How overblown is the UCLA name???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
21

<p>@ overachiever
You are giving the “Harvard” name too much credit. Most top privates, especially universities such as the Ivies, suffer from crazy grade inflation. In starch contrast, publics, such as UCI, suffer from serious grade deflation.</p>

<p>This may blow your mind, but that 3.9 at UCI is harder to attain than the 3.75 at Harvard! Not only that, the gap is not insignificant. The way the university system works in the US, universities such as Harvard are literally handing out A’s!</p>

<p>The students worst off are obviously those from Berkeley followed by the rest of the top publics. UCLA is fortunate to have a less competitive atmosphere relative to schools such as UCSD.</p>

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<p>Here’s why a typical layperson might be overly impressed with UCLA admittees/students. Here is this one suburban LA HS, PV Peninsula, that databases its [student applications](<a href=“http://www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us/penhi/collegeacceptance/collegeacceptance2010.pdf”>http://www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us/penhi/collegeacceptance/collegeacceptance2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;)and follows them through to their college destinations.</p>

<p>Here’s a list of UCLA rejected students with high SATs, 2100 or >:</p>

<p>No. .Col…GPA/WGPA/CR/M/WR/CR&M/Total
1008 ucla 3.74 4.54 750 800 800 - 2350
692 ucla 3.55 4.23 750 760 800 1510 2310
905 ucla 3.81 4.68 780 800 710 1580 2290
689 ucla 3.55 4.45 780 800 700 - 2280
594 ucla 3.92 4.72 790 680 800 1470 2270
543 ucla 3.56 4.43 710 760 770 1470 2240
760 ucla 3.73 4.53 680 800 760 1480 2240
616 ucla 3.96 4.81 730 760 750 1490 2240
959 ucla 3.50 4.08 670 800 750 1470 2220
583 ucla 3.28 4.23 680 760 780 1440 2220
828 ucla 3.72 4.65 690 780 730 1470 2200
702 ucla 3.61 4.29 680 750 770 1430 2200
893 ucla 3.92 4.57 700 680 800 1380 2180
578 ucla 3.73 4.56 630 790 760 1420 2180
935 ucla 3.41 4.31 640 800 740 1440 2180
764 ucla 3.87 4.72 670 790 700 1460 2160
921 ucla 3.85 4.47 670 680 800 1350 2150
882 ucla 3.84 4.67 670 740 740 1410 2150
968 ucla 3.92 4.57 690 710 750 1400 2150
917 ucla 3.62 4.37 690 790 670 1480 2150
674 ucla 3.89 4.34 700 670 780 1370 2150
690 ucla 3.69 4.37 670 730 750 1400 2150
1007 ucla 3.74 4.59 740 720 710 - 2140
601 ucla 3.88 4.68 730 660 750 1390 2140
788 ucla 3.54 4.24 750 710 680 1460 2140
785 ucla 3.24 3.94 700 690 740 1390 2130
887 ucla 3.80 4.28 700 760 670 1460 2130
1006 ucla 3.69 4.62 730 730 690 - 2120
930 ucla 3.84 4.42 580 800 740 1380 2120
695 ucla 3.68 4.60 690 750 740 - 2120
832 ucla 3.90 4.70 630 760 710 1390 2100
629 ucla 3.35 4.15 730 680 690 1410 2100
643 ucla 3.64 4.36 590 800 710 1390 2100
976 ucla 3.84 4.69 670 630 580 - 2100
1013 ucla 3.78 4.51 680 690 730 1370 2100
842 ucla 3.54 3.69 610 800 690 1410 2100</p>

<p>Here is a list of high uwgpas UCLA rejected, 3.8 or >:</p>

<p>No. .Col…GPA/WGPA/CR/M/WR/CR&M/Total
148 802 UCLA 4.00 4.28 570 730 690 1300 1990 -
207 1005 UCLA 3.99 4.36 550 690 560 - 1740 -
143 687 UCLA 3.98 4.53 600 790 630 1390 2020 -
241 901 UCLA 3.98 4.88 750 790 780 2320 -
245 858 UCLA 3.96 4.54 610 750 690 2030 -
86 616 UCLA 3.96 4.81 730 760 750 1490 2240 33
197 728 UCLA 3.96 4.46 600 590 590 1190 1780 -
136 618 UCLA 3.93 4.33 670 650 710 1320 2030 -
177 530 UCLA 3.93 4.56 650 740 500 1390 1890 -
191 807 UCLA 3.92 4.27 590 620 610 - 1820 -
91 893 UCLA 3.92 4.57 700 680 800 1380 2180 34
83 594 UCLA 3.92 4.72 790 680 800 1470 2270 -
97 968 UCLA 3.92 4.57 690 710 750 1400 2150 28
179 718 UCLA 3.91 4.54 620 620 640 1240 1880 -
138 806 UCLA 3.91 4.66 670 700 650 - 2020 32
192 824 UCLA 3.90 4.48 560 700 560 - 1810 -
109 832 UCLA 3.90 4.70 630 760 710 1390 2100 30
99 674 UCLA 3.89 4.34 700 670 780 1370 2150 -
201 636 UCLA 3.89 4.54 560 640 590 - 1770 -
102 601 UCLA 3.88 4.68 730 660 750 1390 2140 30
154 896 UCLA 3.87 4.37 680 670 720 - 1970 -
94 764 UCLA 3.87 4.72 670 790 700 1460 2160 31
73 902 UCLA 3.87 4.64 - - - - - 33
244 817 UCLA 3.86 4.41 570 700 600 1910 -
78 1021 UCLA 3.86 4.56 - - - - - 32
95 921 UCLA 3.85 4.47 670 680 800 1350 2150 -
118 983 UCLA 3.85 4.35 670 660 750 1330 2080 -
175 962 UCLA 3.85 4.55 640 610 660 - 1900 -
232 731 UCLA 3.85 4.10 380 660 430 - 1470 -
240 666 UCLA 3.84 4.13 670 720 600 1990 -
112 976 UCLA 3.84 4.69 670 630 580 - 2100 -
107 930 UCLA 3.84 4.42 580 800 740 1380 2120 29
96 882 UCLA 3.84 4.67 670 740 740 1410 2150 -
170 625 UCLA 3.83 4.68 550 690 670 - 1910 33
204 762 UCLA 3.83 4.53 510 650 590 - 1750 -
117 734 UCLA 3.83 4.63 690 710 680 1400 2080 34
121 1009 UCLA 3.82 4.67 650 700 720 1350 2070 29
189 856 UCLA 3.82 4.07 600 630 600 - 1830 -
161 985 UCLA 3.82 4.49 610 680 650 - 1940 -
129 852 UCLA 3.82 4.50 670 740 700 - 2050 -
81 905 UCLA 3.81 4.68 780 800 710 1580 2290 -
150 540 UCLA 3.81 4.21 620 640 720 1260 1980 -
147 612 UCLA 3.81 4.44 610 740 650 1350 2000 31
125 1008 UCLA 3.80 4.65 630 750 680 - 2060 32
105 887 UCLA 3.80 4.28 700 760 670 1460 2130 -</p>

<p>So from this one excellent hs with ~ 500 graduates, UCLA rejected 36 with high scores and 45 with high uw gpas, with some having the obvious mismatch of grades and scores.</p>

<p>I don’t think UCLA engages in the Tufts Syndrome, or whatevr people here on CC refer to the rejection of high-stats students to artifically pump up its image (along with it knowing it has no chance with these students)…which Princeton used to do wrt those students it knew it had no chance with in competition with Yale and Harvard…because UCLA genuinely, legitimately tries to diversify its incoming class wrt race and economic background, sacrificing high admissions and selectivity wrt these students…in other words, get out your sob stories if you don’t meet the normal criteria, even if you are from a wealthy background; think of some hook that might grab a reader’s attention… … so with all this it’s easy to see why many people would be impressed. </p>

<p>BayParent, or whatever his or her name is, said his/her child was rejected by UCLA and was accepted to Yale and is attending. So occasionally even among the truly elite students, there might be some of the, “How did you get accepted to UCLA when I didn’t and am now attending (insert elite college name)?” This is always followed up with, “UCLA wasn’t my first choice anyway,” which is probably true in these cases.</p>

<p>Here are the accepted students who matriculated at UCLA from this hs:</p>

<p>1 559 UCLA 3.49 3.69 560 490 650 - 1700 - Accepted X
2 669 UCLA 3.55 4.30 740 700 800 1440 2240 - Accepted X
3 990 UCLA 3.62 4.24 680 740 670 1420 2090 - Accepted X
4 939 UCLA 3.70 4.48 600 690 730 1290 2020 - Accepted X
5 605 UCLA 3.73 4.48 650 780 690 1430 2120 - Accepted X
6 587 UCLA 3.77 4.57 700 730 770 1430 2200 - Accepted X
7 957 UCLA 3.77 4.62 620 750 750 - 2070 - Accepted X
8 967 UCLA 3.80 4.73 - - - - - 32 Accepted X
9 958 UCLA 3.81 4.66 720 760 690 - 2110 - Accepted X
10 999 UCLA 3.82 4.64 670 740 760 1410 2170 - Accepted X
11 952 UCLA 3.85 4.70 630 720 700 1350 2050 - Accepted X
12 778 UCLA 3.88 4.78 680 680 650 1360 2010 - Accepted X
13 644 UCLA 3.88 4.68 670 760 670 1430 2100 33 Accepted X
14 844 UCLA 3.91 4.56 590 770 760 1360 2120 33 Accepted X
15 834 UCLA 3.93 4.65 670 740 680 1410 2090 - Accepted X
16 750 UCLA 3.95 4.75 630 750 620 1380 2000 - Accepted X
17 956 UCLA 3.96 4.76 700 640 640 1340 1980 33 Accepted X
18 904 UCLA 3.96 4.66 600 750 710 1350 2060 32 Accepted X
19 566 UCLA 3.96 4.61 800 760 780 1560 2340 - Accepted X
20 603 UCLA 3.98 4.88 740 740 720 1480 2200 - Accepted X
21 793 UCLA 4.00 4.80 630 680 630 1310 1940 32 Accepted X
22 821 UCLA 4.00 4.77 650 770 750 - 2110 - Accepted X</p>

<p>The 32, 33 scores are ACT’s, which reflect high scores and for which were good replacements in some cases for lower corresponding SAT’s.</p>

<p>Applicant 1, was probably an athlete. Good average stats: 3.83/4.59/2082, but definitely some leap-frogging by some over those with lower stats. I have no idea what it takes to get into UCLA stat-wise, but the u does reject some with higher stats, and not all high-stat rejections are to the e school.</p>

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<p>Excellent link, beyphy, in your post #18 showing professor salaries. I’m sure UCLA has to add a premium over Cal because it’s in arguably the most expensive real estate on the planet. Still there are undoubtedly some effects of a brain-drain for UCLA because of the cost of this housing. East Bay where Berkeley is cheaper and where the land flattens out to the Bay is probably even considered poor. Students, though, would rather attend UCLA over Cal because of LA and the immediate area being nicer.</p>

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<p>@overachiever. </p>

<p>I’m pretty sad when reading over this thread. Mostly cause I’m glad I’m going to UCLA. I never thought i would get accepted. I don’t have a 2000 SAT Score. I don’t have an extremely high GPA. I was freaken jumping in joy! I’ll be joining UCLA this fall and i’m already excited for orientation. What made me sad was that I might be meeting someone like you who is bashing UCLA. Which is why, I truly hope that I’ll never find out who you are.</p>

<p>Btw, referring to what happened to your friend. UCI isn’t a horrible school. It is still a well established University with great professors. GPA is still GPA, you can’t slide by UCI and earn a 3.9. You still have to work for it. You can’t expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter.</p>

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<p>Couple of corrections:</p>

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<p>And WorriedJrGirl, I wouldn’t put myself down for having a ‘low’ score and grades. I wanted to see how much below 2000 you scored and saw that you scored a 30 ACT, which corresponds to ~ 2000 SAT or slightly > based on history of the history of score(r)s who took both… and these 4.5+ gpas are final senior grades. PVP has A LOT of AP/Honors.</p>

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<p>forgot about my act score. So ok ya my mistake. 4.0 gpa senior year. Still hoping i won’t meet overachiever.</p>

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<p>@WorriedJrGirl</p>

<p>I have a feeling we have a bff future ahead of us, and I can’t wait for school to start… LOL JK. But don’t worry, most UCLA students who dislike their school only badmouth it to their close friends, on the internet, or they just get over it and become a true bruin. I’m hoping I’ll get into the latter group within a year.</p>

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<p>Really stupid thread. Especially considering the fact that the school’s reputation is largely based on how good their graduate departments are. For undergrads, any decent school (UCLA, UCI, UCB, Harvard, Yale, etc.) is going to be the same for the most part, and your education will depend on how much you put into it. Look at the faculty pages in your respective department. I’d say over 80% of them come from the same schools (Ivy and top UCs for Liberal Arts, MIT/Cal Tech/Ivy for Sciences).</p>

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<p>This is the dumbest thread ive ever seen on cc</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s a dumb thread, thinkgolden.</p>

<p>And the OP, binks09, was stating instances when he or she ran across regular people, eg, a friend of family, et al, who’ve been impressed that he/she attended UCLA. Rankings of u departments don’t have a consideration in this thread. </p>

<p>I wasn’t real crazy about the condescending tone towards UCLA, eg, ‘it’s only … UCLA.’ </p>

<p>But this is true probably of students from all across the nation. I’m sure Harvard students become insensate, become desensitized, towards taht u’s ultra-prestige the longer they attend u there, along with a lot of them complaining about the education they’re receiving, which has been noted several times in surveys.</p>

<p>I’m sure binks will get his/her feeling of accomplishment back a few years after he/she graduates from UCLA. But being in the midst of the u, in the pit … in the routine, it seems fairly common or commonplace at the time. From a distance, though, it always looks better. Once he/she distances him/herself from UCLA, it will look like an incredible accomplishment.</p>

<p>And those who have kids who’ve been denied from UCLA, and hadn’t had a chance to experience the school wouldn’t have these same feelings from the very top students down to the regular kids who attend high school the C+ to B students, about 80% of which have been denied (the rate of denial is higher for in-state students).</p>

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<p>I’m with Razi that this is probably the stupidest thread ever made. High schoolers are really immature man…</p>

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<p>It’s the name. A few days at my local hometown community college has taught me more than a 10 week course (same subject) at UCLA. UCLA brings you the name and the connections opportunity-wise, but sometimes not necessarily any higher quality instruction than you’d find at a local cc.</p>

<p>That being said, it does have some good courses. But UCLA in itself is not the guarantee of quality.</p>

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<p>UCLA is a pretty great school, but I agree it’s not something to go berserk about. </p>

<p>And it depends on what you grade it on. Quality of undergraduate? Go look at the decision thread for Harvard. It’s scary. </p>

<p>(although you can all ignore me because I’m not going to UCLA even though I was accepted)</p>

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UCLA is the best university in the world if your looking for the best overall college experience. You can’t beat it. The only reason why people argue that the Ivies are better is because they have lower acceptance rates. UCLA has an obligation as a public university to accept more students. The grading is also tougher at UCLA compared to the Ivies. The Ivies have been known to have grade inflation and end up with higher graduating GPAs, around a 3.4. The average GPA at UCLA is a 2.8 and that is because UCLA does not have grade inflation like the Ivies.

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I would agree with @DaveUCLA about the tougher grading. There have been reports about the hardest finals in the nation, and UCLA ranks 2nd (behind BU). The quarter system is tough, and if even if you do manage to keep up with the pace, EVERYONE is studying their asses off for finals.

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Also, I would like to add that, yes, UCLA is an overhyped name. I’m a to-be-sophomore ('19) and I found that UCLA isn’t all that great in terms of athletics, academics, or basically anything else (other than the weather and the beauty of the campus, which are great) as of today. Perhaps back in the golden age with Wooden, we won plenty of NCAA Championships, and the academic name may be out there in recruiter’s minds, but I find the academic situation to be a bit lackluster. The fact that the institution is public also doesn’t help with the administration’s rep.