<p>I agree with starbright. As a CSE major, you’re going to have to work hard at either school. If you go to UCLA thinking you don’t have to study much, you’re going to drown. Now that doesn’t mean that you won’t get to have some fun – it just means you need to be prepared to work hard and pull all-nighters when necessary.</p>
<p>As for the Stanford v. UCLA question, I think it depends on just how much debt you’ll need to take on at those schools. If you need to take on 30K more in debt at Stanford than at UCLA, I would choose UCLA. Of course, what muddies up the question is the current budget situation at the UC campuses. I’ve read rumors that the UCs may have to raise tuitions by 15% every year for the next few years. If that’s true, UCLA’s annual tuition could be over 20K by the time you’re in your final year.</p>