Haven't submitted SIR for UCLA, having second thoughts

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>:/
I am currently at UCSB and applied to UCR, UCI, UCLA. I was accepted to UCLA and UCR but am still pending UCI.</p>

<p>As a transfer, I don't want to make the same mistakes (i.e. getting caught up in hype, not doing enough research).</p>

<p>My concerns:
First, I love anthropology and this is why I applied for this major to every school I applied. It has only been recently that I have been thinking about political science more seriously. In fact, I was planning on a double major here at UCSB. At UCR and UCI I am sure I will be able to switch or double major in political science. At UCLA, I am screwed. MAYBE if I am lucky they will let me minor, but what good is a minor.
Is it worth it to pass up UCLA to take on political science? Or are both majors pretty much 'useless'? I really don't want to work in a coffee shop after graduation but it's starting to seem that that is the risk for all humanities/social science majors (psychology, political science, history, english, etc)</p>

<p>Second, I was reading some things about UCLA and some reoccurring complaints were that the school is crowded, competitive, the parking is ridiculous, the professors don't care, the school and its prestige is overhyped, the people are rude, and the administration is not very helpful.
I applied to UCLA to feel good about myself. I perceived the school to have people who were more well rounded and perhaps friendlier (as opposed to UCSB). I haven't made any friends here (no exaggeration, not even lunch buddies or casual acquaintances) but it hasn't been so bad because my classes have been super chill. If I cannot make friends at UCLA AND the school is super competitive, I don't know how I would manage. </p>

<p>Before, my solutions to this problems were simple. Anthropology major? No problem, UCLA has connections and you can network so as to find a job. Now from what I am reading, this is false. It doesn't seem like the school is very concerned with helping students find jobs (non math and science majors).
Can't make friends? No problem. Friends and family are 30-60 minutes away; visit whenever you feel lonely or overwhelmed by competition. However, gas prices and traffic are discouraging me.</p>

<p>I am scared. I wanted to have an awesome college experience. I wanted a diploma to read UCLA and to feel special and smart. I no longer wished to hear "Oh, party school". My parents were super proud when I got in; they even cried. I feel the pressure to attend UCLA when just a couple months ago I would have sacrificed my first born to be accepted.</p>

<p>Is it just impossible for me to find happiness in a college experience? I thought it wasn't possible to find many things to complain about with UCLA. Leave it to me to prove myself wrong..</p>

<p>I need help making a decision :/</p>

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<p>Well man while researching your college is important I think you also might be expecting a bit too much from the school. IE get a job for you, line up friends for you, etc.</p>

<p>A lot of it is how much effort you’re willing to put in, how much you’ll put yourself out there, etc.</p>

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<p>I never said I expected the school to find me a job. I was trying to be careful when explaining this.
I also don’t expect them to find me friends. But the type of people I will meet does make a difference.</p>

<p>edit: Ah, just forget it. I don’t care anymore. I’ll just SIR.</p>

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<p>I have also heard “rumors” that people will try to purposely sabotage others in order to get ahead. But, then again it just depends on who you meet. Whatever your decision may be, I hope you don’t regret it!</p>

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<p>thanks bobatrouble</p>

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<p>Before I was accepted to ucla I was ready to go to sb. At first it was hard for me to accept going to sb because I felt like I would be settling and I had been accepted to sd and most people encourage sd over sb because of prestige. I choose sb because I thought it was where I would be the happiest.
I know many people would tell me to go with sd but it just didn’t appeal to me. My own brothers made fun of me for choosing sb and i know many people on this board look down on it as well. Once I stopped caring what other people would think about my choice I was happy.
Anyway, my advice, and I know people will hate it, is go to wherever you see yourself happy and comfortable, yes prestige is important but I would say happiness is more.</p>

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<p>The fact is, you’re not going to start off with a job that nets you 50k a year, no matter what major you graduate with or which school you graduate from (excluding the Engineering/Business majors and Ivy League grads I mean). If it takes a coffe shop job first to have something to put on your resume, well, that’s better than being unemployed. Being realistic, it’s likely that none of the UC schools offer an alumni network quite like those found at priviate schools (namely, that other LA school). Regardless, you can’t really just expect your school to find a job for you. Ivy League graduates don’t just sit back after getting their degrees waiting for the job offers to come in. </p>

<p>Your concerns are problems that are not exclusive to UCLA. There has to be some redeeming qualities that make UCLA so prestigious right? You got accepted, and are an intercampus transfer at that. That has to speak for something, so why are you worried about the competition? Unfortunately, making friends is something no one can really help with. It’s up to you. I’m sorry your experience at SB sucked, but at UCLA you start anew. Try to reach out and make some friends. It’s so damn hard I know. I go to UCI where it’s pretty dead all the time anyway, and even so I’ve still managed to make friends. I don’t have a 50 person-posse but I have people I can go to when I need to. In high school I was completely antisocial and hated talking to people. You just have to try. </p>

<p>Yeah, it is scary. I’m feeling the pressures too because I’ve grown to actually like UCI. I applied for the chance and I was stunned to get in. It’s going to take a lot of thinking, but in your case, it seems you really despise UCSB. It might be in your interest to start anew at another school. I will say that IMO, if you turn down UCLA for UCSB and continue hating SB for the next two years, it might be the biggest regret you’ll ever have. Maybe UCLA isn’t the right fit for you. Don’t rule out UCR and UCI yet as you never know, they might be exactly what you’re looking for. Ultimately, you won’t have a great college experience no matter where you go if you’re always so worried about things that could happen instead of spending time making your experience better.</p>

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<p>Go love UCLA.
You’ll get some “wow” factor and you made your parents proud.
Stop over thinking this.</p>

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<p>Thanks guys.
Again, I would like to clarify that I am not expecting a school to find a job for me. Like what oceanpartier mentioned, I guess I was really talking about an alumni network to HELP or AID, not do it for me. I just had to clear this up.</p>

<p>Currently, I am looking for where I will be happiest. That is not the question. I guess I am just looking for the school that is the lesser of evils for me.</p>

<p>I appreciate the input.</p>

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<p>Look, you know I’m a UCSB to UCLA transfer. You got into UCLA, a feat many people could not accomplish. </p>

<p>Tell me with a straight face that you won’t regret not attending UCLA for the rest of life if you choose to stay at UCSB.</p>

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<p>from my point of view, school is a complete waste of time in the real sense of how to spend time doing meaningful and interesting things. because all those things can be done in places like paris, london, cairo, new york, california, etc… no one needs school to have an interesting life. school is an institution and it is just about getting a piece of paper that says diploma. this is something that we use politically to leverage good jobs and respect from our colleges and within society. so looking to have fun in school is just frivolous in my view. deal with all the garbage and get the degree, have as much fun doing it while you can, but don’t expect an institution to be an enjoyable place to spend time in general terms. </p>

<p>if you are so bogged down by the idea of dealing with the issues of attending a school like UCLA or living in Los Angeles to the point that you would be depressed and fail, that would be a concern. but to all of you i say, “toughen up” and go to the highest ranking school you get accepted to. it is only two years and is far from the coal mines. also, talking about stuff on here is a good way to process these feelings. good luck dude.</p>