<p>I really like UCLA, but my parents have a few concerns about the size of the school. I want a fairly big school, but they worry that I'll just be another number at UCLA. Has anyone really felt that way? Is it hard to have to compete when registering for the classes you want?</p>
<p>if you have the chance to go to ucla dont for one second hesitate</p>
<p>registration is a major PITA (especially for a first year) but no one ever died from having to waitlist or take a 2nd choice class once or twice. and it makes earning early registration with honors/seniority feel that much better once you attain it. </p>
<p>i think the size of the school is a selling point. it's big enough that there's a niche for everyone and it makes it possible for you to carve out whatever kind of college experience you desire. </p>
<p>i never felt like a number- even in large lecture classes- because i made a point to personalize my education by going to office hours/ taking small seminars/ doing ECs/ etc. it doesn't really matter if your school has 4000 people or 40000- if you don't put effort into your experience you can't really expect much back from the institution.</p>
<p>^^ agree w;/ allie.</p>
<p>UCSB Trojan? lol</p>
<p>ditto allie (and yay she came back!)</p>
<p>you're only a number if you let yourself be. what i love about UCLA is that you can always discover something new, no matter how long you've been there. a small school will feel constricting after a while, in my opinion. UCLA is always growing and changing, and while it's not always for the better, it means it never gets boring.</p>
<p>"you can change without growing, but you can't grow without change."</p>
<p>welcome back allie. and like everyone said it's only a number if you let yourself be. there's a million ways to get involved, theres no right or wrong way.</p>
<p>It's really big, but then again so is any Public University and that is part of the appeal of UCLA or Cal-they're gigantic.</p>
<p>Yes, size does matter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
is part of the appeal of UCLA or Cal
[/quote]
or the complete ****ing opposite. i have a love/hate relationship with the school. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^^ As you do with most things in life</p>
<p>Go to office hours, participate in discussions, sit in the front of the lecture. It doesn't seem so big when you take an active role.</p>
<p>And then signups come and yours is on the last possible day, and that lab you really needed is full, and so is its waitlist.</p>
<p>you are just another number at any college...if you think that college is anything other than the administration trying to milk out of you as much money as they can then you are mistaken.</p>
<p>liyana179 hit it right on the head.</p>
<p>i don't know why everyone worries about the large population. i actually love it and agree that it's a selling point. it makes the campus such a dynamic place, and yeah, you'll meet all sorts of people. large classes are not so bad at all, and once you get into upper division, it gets fairly small. and it's not just large public universities that have em. my friends at harvard and other ivy league schools have had pretty large size classes in their intro courses.</p>
<p>as for registering for classes, there are a few that are hard to get into, like those easy ge classes taught by really engaging professors. but once you reach a certain class standing, it's pretty hard NOT to get the classes you want. in general, i don't really think it's worth worrying about.</p>
<p>i came in hesitating b/c i thought ucla was too big in the first place, but i think it's all good. it's comforting to see a significant amount of familiar faces around the res halls and on campus. depends how much you get around. and if u take initiative to go to office hours and sit in the front of lecture, professors would likely know your name. :) well, this is all based off of my experience.</p>