<p>my mom is adamantly convinced that every school besides UCLA is inferior. it seems to get on her nerves that i'm even considering UCSD, and am still bothering to wait on UNC. i know there are rankings, but all she says is 'see, UCLA is 5 spots higher than UCSD!' she doesn't seem to understand the idea of a 'tier 1' school, and i need some online publications to show this. not rankings or blogs, but convincing and straightforward articles...maybe something titled 'chill the **** out mom, your son will go to a good school!!!'</p>
<p>what’s your major? UCSD might have a higher ranking for your major than UCLA does.</p>
<p>I know how you feel, I had to try really hard convincing my mom about my choice to UCLA, versus Cal. Like your mom, mine was fixated on rankings and international reputation. I had to calmly sit her down, tell her rankings doesn’t matter that much for undergraduate, and explain how school environment/setting matters a lot to me.</p>
<p>I hope things work out for you.</p>
<p>it doesn’t matter about individual major rankings to her…she only cares about the overall reputation. overall experience is the most important thing for me for my undergrad. she seems to think I’ll be a failure in life if I attend any other school.</p>
<p>are there any dummy-proof articles for her to read to cool her jets?</p>
<p>Honestly you should go where YOU want to go because it is YOUR education, not you mom’s!! She should support you wherever you want to go if it makes you happy. I mean you are going to college, that in itself is something she should be proud of, regardless of whether it’s UCLA or UCSD (which are both GREAT schools!)</p>
<p>acutally its HER money. if shes paying for his education she has a say too. but @ op just throw a bunch of statistics at her. show her ur intedend schools’ program ranking or avg salaries after graduation for that major. also tell her about housing (how its cramped, shlt, expensive, etc) and hte environment (bigger campus, beachside view). but i think the program ranking should have caught her attention.</p>
<p>If you’re majoring in physical sciences or engineering, you have a right to be considering UCSD over UCLA (since most of the ‘rankings’ rank UCSD higher than UCLA). However, you are attending the school next fall and you should go where ever you want to go. If you’re not happy there, how do you expect to have a good time and do well with your studies?</p>
<p>iluvpho is right to a certain extent in my opinion. If she’s helping with tuition and living expenses, she should be able to express her opinions but not contradict where you will attend based on objective ratings. But if she’s still convinced that rankings are the way to go show her this (CA colleges only)…</p>
<p>[Kiplinger.com](<a href=“Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)=CA&myschool=none&outputby=table</a></p>
<p>If your mom is obsessed with rankings show her this stuff.</p>
<p>[Washington</a> Monthly](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/national_university_rank.php]Washington”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/national_university_rank.php)
[ARWU</a> 2009](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp]ARWU”>http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp)
[In</a> Pictures: Top Public Colleges For Getting Rich - No. 3: University Of California, San Diego - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/30/college-salary-graduates-lead-cz_kb_0730publiccolleges_slide_6.html]In”>In Pictures: Top Public Colleges For Getting Rich)</p>
<p>The Kiplinger site lmendoza posted above is also good.</p>
<p>Personally, I would have gone to LA but SD is a great school too.</p>
<p>Baha, hit next on the Forbes link and look at all the Aggies on bikes.</p>
<p>“the only reason ucla has a more prestigious name than UCSD is because they have a football team. for the most part, ucla does have better academics in a wider range of subjects, but ucsd is also a top tier school. seeing as how it’s going to be hard to be competitive in the job market, undergraduate degrees are becoming less significant. regardless of which school i go to, UCLA or UCSD, it’s not the degree that matters. UCSD has a comparable rank as well as academic rigor that a higher GPA at a ‘somewhat easier’ school than UCLA will get me far more opportunities if i were to apply for graduate school. don’t look at rank as the defining factor of a school. there is a reason in certain countries, the flagship country school is regarded over many top tier schools in the united states”</p>
<p>say that.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest looking up “notable alumni” for each college, but then I just checked and UCSD doesn’t really have any household names so that won’t be too convincing. </p>
<p>@gaiou37
I like your utopian view of parental roles, but there are many (especially so for cc students) parents who aren’t the most agreeable when it comes to tuition and academics. Many times people are just grateful that their parents are even paying for tuition.</p>
<p>Your mom is stupid. My cousin chose UCSD out of hs this year for bio over Johns Hopkins, Duke, Cal, UCLA, St. Louis, etc. UCSD has a good campus and academics. Show her this thread.</p>
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<p>uhh i wouldn’t show her this thread now…</p>
<p>Happy mothers day op’s mom!</p>
<p>you shoulda taken her to transfer day</p>
<p>Tell her your going to UCLA today just cause its mother’s day. Tomorrow tell her you changed your mind.</p>
<p>@mythology</p>
<p>Too many big words…she is not a native english speaker and very stuck in her ways…****es me the hell off sometimes. No matter how much I try to articulate it, she comes back with ‘but UCLA is better.’</p>
<p>Thank you guys for the links, great stuff. Ironically, my dad is the one who’s going to help with tuition - he’s a UCLA alum and doesn’t care where I go…haha.</p>
<p>Tell her you got rescinded from UCLA, so you can’t go now.</p>
<p>I would mention the fact that UCSD has the school divisions which (may) make you feel a little more at home in a smaller setting. That was one of the huge selling points for me. The chance of running into people you know more often rather than getting lost in a HUGE campus is pretty appealing to me. </p>
<p>But the main argument should be this: You are the one that has to go there for the next 2 years. You should go where you feel like you will be more comfortable, not where someone else (be it your mom or otherwise) wants you to go. </p>
<p>I’d say the best way to go about this is to write a (fair) list of pros and cons for each school. Dont be stingy on the Pros for UCLA, either, because she’ll see right through it. In the end, the prestige ranking of UCLA is only one point and if you already know you want to go to UCSD, you’ll have no trouble compensating for that one huge point.</p>