<p>Go with your instincts, you did say UCLA is your dream school. Go where you will be happy, and being away from home isn't always such a bad thing.</p>
<p>UCLA certainly has a lot of prestige itself. It's known national and international, and it's just as prestigious as Cal in SoCal (I can't speak for NorCal)</p>
<p>Of course Cal is more prestigious in NoCal. Berkeley's pretty much more prestigious than UCLA everywhere outside of SoCal (where it's about tied because of the massive amount of people from SoCal who apply to UCLA). Of course, it's only by a small margin.</p>
<p>ev01ut10nDT, in response to your original post about your English being poor, your writing is perfectly fine. I'm no English teacher, but I honestly think your writing flows really well. </p>
<p>I don't have any additional insights for you, but good luck with your decision. I think most will agree that you will be happy wherever you end up.</p>
<p>The point of college isn't to get good grades, it's to present yourself with a challenge. Who's to say you can't pull a 4.0 at Berkeley?</p>
<p>I'd say go with your gut. Do what YOU want to do.</p>
<p>The difference in prestige between Berkeley vs. UCLA is really minor and basically insignificant. Berkeley gets ranked higher in national rankings, but the difference is very small and almost meaningless so I wouldn't pay attention to it as a major factor.</p>
<p>The fact that your mom is trying to guilt trip you into going to Berkeley might be a deciding factor one way or another. It depends how you react to it. Personally at your age I wish I had chosen to move away because of factors like that instead of being so under my parent's thumb. Not that it ruined my life or anything, but I would've enjoyed being more independant. But some people like being around familiar friends and are comfortable where they are, so it depends on your personality.</p>
<p>The spring 2007 admission is also a bit wierd, though I don't think you'd have that much trouble getting UC Extension classes if you wanted them. I haven't heard the best things about those classes from some of my co-students who took some before grad school, but don't really know personally. The difficulties caused by the admission time frame might be another factor in helping you decide (and you could probably sell those to your mom more than the "I want to get out of Nor.Cal factor" or the "UCLA is really cool factor").</p>
<p>From what you said i'm seeing that you want to go to UCLA and it's easier in scheduling for you to do so. It seems to me that you sorta know what you want to do, but you're being influenced by your mom/family. I'd say listen to yourself. You have to live with your decision for longer and more intimately than your family does, so do what you think will make you happy.</p>
<p>Having said all that I really, really like Berkeley much more than I like UCLA for <em>my own</em> personality and it's definitely a great school with lots of excitement. I'm not sure if I'd feel the same if I was originally from Nor.Cal, though. If I was from here it might seem sorta old and familiar and unexciting.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, my friends who did undergrad at UCLA loved it. Either way I don't think it will ruin your life, but do what's best for YOU, not someone else.</p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I guess I can say that im a Bruin now! (well, still have to send in my SIR and housing, but servers are closed till 6pm). Thanks for the help and advices that were crucial to my decisions.</p>
<p>And to the one whos deciding UCLA or Cal, go with the one you really like. I liked Cal until I visited it, so with SD. So go with your gut feeling to which you really like. The Winter admissions/spring admissions didnt stop some people I know from attending Cal.</p>
<p>ok, after lotsa thinkin...i have decided on cal for convenience as an undergrad and then ima transfer to somewhere farther for grad school
so for the fall semester, im just going to get an internship or a job and then ill be starting at cal for spring....thnx guys</p>
<p>ev01ut10nDT</p>
<p>if i would have had time to post, iw ould have suggested ucla. I think ucla comes in the middle between ucb and uci, and it offers great academics and a great location, i think ucla was a good choice. </p>
<p>one thing to note is that if you ever get lonely you can always visit your friends at uci, which i extremely doubt will happen because you'll make new friends at ucla!</p>
<p>"Many of you would think I'm nuts comparing these two schools."</p>
<p>You just answered your own question.</p>