<p>It is hard to choose among UCLA, UC Berkeley, etc. when they have so many overlapping majors. Is there a way to easily compare all 10 colleges against each other? Is there only one application to fill out for all of them? Or do I have to fill out for each college individually?</p>
<p>What are your grades and test scores? You may not get a choice. Admission standards vary greatly among the campuses.</p>
<p>There is one UC application, although you have to select campuses and select division/major for each campus.</p>
<p>one application, but $70 for each individual campus. A lot of people decide by reputation and prestige and also location. For example, Davis is more rural, Berkeley more urban, etc. Some from Northern Cal want to go south and vice versa. If more than one has your major, here is my stab at reputation for you based on how hard it is to get in: top tier - Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, second tier - Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, 3rd tier - Santa Cruz, Riverside, Merced
campus wise, I hear that SB and SC are the ‘most beautiful’, Davis and Merced will be HOT in the spring and foggy in the winter.
another factor we are using - we have read that Irvine has a lot of commuting students
that go home every weekend. That doesn’t appeal to us. So, basically- do online searches and try to find people who actually go there and ask questions regarding what is
important to you. Another example - Davis is pretty close to Tahoe and winter sports.</p>
<p>I am interested in the social sciences/humanities, especially East Asian/Asian studies, sociology, or political science. Are there particular campuses that are known to be strong in these fields? I heard that UCLA and UC Berkeley are pretty strong in the social sciences. Any other campuses I should take note of? Also, is it true that it is better to apply “undecided” for major?</p>
<p>Berkeley, UCLA, Santa Cruz and San Diego and Irvine all have excellent East Asian Studies programs. Davis is pretty good too.</p>
<p>A UCLA admissions rep at our school stated unequivocally that they do NOT admit by
major so it doesn’t matter what major you put down. I still have a hard time believing this. I also did not get an answer if this was for all UCs or just UCLA. (I assumed she was talking about the whole UC system, but then later thought maybe she was just refering to UCLA,
but by then it was too late to ask.)</p>
<p>I had some Japanese language teachers who also taught at Berkeley, and they said it was the best East Asian Studies program in the country.</p>
<p>The UC Santa Cruz campus is not for everyone. It’s more like a summer camp than a college campus. I personally don’t like it, but others love it.</p>
<p>I picked the UC school I went to mostly based on the location and the feel of the campus.</p>
<p>I sort of factored in my major, but to be honest, I probably would have been fine had I gone to any other UC campus in my major.</p>
<p>All of the UCs are good schools, and you can’t really go that wrong with any of them. I would suggest you look at what schools you are most competitive for and look to see if they have programs that you would be interested in. If they do, check out the campuses (online or in person) and the location. It’s only one application for all of them, so as long as you can afford the fees, you don’t lose anything by applying to a handful of them.</p>
<p>I believe Berkeley has different selectivity for different colleges and majors within, but I’m not entirely sure on that. It’s something you may want to look into. I know for UCSD that they admit you to the school and then to your major, so it doesn’t matter if you apply as your major or undecided. I recommend that if you apply to UCSD you put your intended major, just because if it’s impacted (I doubt it will be, but just in case), it’s easier to get into it as a freshman. Switching majors at UCSD just requires a couple of clicks of your mouse on the website, so it doesn’t hurt you to put your intended major.</p>
<p>I don’t know how good East Asian study is at UCI but they have lots of East Asian students which may help you to understand the culture?</p>
<p>So how do I find out how competitive a campus is? And thanks for all the great responses!</p>
<p>The UC admissions website has detailed freshman profiles for the last admitted class for each UC.</p>
<p>[Freshman</a> admission profiles | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/index.html]Freshman”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/index.html)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Cannot be for all UCs, since Berkeley admits by division (College of Letters and Science, College of Engineering, College of Chemistry, College of Natural Resource, College of Environmental Design), and admits by major within the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>For UCLA, [Freshman</a> Admission Process - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/fradms.htm]Freshman”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/fradms.htm) says that College of Letters and Science applicants are considered without regard to major, but applicants to other divisions are admitted by major.</p>