to be a Trojan or a Bruin???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>AHH! Okay I have had my heart set on going to UCLA after being accepted, but I got my acceptance letter from USC today and now I'm having trouble deciding. (I have a month or so to decide I know but still) Is anybody having trouble making the same decision? What do you all think is the better choice? I'll give some information about myself and what I'm interested in studying. </p>

<p>UCLA- I applied as a Poli-Sci major
Pros:
* Got accepted with honors
* I <em>LOVE</em> the area (have not yet seen the campus, but have heard great things)
* I'm really interested in having crazy-big school experience esp. coming from a very tiny private all girls school.
* Prestige factor (UCLA is so world-renowned!)
* MUCH cheaper tuition (it'd be cheaper than my high school) </p>

<p>Cons:
* I don't know if I'd like just being considered a number
* I'm worried about getting into the classes I want
* I won't be able to double major or minor in Theater, because you have to be fully a part of the separate school and audition for freshman year.
* Is it as liberal as Berkeley?</p>

<p>USC- I got accepted to the Annenberg School as a Communications major
Pros:
* The whole "Trojan Family" Network thing (my dad is a Business school alum, and says this is extremely important aspect of the school)
* More individualized attention, while still being a big school
* Easier options in terms of double majors and minoring in the fields I'm interested in (International Relations, BA in Theater)
* Easy to get into the classes you want </p>

<p>Cons:
* Not too fond of the area it's in
* I'm worried it might have too much of the same "so-cal private school" feel as my HS even though it'd be co-ed, pretty diverse, and a lot bigger
* I didn't apply by the scholarship deadline, so my parents would have to pay full tuition
* I've heard too many things about the absolute dominance of Greek Life in terms of social atmosphere.</p>

<p>Personal qualities: I'm a pretty social person, but I like to float around and not be in cliques, which is why I don't know if I'd like being in a sorority. I'm not into heavy drinking. I am interested in a crazy variety of things namely, politics, theater, and public relations. I like college football, but I'm definitely not a fanatic? I like to participate actively in classes and be in a school where most students are up for very intellectual conversations/political debates. </p>

<p>The only other school I'm waiting to hear from and would seriously consider is Claremont Mckenna. </p>

<p>okay so this a super long post and i feel selfish for taking up so much space, but if anybody has any insight to share or any opinions that'd be great! Thank you SOO much. I love CC!</p>

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<p>if you're posting in the UCLA section you know people are gonna say UCLA right?</p>

<p>so with that said.. id say go to UCLA</p>

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<p>i think that environment plays a big roll in your studies...i'm currently attending a community college right next to USC and I totally hate the area...it's so difficult to study around there, so I would recommend you go to UCLA...i have many friends down at UCLA, so I'm always down there...it's a wonderful place to get your education...</p>

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<p>"UCLA- I applied as a Poli-Sci major
Pros:
* Got accepted with honors"</p>

<p>This will give you priority registration, so you don't need to worry about not getting the classes you want as much. </p>

<p>"* I <em>LOVE</em> the area (have not yet seen the campus, but have heard great things)"</p>

<p>Take a campus visit. I had a friend who was really into USC, but after visiting UCLA, she couldn't decide! See for yourself (do come on a sunny day though, rainy days like today suck haha). </p>

<p>"* Prestige factor (UCLA is so world-renowned!)"</p>

<p>UCLA is much more of a national school. USC's bastion is.. well, southern california. But even in southern california, they compete equally for jobs, etc. </p>

<p>"* Is it as liberal as Berkeley?"</p>

<p>no. UCLA is liberal but i don't think it's a liberal standout. the political spectrum runs the gamut here though, IMO. </p>

<p>"Personal qualities: I'm a pretty social person, but I like to float around and not be in cliques, which is why I don't know if I'd like being in a sorority. I'm not into heavy drinking."</p>

<p>UCLA has a big greek scene too, although not as big as USC's. most UCLA kids are social, but again, you'll find all different types of people here. if you like to float around and not be in cliques, then i think UCLA would work better for you... at least it does for me. i'm exactly like that, and i love having the opportunity to be in a lot of different organizations. i'm sure it's possible at USC too, but the emphasis seems to be more concentrated on frat/sorority life. </p>

<p>"I am interested in a crazy variety of things namely, politics, theater, and public relations."</p>

<p>UCLA has that too... there's so much going on for politics and public relations out there, you're bound to see it when you're on campus as a student. as for theatre, although you might not be able to major in theatre, i'd like to think that you can still enjoy it, either by getting involved in plays or watching them. basically, if you want theatre opportunities, they are here. i'm not an expert on this topic though, so perhaps someone else can elaborate. </p>

<p>"I like college football, but I'm definitely not a fanatic?"</p>

<p>in general, there is a higher concentration of school pride at USC than at UCLA. that's not to say there's no school pride at UCLA-- there's a lot-- but USC football is definately more on the fanatic side. but anyway, since both schools offer football, both will suit your interest.</p>

<p>"I like to participate actively in classes and be in a school where most students are up for very intellectual conversations/political debates."</p>

<p>unforunately, you're not going to find this at many lower division discussion sections. upper division i don't know yet. if you're looking for debates, the bruin democrats and bruin republicans always host debates.</p>

<p>couple questions... i'm having trouble trying to identify what your career interests are. you seem to have many potential majors, but what do you want to ultimately do? perhaps that can help you better answer which school is better for you. also, do you come from an all-girls school? if you do, what did you think about it? how do you envision college life for you at this moment?</p>

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<p>haha my career interests are all over the place. I basically want to do anything where I can combine my loves for performing and talking, especially in front of lots of people. Acting, public service, foreign service, broadcast journalism, PR stuff etc... </p>

<p>needless to say i'm confused! i have lots of visions, but no clear cut plans. for now i just want to focus on having a good time in college: meeting lots people, grow as a person, gain independence, learn everything I possibly can and want to about the world, and worry about my career and stuff later. Since I don't plan on going into something like law or medicine, I know that whatever I study in college (esp. undergrad) won't have to determine what I do afterward. I do take college seriously though, I really want to be content with my home for the next four years.</p>

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<p>haha yes i would definitely join the Bruin Republicans.</p>

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<p>To be a prophylactic or a ravenous bear?! Hmmm let me think about that. ;)</p>

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<p>LOL! great now nobody is going to take this post seriously. haha</p>

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<p>I would seriously go with UCLA. I got into USC also, but just with the tuition being much more reasonable UCLA is a much better choice. Also, honors students get first choice. In the end, the decision is yours...Where do you want to spend the next 4 years of your life?</p>

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<p>Well, I spent some time at USC and it's a pretty cool place. The people weren't drunk at the time, and for the most part they were very friendly and social, and some were even incredibly funny.</p>

<p>I haven't spent any time at UCLA, but damn, it's a nice place and probably a better school. A lot more people, though, a lot more competition. Right now, I definitely prefer it even though I haven't properly visited. But I know for a fact that USC is a great place to be, good food, nice campus, and it's really the true college experience. UCLA is probably the same way.</p>

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<p>UCLA - the campus atmosphere, as well as the physical structure itself, is more open than USC's. Plus, with Honors you won't have to worry as much about not being able to register for classes. Set foot on the campuses of both schools and see if you can tell the difference.</p>

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<p>well, i was somewhat in a similar situation... for me, USC's price was a huge turn off, even though i got a $11500 grant. i personally felt that USC's campus was okay, although the students do seem to be a lot more relaxed and are socializing (students at ucla tend to be walking from class to class). while i was at the financial aid office though, i had my brother walk around campus and report back to me what he heard. he heard 2 guys talking about how long their rotation of clothing is. i took that as a sign of snobbiness and that turned me off-- but maybe this was just an isolated incident. </p>

<p>then i set foot on UCLA's campus and there was no turning back =)</p>

<p>in any case, i highly suggest visiting both campuses, perhaps "fit" will play a role in your decision. for me, i felt right at home at UCLA, and i didn't get the same feeling at any of the other campuses that i visited. </p>

<p>for your career interests though, it seems annenberg and usc in general might suit them better. communications is versatile and like you said, you can do something with international relations. </p>

<p>i think your personality could fit at both schools, but UCLA seems more of a match there than USC. but one can't really tell from CC costs... definately visit the campus and experience first-hand whether or not it is a fit.</p>

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<p>omg, i have the same problem! i really wanna go to school in LA, and i can't decide! i totally wanted to go to USC and i was there for two days and stuff and i was like, this is awesome. </p>

<p>but then, i went to see the UCLA campus, and it's soooooooooooo gorgeous. it's more "open" and green and shady and pretty. i absolutely LOVED IT!!!!!</p>

<p>i wanna do a "serious" major and do fun minor, like maybe musical theater or something, and i think in USC it's easier to do that than at UCLA. also, i think the class sizes at USC are better and they care more about their undergrads. but UCLA is so much prettier and the environment is much nicer. the environment around USC is...well...rather drabby. in fact, it's pretty much downright disgusting. the environment around UCLA is so nice. the houses are clean and pretty and the lawns are green and it just feels safer.</p>

<p>sorry, i was just rambling and i haven't said anything to make your decision easier. but maybe you'll feel better now knowing you're not the only one having this dilemma.</p>

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<p>hmm, you're posting this in the UCLA forum, don't you want an unbiased opinion?</p>

<p>USC forum: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=401%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=401&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>USC Greek Life info: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42642%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42642&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

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<p>pixiedanzer: How did you know you were accepted WITH honors?</p>

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<p>yeah i guess i should rephrase that. i was not accepted "with" anything, but i qualify for and got invited to the honors program orientation. Thanks you guys for all your opinions :)!</p>

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<p>I have the same problem too! I have visited UCLA and USC and they both look amazing. However I'm afraid that if I attend UCLA I will become another #.</p>

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<p>If being around a lot of smart people is appealing to you, don't go to USC. Everyone there is very average, or at least they appear that way.</p>

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<p>What if you're in Thematic Option?</p>

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<p>Well, I chose USC 2 years ago, but I've applied to transfer to UCLA and UCB and will probably go to which ever one takes me. I wasn't sure if I should post this at all because I'm paranoid that some admissions officer is going to read this in the next month and reject me for some reason because I'm sure they can figure out who I am, but I wrote this damn much when I should be sleeping so up it's going. (Don't hold anything against me; I swear I'm the perfect candidate ;)) Why UCLA? It's not because I don't like the education I'm getting at USC--I'm in engineering and I think they do a pretty good job of TEACHING you what you need to know, of course I don't have anything to compare it to right now. Although I must say, it hasn't been the most challenging experience. I've managed to be in the top 5 (5, not 5 percent) of many of the classes I've taken (first in at least one), and I've taken some senior-level classes even as a sophomore. They also have a ton of very interesting classes and programs, e.g. I'm doing a music recording minor and I'm considering adding video game programming as another. It's also not because UCLA is any more expensive because I have a half-tuition scholarship at USC. I also have to admit it was pretty cool winning TWO national championships in a row in the one and only important college sport, but I wasn't exactly partying like crazy for reason you'll see below.</p>

<p>The big problems for me are the location and the social life. I love L.A. However, I don't love South L.A. True, crime happens in Westwood too, it happens in every city, but let's face it, it's definitely worse at USC especially if you're considering violent crimes or at least crimes committed with the threat of violence. I've never had a crime committed against me in person (one ****-for-brains broke the side mirrors off my car when I wasn't there though), but I think I was about to be mugged once by some underage kids (they were trying to get me to take out my wallet and one kid was fishing around in his pocket for something that I assumed was going to be a knife, but he didn't take out anything and they took off). In fact, I moved to West Hollywood after the first year and this is where I'm staying if UCLA and UCB reject me even with the 30 minute each way commute (UCLA is about 15 minutes). During the day it is not bad, but at night, well let's just say I'd rather be armed walking around alone.</p>

<p>As for the social life, I'm a pretty introverted individual who doesn't make new friends too easily. I think I'm a likable person once people get to know me and I enjoy having a good time in many ways, but add that to the fact that I hated my freshman dorm and some of the people in it (I simply don't like a lot of the student body, in particular the masses of stereotypical socal snow- surf- and skate- boarders. If you are a *boarder, more power to you. I'm also not sure if this would be much different at UCLA.) and I'm now a commuter, I have ZERO social life. I'd consider joining a frat just to fix this even though I don't like the whole frat boy mentality. But I don't want to live in the house because I want to stay in West Hollywood, so I guess that's not going to happen either. I don't study all that much either, so that's not the problem.</p>

<p>Most of the engineers I've talked to are not, in fact, in frats. But there's really nothing else to do immediately near campus other than go to frat parties. A car or car access at the minimum is important in my opinion, this is, after all, LA. That's another thing USC does well, it's not too difficult to get a parking spot while it sounds like a pain at UCLA if you're not a carpooler, don't commute from far away, and don't have a job or other offcampus obligation. (But then again your car is a lot less safe in USC parking.) It's difficult but not impossible to find unmetered street parking around Westwood; you just might have to do some walking. If I absolutely could not have a car either way, I would definitely go to UCLA. You CAN take the bus mostly anywhere in LA proper from both schools, but even that is going to be a much better experience at UCLA simply because waiting for a bus is a much better experience in West LA than in South LA, and wait you will. In general (I've ridden the bus when my car was out of commission and when I didn't want to pay $10 a day for parking at the airport), LA public transportation is better than most people give it credit. I've never had any particularly disturbing fellow passengers and it will get you where you're going.</p>

<p>Honestly the UCLA campus doesn't do a whole lot for me (I think Berkeley and Stanford have it beat. Too bad they didn't actually build it IN the mountains, now that would be interesting.), however I have to say something: the people riding bikes on USC's campus drive me absolutely crazy. They ride on the sidewalk even though there are wide paved streets, don't pay any attention to intersections or pedestrians, and leave their bikes parked all over the place. (I think some bus and truck drivers should also pretend there aren't any stop signs and run them over. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more with the way some people drive.) UCLA is not nearly as much of a bike place because it is hilly. If you are going to be one of these biking idiots, USC's campus is more convenient (but for my sake if the UCs reject me, don't be one), if you like walking, UCLA is better unless you don't like walking on hills but then you're screwed anyway because you can't ride a bike either. Also, Westwood Village is overrated in my opinion. The writers for the Daily Bruin newspaper love to complain about it too. It's got too many overpriced restaurants and stores you'd find in any mall, strip or otherwise. I think West Hollywood is a lot more interesting. That said, it's still got USC's University Village beat easily.</p>

<p>So anyway, I'm looking for a more balanced experience at UCLA or UCB. Most likely you won't be in the same situation, but if you compare the differences between you and me you might find an answer.</p>