You mentioned UCLA in your post. Granted, this was 20 yr ago, but my sister went to UCLA. Certain things about LA haven’t changed much since then, so here’s a few general things about life in LA:
LA is a car-based town. Every student on campus wants to have a car, but that isn’t possible. Many of my sister’s classmates were from the So Cal area and they would lie and say that their address was their parents’ address 60 miles away so they could get a parking permit…even though they were actually living next to campus in an apartment with 2-3 other people in a small 1 bedroom apartment.
UCLA is no different than some other large universities in that some majors are impacted and if you aren’t smart about it, then it could take you 5 years to graduate instead of 4. So just be aware of that.
Football games at the time 20 yr ago were in Pasadena. That’s like an hour’s drive away from campus. So make friends with somebody with a car or hope & pray you can find a ride to the big football games.
That being said, my sister really loved UCLA. It costs an arm and a leg to go there if you’re an OOS (out of state) student and there are like ZERO scholarships for OOS students.