Hello, I am new to this forum so I hope I am posting this thread in the right place.
I am from the UK and applying to University in UK this year after the summer, and I am applying for a History degree that allows me to take a year out abroad. LA is a place I have always wanted to go to and UCLA looks like an amazing college, so I wanted to know if LA as a city is good for students. I’m from London so I know how to handle myself around large cities and not afraid of the size, crime or pollution of LA. I just want to know if I would have good experience studying in LA for a year out.
Does your UK study abroad office guarantee you a sandwich/study abroad year at UCLA at all the universities you’ve considered?
Or do they include Occidental, Chapman, CPP, Pomona, Scripps… ie., Universities near LA but not in LA per se ?
The main issue will be transportation.
In addition, LA is terrific to explore (it’s like hundreds of city chunks and towns stitched together) but it’s expensive for students.
The only one in LA they include UCLA, my other choices include Miami, Penn State, Columbia ect. But UCLA stuck out for me. Its pretty much guarantee if I put it as my first choice, but it depends how popular the choice is.
I heard the traffic is bad in LA and car is the main use of transport, how do most people get around?
Over the years LA added a bunch of subway lines, but it mainly serves downtown LA, some sense urban areas, and some tourist spots. I’m sure there are buses that go to/from UCLA but by and large you need a car to get out of Westwood Village to go to most places. As mentioned above there are too many places to see/do.
UCLA is by far the #1 school in the country for number of applicants year in and year out.
As I’m applying through the year abroad program, competitiveness depends entirely on the study abroad program rather than the number of applicants to UCLA for full time study.
UCLA is great and you’ll love it. Housing is the BIG issue - if your program provides housing you are set. The thing to understand is the 60s song lyric “LA is a great big freeway” still holds - you need to get to places to enjoy the benefits of living here. So a car really helps but if you want to wing it without one, you can. Uber or the bus or your own two legs will get you down to the metro from campus and that will take you to the beach, or downtown. From downtown you can get metros to various other centers of fun or trains to go further abroad (Santa Barbara or San Diego). The train takes longer but - no traffic! Around town alternatives to cars are also common: you can bike, skateboard or get a motorbike. And if all else fails - Uber and Lyft are ubiquitous.
I transferred to UCLA as a junior and I live in the LA region. I’ve raised two now-adult kids who loved having so much to choose from “locally” - whatever you want to do, we’ve probably got it (with the above caveat about transportation). Our weather is superb except for summer which is too damned hot (so go home for summer), the air over by UCLA isn’t bad and you will have a great time as a student and a visitor.
The program does specify accommodation is included at all partner institutions but I do have to pay for it, luckily I can still get loans from the UK government to cover the cost for my time abroad.
I can’t even afford a car over here in the UK so I won’t be getting any rental over in LA that for sure. As a Londoner I am use to long walks, bus journeys and frequent trips on the metro so I will probably find it manageable around LA (hopefully).
I am hoping for good weather, especially as we don’t get much of it over here. I have never been to LA so I never experienced its weather, however I have family on the East Coast in Florida, NY, Pennsylvania so I have experienced some American weather, is LA any similar to those in terms of weather?
We have WAY better weather - and I’ve worked in Florida and went to school for 3 years in PA. There’s a reason the traffic, pollution and expense don’t scare that many people away from Los Angeles - we have about the mildest weather anywhere. 12 months a year you can wear shorts and a t-shirt. When it sprinkles people get all upset and run for winter jackets. Unlike the east coast we don’t have much humidity (the exception being today when we VERY oddly had a thunderstorm) and we never get snow.
I know Londoners walk a LOT - it’s different here. Our metro takes you from one section of the city to another but the “city” is massive - more of a series of towns crammed together. Imagine an area the size of greater London with only 4 lines of metros. And our bus system isn’t great either. The nice thing is UCLA is in a great part of town and many things will be within relatively easy reach. You will also make friends and many of those friends will have cars. Just be prepared that cost and transportation will be your major challenges. I am quite sure you can patch together a solution to make the best of your time here. You’ll definitely want to budget something for transportation and get an international driver’s license just in case - especially if you are here for breaks. There are some amazing road trips you won’t want want to miss - Zion, the Pacific Coast Highway and Yosemite to name a few. And there’s nothing more all-American than a road trip!
Just for comparison sake, the London Underground has 3x the number of miles of coverage and stations compared to LA. And serves 5 million people daily as opposed to 300k in LA. Walking, bus and Metro can get you to some places but you’ll find that with a city with such sprawl as the greater LA area, you’ll probably end up using Uber and Lyft more than anything.
Where UCLA is at is close to the ocean so the temperatures will be pretty nice most of the year. You go inland a bit and the temperature can go way up there in a hurry. Other than that the weather will be waaay better than on the East Coast, very little humidity, probably 70 degrees during Christmas time while everyone is freezing their butt off in New York and Pennsylvania. Housing is expensive but relatively speaking will be cheaper than up here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
UCLA isnt really in LA. It’s the Westwood area. As I’m fond of saying, ten minutes in one direction to the beach, ten minutes in the other direction to Beverly Hills. You may never actually hit downtown or do much freeway travelling. You’d take the bus to the beach or BH, on local roads.
Beautiful school, a self contained campus adjacent to mostly upscale Westwood Village. Fabulous place to land for one year. Glorious weather. Lots of international influences including British.
Of course, Columbia is a great opportunity, but different.
Yeah I’ve seen pictures of the campus and looks amazing, its also great being so close to Santa Monica. However I would like to venture out into LA also, especially as this is currently my only opportunity to visit the city.
It’s not “LA” as much as places in LA. Theater, tourist spots, museums, spread out. Parts of Hollywood. You make friends, someone else may have access to a car, or you Uber together. Downtown isnt like central London or Paris, that sort of compact. A lot is really the business center. You can save some $ and spend a few days in San Diego. Or fly to SF.
I suggest you look at a few travel sites. In all the years I lived there, as a grad student and then married, I don’t think DH and I went “downtown” much. Westwood, West LA, Santa Monica, Venice, or up the coast toward Malibu. Or Century City, BH. (Other than theatre.)
The ocean is beautiful and there’s lots in the communities there, the “west side,” for a student.
what to see in LA is different for a lot of people. Yes, for the first timer, maybe the usual tourist sports would suffice. For many UCLA students, Westwood Village is their world with maybe an excursion out to Beverly Hills and Hollywood, or to Santa Monica. But LA proper is fascinating. Koreatown is fascinating as is the small Japantown and Little Armenia. Downtown area around Staples Center is pretty neat, definitely revitalized. Chinatown isn’t really Chinatown anymore, that’s really in Monterey Park and the surrounding areas.
Places like Koreatown, the USC campus, Staples Center and Hollywood you can get relatively easily via Metro without a car. Maybe other places too. Unfortunately there are so many other places where the time difference between getting there by public transportation versus car will be too great.
I take it the social life must be good at UCLA and in LA? In the UK we can get into clubs and drink at 18, but obviously in the US you have to 21, so is it more about parties then?
Sometimes parties, sometimes the many activities that aren’t about drinking, at all. That’s true on many US campuses.
Some campuses do not monitor student drinking or only, say, in the open. It depends.
yeah I hope even though I’m underage I will still be able to get drinks in the States. Not that I am an alcoholic but drinking is a large part of the party lifestyle in the UK.
Around town alternatives to cars are also common: you can bike, skateboard or get a motorbike. And if all else fails - Uber and Lyft are ubiquitous.