Giving up UCLA?

<p>I was wondering if anyone here is planning to reject UCLA for anything other than UCB. I know I'm UCIhopeful, but when I saw that UCLA congrats letter, Irvine was the far from my mind. Unfortunately it seems impossible to bring a car when living on campus without having an established off campus job. I just bought a rather expensive car in February and am by no means willing to leave it 2 hours away at home while I get to make a payment. Sigh... Guess UCI it is (unless anyone knows something about parking that I don't).</p>

<p>funny how the parking situation is affecting so many</p>

<p>i have the same exact thoughts. </p>

<p>plus there’s a lot about ucla i don’t like… hmm we shall see after friday.</p>

<p>Wait- you would give up UCLA for a car??? Sell the car!</p>

<p>Sell the car for a better education maybe?</p>

<p>Yeah, I will probably turn down UCLA and Berkeley (if admitted) for UCSD. I love San Diego. I like LA too, but I am more comfortable here. And I don’t feel like UCLA is SO much better of school that my experience and job opportunities will be greatly affected.</p>

<p>It’s a brand new car… My payoff is over $25K and I don’t have that kind of cash sitting around in order to sell it. But to those of you in a similar situation, I called a couple of parking garages directly around UCLA and they sell spots for only $100 per month. That’s only $15 more per month than parking at UCI and not much more than what UCLA charges for an opportunity to park.</p>

<p>I might turn down UCLA for Davis. I really really like Davis and think I would be really happy and comfortable there, but on the other hand the chance to go to UCLA is an amazing opportunity. I’m going to visit both next month and sort out my priorities because right now it’s neck and neck.</p>

<p>I’m also on the fence between UCLA and UCSD. UCSD is a lot better for my major and I also LOVEE the idea of a transfer apartment (the village) in contrast to dorming in a double maybe even TRIPLE dorm at UCLA <em>shutters</em>. I’m just not keen with sharing a room with other people especially if it’s the size of a dorm. But UCLA is UCLA so of course I have consider it haha. I’ll be visiting UCSD on transfer admit day on May 7 and I’ll be going on a UCLA campus tour probably the week after and make my decision by then. :/</p>

<p>I feel you about the rooming situation. It’s funny - you hear the letters UCLA and you picture glorified apartments with a fridge full of wine (not the boxed kind either) and a panoramic view of Bel Air - kind of a stretch but I can dream. Then you realize they’ve got some of the worst housing in the UC system. Curses…</p>

<p>How come you guys applied to LA if you planned on choosing another school? It’s not like LA could have been your safety school. Did you guys change your mind during the process or something?</p>

<p>Im in the exact same situation. its either UCLA or UCI for me. Im leaning more towards UCI due to the fact that ive heard the bio program is better over there, and also because oncampus housing is pretty cheap at uci. also, i got all prereqs done for my major except one course(which im taking over the summer) so i will have a nice transition between the my CC and UCI. At ucla however, my biochem does not transfer, and i have to take another semester of calculus and more physics, which i dont like :/</p>

<p>ucla however offered me more grant money!</p>

<p>Reading these posts didn’t make me feel like such an outsider among the piles of posts about people attending UCLA and Berkeley. I got into UCLA yesterday and even if I get into both UCLA and Berkeley, I will be attending UCSD. Initially, UCLA was my number 1 choice but I changed my mind during the wait for decisions. Money was one of the reasons too. But aside from that, I think UCSD will provide a lot for me and I will be happier there. Go Tritons!</p>

<p>Choose your school based on the quality of the education for your major, and how comfortable you are with the immediate surroundings. Don’t choose based on parking/housing etc. A bit of diligence goes a long way in finding a parking/housing/whatever solutions no matter where you live. Trust me.</p>

<p>And I can’t imagine giving up a dream school for a dream car. A car depreciates as soon as you drive it off the lot, it was probably a bad idea to get yourself in debt right before going to college. Oh well, chalk it up to a loss, pretty much any new car is a financial loss anyway. Your education on the other hand? That’s a real investment, something worth 25K+ worth of debt. Make sure to maximize your return on that investment by getting the best education/experience possible.</p>

<p>And remember to calculate your education <em>outside</em> of the lecture halls. The city you live in, the type of lifelong connections you’ll be able to make, where you might want to live/work AFTER school, how much you ENJOY your time at school; such factors are all apart of your education. Take them into account before you decide.</p>

<p>/my two cents.</p>