<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was accepted to Berkeley's engineering college as undeclared and UCLA's college of Letters & Sciences life sciences undeclared.</p>
<p>I am interested in engineering, but I'm not 100% sure that I want to major in engineering. I also plan on going to grad school, but I am not sure whether or not I want to continue engineering in grad school or try go to go med grad school.</p>
<p>Also my parents are suggesting that I go to UCLA because I live in SoCal and they think that having a 6 hour drive is too much of a hassle to choose Berkeley over UCLA.</p>
<p>So which school should I go to??</p>
<p>My son had a similar choice but he was accepted to Engineering Undeclared at both colleges. If you are seriously considering engineering, I would go to Berkeley because their engineering school is one of the best in the nation. Even if you change your mind and decide to do something in another college, you will still be getting a degree from one of the best public schools in the nation. If you think that engineering isn’t your thing, then I would go for the school with the best fit. They are both excellent universities. By the way, my son chose Berkeley and we live in South Orange County. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>What do you think about travel? How often did you use commercial airlines, if at all? </p>
<p>Was it difficult to transport luggage, etc whenever moving in/out of Berkeley?</p>
<p>He will be going in the fall. We are driving him up there to start. Then we will check things out. I’ve heard there is a train, but I’ve got to check that out. We may fly him home for Winter Break and Spring Break. I’m not sure yet. As to luggage, etc., we will have to deal with it when he moves out and when he moves in. That’s it. I figure people do it all the time going to colleges clear across the country. It can’t be that bad going 7 hours away. We will figure it out. Let’s put it this way. I don’t think it is a reason NOT to go to Berkeley. It’s all about one’s attitude and where there is a will, there’s a way. If you really want to go to Berkeley, go for it!</p>
<p>S is Berkeley 2014 and we live in San Diego. He has other friends from here that go to Cal and they have one friend who has a car and they car pool. Otherwise, if you plan ahead, Southwest has internet specials and you can fly roundtrip for $120. Find a friend with a car that lives in the same area code and share gas. Then there’s busses (ew) and the train. Good luck!</p>
<p>Deffffinitely Cal if you got into the School of Engineering. If you decide you don’t want to do engineering, you can ALWAYS (and very easily!) transfer into L&S. If you go to UCLA and decide you WANT to do engineering, you’re out of luck. Going from L&S to Engineering is much harder than the other way around.</p>
<p>I suggest you live a certain distance away from your hometown. If you live within 2hr, you’re living too close and you’re not getting the best of your college experience as the environment won’t truly be a new.</p>
<p>If I have luggage, I just load everything into a car and drive up. 6hr is really nothing. It may sound intimidating at first, but think about it this way: two hours per person split between three people. I’ve done up to multi-day drives totaling over 40hr before (coast-to-coast).</p>
<p>As for how I travel: I usually do Craigslist rideshare. Four people in a car, each with a small carry-on, and it’s usually around $25-$30 each way. Going through airport security, however, is too much of a hassle!</p>