<p>I am asking because I am contemplating between UCLA and UC Davis for psychology. I plan to go to grad school and I hope to keep my GPA above a 3.85 + to be competitive for a PhD program.</p>
<p>Will it be easier to get a high GPA at UCLA or UC Davis? Also, will it be easier to get research positions at UCLA or UC Davis? I understand that undergrad prestige isnt really that important for grad school admissions. All they care about is your GPA, GRE test scores, Letters of Recommendation, Research experience, internships and field work. </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Psychology is one of the LEAST competitive majors at UCLA.</p>
<p>(This is despite the fact that psychology is extremely popular and UCLA offers one of the highest ranking Psych department in the nation.)</p>
<p>sentimentgx4- less competitive as in getting a good grade? So its less competitive than Molecular and Cellular Biology or any other bio majors?</p>
<p>MCB is really hard, I hear. It’s one of the most difficult majors offered at UCLA. Psychobiology is cited as the “easiest” pre-Med major. It is the easiest pre-med major to get a high GPA in. </p>
<p>Psychology, by itself, is rarely compared with MCB. Psychology is not a biology (or a very sciency) major. It’s more of a Social Science major with a really inflated GPA, like History. </p>
<p>You can pre-med with Psychology as well but you will have to make up the pre-med prerequisites separately if you do. Most pre-meds choose to major in Psychobiology instead for this reason.</p>
<p>inflated gpa as in, the round up your gpa?</p>
<p>Inflated GPA as in the mean/median GPA is very, very high. It’s common for a student to have a GPA of 3.6 and over.</p>
<p>oh ic. Are you a UCLA student?</p>
<p>One more question do you consider UCLA a party school like UCSB/SDSU/Chico State?</p>
<p>Parents are worried that UCLA is a party school like the three schools mentioned above.</p>
<p>UCLA is a “party school” for a good school.</p>
<p>UCLA parties hard for a school in the USNWR top 25 but we couldn’t really compete with UCSB or SDSU.</p>
<p>Im curious if UC Davis is less of a party school than UCLA</p>
<p>If anyone’s parents are really concerned about a school being a “party school” is over ridiculous. Every school will have a party scene if you try hard enough to find one. Some bigger than others. Even if you go to a party school, its not like they force you to go. You can be studious at a party school as well. Parents who worry about their child partying probably needs to stop watching the news, stop picturing parties as they are portrayed in American Pie, and cut the umbilical cord. A little bit of crack never hurt anyone. (jk obv)</p>
<p>To make an argument, it would probably be better for your GPA to attend a school that generally parties more since it means easier curves/distributions.</p>
<p>Psychology is probably the easiest major at UCLA.</p>
<p>My parents are concerned that If I end up going to UCLA, I will end up partying and not do my studies. They think that UCLA is much as a party school as UCSB or Chico State.</p>
<p>They say that UC Davis is not a party school where people just study all day and hang out in coffee shops or in the library, similar to UCSD or brigham young university.</p>
<p>They told me this because I have a cousin at my dads side who went far for college, to UCSB as a 22 year old and dropped out when he was 29 years old. He didnt know what to do in life and ended up being a dj in SB. Now, at 30, he is back home with parents trying to figure out what to do with his life. They are worried that if I go to UCLA, they think that I will end up like my cousin.</p>
<p>For financial aid, I am getting so much more in UCLA (22k) than Davis (14k)</p>
<p>Distance is not a factor but their concern is that I will loose the motivation to study once I am at UCLA. They say that If I am at UC Davis, they can check on me to see if I am studying or not.</p>
<p>I currently have a 3.8 + GPA, involved in numerous organizations in and out of my community college. My parents are proud of me doing all of these activities and maintaining a high academic record. </p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this? Thank you.</p>
<p>I am talking about psychology BA and it seems that my parents are one of those “tiger mom/dad” type of asian parents</p>
<p>It sounds like what your parents are looking for is not a “non-party” school but a school with a social scene as stale as possible. -.-</p>
<p>I think UCLA is probably the wiser decision in this instance because it’s offering you more money and your GPA would probably be similar to that of UC Davis for non-math/science majors.</p>
<p>more like UCSD :/</p>
<p>They say “study now, party once you graduate from school”</p>
<p>They are desiring for me to focus on studies and research work which they say is important for grad school</p>
<p>Seems really ignorant to base a school off of perception.</p>
<p>UCSD has a party scene too. Last week during Sungod was a big party week and seemed like a huge % of people were on some sort of drug or alcohol.</p>
<p>azngamer54-My older cousin told my parents that UCLA is a party school. She told my mom that when she attended parties in UCLA’s frat row and told them that “I had the best drinking experiences at UCLA parties and going to bars in Westwood and Beverly Hills and doing lots of kegstands and beerbongs” </p>
<p>Probably its not the social scene that my parents are worried about, it is the alcohol and drugs.</p>
<p>^As a UCLA student, I’m flattered by your cousin’s description of the university but I think that he/she might have possibly confused UCLA with USC as well.</p>
<p>UCLA does have a LOT of conservative Asians to balance it out so to compare it to the largely Caucasian+Hispanic student bodies of UC Santa Barbara or SDSU is really a misnomer.</p>