<p>Hi there! :-)
I am a California community college student transferring next fall, so I'm working on applications now. I currently live in the LA area, so I'm mostly applying to local schools but keeping my options open applying to some other places as well. I am definitely applying to UCLA, UC Berkeley, Columbia School of General Studies, UPenn LPS, USC, Claremont-McKenna, Pitzer, several other UCs, CSUs, and Occidental as safeties... And thinking of applying to several liberal arts schools like Amherst and Oberlin. </p>
<p>My question is, assuming I get into UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia, would it be dumb to choose UCLA over the others? Though UC Berkeley is ranked better, how much of an advantage is it for UCLA to be in a bigger city with more museums and more of an art scene? And, how much of a disadvantage would I be putting myself at if I chose to stay on the West Coast rather than go to Columbia? (I am sort of tempted to stay in LA since I have friends and a life here, etc., but don't want to do that if I would be seriously jeopardizing my chances at getting into a good grad school and having a promising career.)</p>
<p>(I have a 3.8 from my current school, 3.6 if you factor in several other courses I took a long time ago at another school before I was dedicated to my studies. I am in the honors program at my CC and have been an officer in several clubs, done internships, etc... And hopefully my personal statements will be compelling. So I should have pretty good odds of getting into the UCs at least and most likely the other schools...) </p>
<p>If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for me, please chime in!
Thank you so much!</p>