? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>There is. </p>
<p>I don't think you'll find SD people around here.</p>
<p>Wow, seriously? Only around 16%? I was wondering how many applicants were accepted, but I didn't want to ask the advisor...</p>
<p>Yeah. For transfers it's usually between 70 and 80 acceptances out of over 600 applicants. </p>
<p>To be fair, though, a great many of the applicants don't even have the bare minimum 3.5 or don't have important pre-reqs done, which basically automatically disqualifies you.</p>
<p>For four year students it's usually around 80-100 people, give or take and depending on the applicant pool and how many spaces they have open.</p>