<p>People have such wild misconceptions about life here at UCLA. It is a great area but its NOT a walk in the park. I haven’t seen sunlight for two weeks, I’ve been studying nonstop. While Stanford is the more prestigious school, it simply means that their faculty are producing better research, etc. It does NOT mean the classes are going to dramatically (or even noticeably) vary in difficulty. </p>
<p>That being said, it should merely be a financial consideration for you. If you are considering using your engineering background to enter consulting,banking, or finance, then Stanford is a must. For other purposes such as going to graduate school or getting an engineering job, it may not be worth it. But that really depends on how much $$ you have on hand.</p>