<p>My friend got into UCLA but there is absolutely no way her parents can afford it. Tuition keeps going up and she also has a brother who will be going through college around the same time. She wants to go to law school and her brother wants to go to med school. Her brother is going to a college that gave him a nice merit scholarship. She refuses to talk to her parents right now and doesn't think anywhere else she got in is as good as UCLA (except Cal but she doesn't want to go there). This is probably true if it were a couple of years ago. However, California is bankrupt right now. Are there any SPECIFIC things you don't like about UCLA education-wise. Is it as hard to graduate in 4 years with a popular major as it is at Cal? Has the state economy affected education there in general?</p>
<p>If she’s planning to go to law school, tell her to go to an easier college with more grade inflation. Law school applications are pretty much all numbers based (LSAT + GPA), and the prestige of the undergraduate school is insignificant.</p>
<p>If her parents can’t afford UCLA OOS then the question is moot and there’s not much more for them to talk about - other than where she’ll actually go to college since they can’t afford UCLA.</p>
<p>Her mind is just SO SET on UCLA! I need some specifics to at least get her to talk to her parents again. I personally would NEVER pay 50,000+ for UCLA but I don’t really care much about weather and that type of social-life either. My personality would choose Boston University (which she also got into) before UCLA any day just because it’s closer to home and you don’t need a car to get places. </p>
<p>No, academics at UCLA has not significantly deteriorated from the economy but I would have to agree with ArkLogic. Tell her if she really wants to be a lawyer then it will be difficult to do so through UCLA. It’s a million times easier if she just went to BostonU.</p>
<p>Why is it easier through BU (other than the fact that she got some nice money there, but is there anything better opportunity-wise? money just won’t talk for her :()</p>
<p>It’s obviously easier to go prelaw at BU because it’s miles and miles easier than UCLA. Prelaw majors need to inflate their gpas to get into law school. There will probably be fewer opportunities at BU than UCLA but there will be far less competition for the fewer internship spots as well.</p>
<p>A lot of students from schools like UCLA or Cal wish they had gone to worse schools after a few years, my self included. With financial incentive BU is a perfect fit for her goals!</p>
<p>What other schools is she considering? Where is her brother going?</p>
<p>I know many people who like UCLA do like BU also. Probably because they’re both so big but to me they’re very different campus-wise. Did she get a scholarship there?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>would she be amenable to attending a two-year college in NY?</p></li>
<li><p>would she be amenable to attending a two-year community college in CA?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would only chance these two situations if she’s a really good student, and can enter a TAP program at the option 2. The oos tutition for this might be reasonable. </p>
<p>For the first, she would save even more boat-loads of money, and have to chance admissions from a two-year oos community college. I would chance this only if that cc is a very good one, along with her being able to maintain top-level grades. </p>
<p>There are a lot of international and oos students at Santa Monica College, and a most of them have UCLA as their deam college. And every year, SMC leads all ccs by a lot in students matriculating at UCLA. So this represents a side-door entry to the university, and if she can withstand the “I need four years of experience at UCLA,” this might be a way eventually to attend UCLA. Just a thought or two…</p>
I don’t think you really need to do anything since this topic should be between her and her parents. If what you say is true, that there’s no way her parents can afford UCLA (and how would ‘you’ actually know their exact financial situation anyway??), then she’s not going to be able to go - it’s as simple as that. UCLA won’t let her attend if the bills don’t get paid. If she chooses to continue to have her head in the sand and not discuss the subject intelligently then you’ll need to just let go of it. She’ll eventually have it hit home.</p>
<p>DO NOT CHOOSE UCLA. I had the exact same situation as your friend- last year, I was completely set on UCLA even though I got ZERO financial aid (besides loans), and my family couldn’t afford it. I still chose to go, thinking it would be OK to take out 35K in loans (the other 10-15K came through family savings), since this was all to go to a school I was so set on. </p>
<p>What’s my situation now? I’m transferring at the end of this year because its SO expensive (and it’s only getting worse). They raised fees by 32% last November! OOS tuition is higher than many private schools’ tuitions, but yet over here there are large classes (some are 400+) with hardly any personalized feel. Also, graduating in 4 years can be hard since you won’t always get the classes you want (too few classes, so many people). I think the academics are overrated. Go for a private school. Paying all 50K a year for UCLA may not seem like a big deal, but it will hit you once you turn in all the loan checks, realizing that its all money that you have to pay back later on.</p>
Those are unprestigious private schools. UCLA is in the average price range for a university of its caliber. We’re cheaper than USC. We’re cheaper than Georgetown. We’re cheaper than Notre Dame. Should I continue?</p>
<p>
This is completely untrue. Graduating in 4 years is very possible and the university is so confident that its doable that there are policies that deter delayed graduation. You may not always get the classes you want but you should always get the classes you need. And even in the rare occurrence you don’t you can always contact your respective department and request a PTE number. If there is enough demand, they will even open up extra sections.</p>
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This I will not argue with; but I believe that this is natural for a public university.</p>
<p>^ it’s true that the sticker price tuition for UCLA OOS may be cheaper than USC, but after finaid packages USC tends to be more affordable in the end…</p>
I want to drive a BMW but can’t afford it; I drive something cheaper instead. Did I mention I love beaches but sit on the sand at Dockweiler instead of in Tahiti? Look, your friend seems to have some belief that she is entitled to the same things anyone else might be getting. To be blunt (and perhaps rude) that is just childish; most of us lose that belief after around 2nd grade. Some other kid might have nicer toys, but I can’t just go up and take them or expect my parents to supply them. </p>
<p>Life isn’t fair. In a perfect world everyone accepted to a wonderful college is entitled to go there on someone else’s dime. And for lots of kids its true. Unfortunately for your friend it’s not.</p>
<p>So your friend could decide to go anyway, and load herself down with debt that will cripple her until she’s probably in her 40’s. Perhaps you’re thinking about an appeal to her parents to get them to spend $200K to stop her from acting miserable. Or… Or she could decide to make the most of what she does have and go to a college that makes financial sense for her. Live within her means, just like the rest of us have to do. </p>
<p>With the proper attitude she could rise to the top at some other school, get to know the profs so she gets good recs, get involved to make friends, etc. UCLA is a large impersonal place and she’d have to do that anyway at UCLA to make it a worthwhile experience. Your friend is delusional if she thinks that her life is magically going to be better if she has a UCLA diploma. There is much more variation in outcomes (getting into grad school, a good job, etc) within any university than there is between universities. Which means that some people will do great out of UCLA or Podunk U, some will do lousy. Draw 2 lines with the outcomes and they overlap for the most part. Meaning that the top 1/2 from Podunk are going to end up better than the bottom half from UCLA. But from what you’ve written your friend is stubborn and prefers to think the difference in her future depends on where she goes, not what she does when she’s there. You’re not going to change her mind…</p>
<p>“Those are unprestigious private schools. UCLA is in the average price range for a university of its caliber. We’re cheaper than USC. We’re cheaper than Georgetown. We’re cheaper than Notre Dame. Should I continue?”</p>
<p>Cost of Attendance at Harvard: 50,724
Cost of Attendance at UCLA: 52,561</p>
<p>Should I continue? That makes UCLA more expensive than Georgetown (51,466), Notre Dame (46,727), and USC (49,489). It also puts UCLA at 4th on this list for most expensive schools (the list includes most of the top 50 schools): </p>
<p>“This is completely untrue. Graduating in 4 years is very possible and the university is so confident that its doable that there are policies that deter delayed graduation. You may not always get the classes you want but you should always get the classes you need. And even in the rare occurrence you don’t you can always contact your respective department and request a PTE number. If there is enough demand, they will even open up extra sections.”</p>
<p>I’ll admit I exaggerated on this one. It isn’t HARD to graduate in 4 years, but it can be a pain to have to make your schedule work so that you can do so. It’s tricky. It is doable, but you might not get classes you want, and that can be pretty important in many cases.</p>