<p>It's not because of grades. I've just got back the midterm for my major course. I get a low B but it's fair, cuz I didn't have time to study throughly. However, I think I'd do a little bit better if I had someone to ask questions.
I went to tutorial every week and I didn't have a chance to ask even one question. I think I'm not aggressive enough to compete with other students for the TAs. These students are just selfish, they followed the TAs all the time. I asked a lot of people in my class and they are desparate just like me. Instead of understanding the methods of solving these problems, they just copy answers straight from the TAs' folders and memorize for the sake of exams. If they have old exams, they just try to memorize all the answers. (My professor use old exams again and again.) I don't think there's real learning in here.
I'm not the only one who regret choosing UCLA. I asked another girl and she said she'd rahter go to UCSC. She even feels worser than me. She told me when she was in the tutorial, a girl asked her if she knew how to do a problem, and she said no, then that girl said"Oh! You don't KNOW it?????" She feels Bruins are so mean and unfriendly. Luckily, I haven't encounter that kind of people yet. Anyway, even if these kind of people can make it to medical schools, they will only become doctors who don't care about their patients at all. </p>
<p>An alumni have already warned me you'll be just a number in there. Now, I truly feel it.</p>
<p>Don't let it get you down. Yes, there will be bad experiences at UCLA. But you know what you can do to change it?</p>
<p>Change it.</p>
<p>Speak up! The people that you deem as "selfish" are just doing what's rational: working hard to take advantage of all the resources they need to master the material. I know you have a more ideal image of what academic life should be, but unfortunately it's not always like that. It should be, but it isn't.</p>
<p>So be more assertive. Get tutoring. Ask people for help.</p>
<p>Yeah. Honestly, no one is going to come running to help you. If you're having a hard time in class, you need to be proactive about it and none of the whole "im not aggressive enough" stuff. At some point you need to become aggressive if you're ever going to get what you want, and that generally applies to everything in life. </p>
<p>I don't believe in the whole "you're just a number" thing and I think it's a seriously defeatist attitude. UCLA is like anything else- it will become what you make of it. So if you just go around day to day upset about your situation but not doing anything about it, of course UCLA will feel big and mean and impersonal. So other kids were all up on the TAs during office hours? Do that. Compete. If you let other people do better than you because you're afraid to look selfish or mean, then I suppose you're going to have to learn to deal with the outcome of that, which in this situation may be your resulting grades. </p>
<p>If you need someone to work closer with you, and it sounds like this is the case, don't hesitate to get a tutor. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to catch up. Keep going to office hours, but this time SAY SOMETHING and ignore everyone else. Seriously. It's not about being selfish and it's not about being mean and unfriendly. It's about doing what you need to do. The people in your class arent there to make friends- I'm sure if you were around the same people in a less competitive setting that you'd find them to be plenty friendly. But this just isn't about that, and I think you're writing people off prematurely.</p>
<p>lol. It's just...i don't think it's surprising that all of the successful people I know are at least somewhat aggressive. You HAVE TO BE in order to get what you want. Why would I let some stupid kid in class push me around only so I can get a crappy grade later? It doesn't make sense. I'd much rather someone call me "selfish" (and really...this is your life, your academic history....you're ALLOWED to be selfish) than to lose out constantly because gee, i can't stand up for myself and I don't want to speak up because I'm not a mean person. It's not about being selfish or being loud or being mean, it's about standing up for myself and getting what I deserve. </p>
<p>Shirley, I don't mean to make you feel bad. I'm just trying to make you see the effects of your letting people walk all over you. I'm not an advocate of people being doormats and it makes me sad. If you want something, then go get it. But don't blame the school and other students for your refusal to compete. You can keep on saying that you're not aggressive enough and saying that it's a flaw within the school itself, but in the end YOU'RE the only one who will suffer. The people you're calling mean and selfish will walk out with As. Why let them keep all the good grades for themselves?</p>
<p>Also, if you think this is exclusive to UCLA you'd be grossly mistaken. There are competitive people EVERYWHERE. That's life. There are even competitive people at Santa Cruz (truly). You can either cower in fear or speak negatively of people who get what they want, or you can be one of them.</p>
<p>Shirley, I'm new to UCLA also and I've noticed the types of people your talking about. At the midterm review session, there was this one girl who was practically glued to the TA and just wouldn't shut up, apparently oblivious to the fact that there were other students there. I had to struggle to get one or two questions in and even then, she kept talking. I got a B- on the midterm, which was bad enough, but it was worse seeing that other students had recieved Bs and B+'s on their exam. To be truthful, this university is more difficult than I though it would be and I've found that I need to be outspoken, hardworking and aggressive to get by. Otherwise (like the previous posters said), I will fail and achieve nothing. </p>
<p>Despite all this, you should be glad that you were admitted to UCLA and chose to attend this school. If the students are mean and greedy and if the work is hard, the superior education and the prestige of a UCLA diploma makes it all worth it. Also, the experiences you go through here will help to prepare you for the challenges of life, which is certainly far more of a struggle than anything you'll go through in higher education. In sum, we students are all extremely privileged and lucky that we get to study and be a part of this excellent institution; while most other people could only dream of being here.</p>
<p>aw. i really didn't mean to make shirley feel bad. i just think its important to accept a level of responsibility. if you're unhappy, do something about it. </p>
<p>Oh come one, the bRuins' football team isn't THAT BAD...</p>
<p>Hey, at least you're better than Furd.</p>
<p>And in all honestly, don't let one midterm screw you over. You guys are on quarter, and the faster class turnover enables students to have more chances to alter their GPA; whereas at Cal, in a semester class, if you royally screw up on one midterm, you're screwed the rest of the semester.</p>
<p>i am not re-applying per se. I asked for Cuny-Baruch to re-evaluate my application for Spring.... its prety much 99% that i will go there. ... unless by some weird weird strike of the powers that be they reject me.</p>
<p>If i do go there, i will be double majoring in finance/investments and accounting and doing their accelerated program with a MS in taxation. I should finish in 4 years... ........ so basiclly its one extra year versus ucla, but i get 2 bachelors and a masters.</p>
<p>The exam itself isn't hard at all and TAs graded "gracefully". I even got full credit for a problem I wrote "I don't know :(". lol My friend said w t f when she saw it cuz she was a few points lower than me. I think I didn't do well cuz I didn't have time to study. I wasted 5 hours per day on commuting during the first 2 weeks (You'd think I live in Vegas but I live in East LA)and that means I lost 60 hours to study, comparing with other on campus and off campus people. I woke up at 5 in the morning and returned home at 7 pm. It's longer than working. I was so tired that nearly ran over a pedestrian. I don't have time to study and find tutor at all. I couldn't find a place (roommates or apartments) in the whole August and early Semptember. Even house hunting is so competitive in here. There were a lot of applications before I sumbitted one. I've already raised my rent to a gram. LA is so unlivable. If I could find a place b4 school started, I'd do much better. Yes, I b<em>i</em>t_ch everything but that's true.</p>
<p>i feel what your feeling.. by the time you get home .. make some dinner... do some house junk... the day is gone and you have to sleep in order to wake up at 5 again...... LA does suck.</p>
<p>Every time i get on the 405 i am f-ing mad because i know its sucha waste to go wherever i am going.</p>
<p>Also, you have to have a big network in UCLA to get all the old exams, cuz profs use it again and again. Although I got some old exams but that's not enough. I saw people reading the question that appeared on this midterm.</p>