UCB or UCLA? Here's what I have to say.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>So this seems to be one of the biggest decisions for most people, especiall those FROM Cali. Here's what I have to say.</p>

<p>I got into all the UCs. I got into CMU, Cornell, GT, Washington, etc. I applied as an engineer.</p>

<p>Before I decided where to go I was biased towards UCLA. I wanted to go there. I'm from NorCal, and I wanted to see a new place. In the end, I chose Cal. Here's why.</p>

<p>I know, both schools are quite good. Look at US News. They're ranked quite closely in the overall rankings. But seriously, let's think about it. Those rankings mean jack crap. They aren't just a pure academics rating. They look at a bunch of other factors. If you compare academics alone, you'll see that Cal beats UCLA any day.</p>

<p>I researched Cal Engineering vs UCLA engineering. Compare the funding for both schools and you'll see a huge difference. Compare the faculty and you see top notch professors at Cal. UCLA has great professors too, but you see a lot more professors come from slightly lower schools. But in the end, where they come from doesn't determine how good of a lecturer they are.</p>

<p>Berkeley has a top notch reputation. No matter where you go in the world, they know about Berkeley. They will know about Berkeley before UCLA. The only people who even CARE about UCLA are instate applicants. Go around the US and tell them about UCLA, and they go uhh ok. To them it's just like getting into Georgia Tech or University of Washington Seattle. Washington and UCLA are about equal for engineering. All you people from Cali are like ***??? who cares about Washington. Ok, but that just shows UCLA is overhyped. It's not a SUPER school, but we treat it as some sort of heaven. That's why I stepped back and realized that I myself overhyped UCLA and overcame this 70-30 bias and chose Cal.</p>

<p>It doesn't matter where you go for undergrad. I hear that a lot, but that's only half true. Why do you think Ivy leagues are hyped? Why do you think top notch schools are hyped. Look at the faculty for Cal and look at the faculty for a lower school, say UCD. Look at where they come from. If you come from a no-name school do you think you can do research at Cal someday? Maybe, but your chances aren't going to be stellar or anything.</p>

<p>Berkeley is not as fun as LA? I'm sure LA is a huge area with lots of potential for fun. I mean even when I go visit my friends and walk Westwood, I think it's damn fun. However, Telegraph and its culture just kicks Westwood up the ass anyday. If there's not enough in Berkeley, take BART or a bus to SF. There's PLENTY around here. You can do anything in the Bay Area. We're a metropolis of 8 million people. That may not be as large as the LA metropolis, but you can do quite a bit in the 4th largest metropolis in the US I'm sure.</p>

<p>If you think UCLA is easier than Cal, it probably is. I know from taking CS61A at Cal that its far easier than CS31 at UCLA. If you're looking for the easy life, then maybe you want UCLA.</p>

<p>As for campus, I think UCLA is far more beautiful than Cal. When I visited Cal, Sproul Plaza was under construction and it was a mess. A lot of buildings are crowded here and they don't fill too well together. UCLA is just beautiful. Ok, the most beautiful campus I've ever seen so far is still StanFUrd, but UCLA is pretty damn nice. It's an elegant layout and its a pleasant place to walk around.</p>

<p>In the end, go where you want to go. An acceptance letter from Cal doesn't mean you're fit for this place. It's an invitation for you to come join and succeed with the best. The rest is up to you.</p>

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<p>* know from taking CS61A at Cal that its far easier than CS31 at UCLA.*</p>

<p>Ahhh. Good ol' CS31... how I miss those invigorating lectures with Prof. Smallberg... then the hellfest that was CS32 came along... never have I worked so hard for a C :(</p>

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<p>"The only people who even CARE about UCLA are instate applicants. "</p>

<p>Err..I admit that Cal engineering may be better than UCLA but I think you are over doing it a little by saying that the only people who care about UCLA are instate applicants. Honestly, I got accepted into UCLA from the Northeast. Over here, people are like "wow, you got into UCLA. whaaa? there's a UC Berkley? I thought Berkley was that music school." UCLA is also well known internationally even if cal may have a better name. Also, UCLA has a pretty darn good med. school. You hear about it all the time on the news. Let's also not forget that Anderson is ranked higher than Haas. I understand that having chosen cal...you may feel obligated to speak in favor of cal...but you have to give LA a chance too. While Cal may have a better rep than LA...LA is in no way invisible to the rest of the world. :) Sorry if I offended you...but this is the LA board afterall. ;)</p>

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<p>Yeah, UCLA is pretty well known throughout the US. If you remember Home Improvement, Brad got a soccer scholarship to UCLA and they had pretty high regards for the school (like he'd have no chance without soccer). Although he was a dumbass, so maybe it wasn't a good thing. Still, Berkeley is esteemed as high as some Ivies. No one calls it UCB, it's "Berkeley." The name alone sounds like it has Ivy on it.</p>

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<p>Anderson is ranked higher than Haas now? :eek:</p>

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<p>UCLA overseas:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=32621%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=32621&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>the cal name is better overseas (its like a "HYPSM" there) but UCLA has huge visability too, especially in asia. </p>

<p>haas is better than anderson actually.</p>

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<p>I would choose whichever school best serves the student's need in terms of social life, academics, and other personal factors.</p>

<p>Surely one can say that Berkeley is better than UCLA or UCLA is better than Berkeley, but whether one chooses to make the most of their four years at whichever university is the largest factor. One may attend the best university in the world, but if their attitude and personaltiy sucks, it's down hill from there.</p>

<p>After evaluating my own situation, I'm favoring Berkeley to spend the next 4 years. We'll have to see after my visit if I want to go or not.</p>

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<p>I'm with you eiffelguy. I don't even ask about social life anymore because it's not a quality of the school, it's a quality of the people, yourself in particular. I know people going to both schools that are talkative, outgoing people, so there's no shortage of them. If I choose to go to UCLA, it will be either because I fall in love with the campus and city, or I absolutely hate Berkeley. It's no longer about academics or social life, because that's a given. There's that intangible quality every school has that is different for everyone. I felt it at USC, but I didn't like it.</p>

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<p>The rankings do matter, many execs and companies utilize it as a recruiting measure for their jobs. Also the supposed "ease" of UCLA academics may actually be an advantage for many students as it will be easier to achieve a higher GPA and class ranking; obviously this is a crucial factor for prospective graduate students. But ultimately, the decision will come up to you after you have visited and thoroughly observed the campus yourself because it makes a world of difference experiencing it then hearing about it.</p>

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<p>yeah about that visibility in asia, did you guys see the article in the Bruin a few days ago about the 20 "UCLA" stores in Asia? I thought that was rather interesting.</p>

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<p>It is funny about those "UCLA" stores. Those people who purchased "UCLA" T-shirts didn't even know what UCLA was. They treat that as a typical brand.</p>

<p>Some time (~10 years) ago, some guys was promoting UCLA as one of top-10 American schools in China. When those foreign students came to U.S., they felt it laughable. However this testified that UCLA is popular in asian community.</p>

<p>It is alway beyond me why UCLA gets the reputation it doesn't deserve, especially here on CC. Probably the OP nailed it, this overhyping is only among Californian and its high school students, or some from other states. When you get out of college, you will feel laughable just to think that UCLA can hold Berkeley's jock, in real world, especially in academic world. This doesn't mean UCLA is a weak school, indeed it is a great school, and a geat bargain for Californian.</p>

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<p>I wore a UCLA t-shirt around Japan. Ppl didn't say anything. I wore my Cal football shirt around Taiwan. Wow. Some ppl actually knew what that was about =)</p>

<p>I'm not saying UCLA sucks or anything. It's a good school, but its probably overhyped. You can level it around schools like Washington or Georgia Tech or UT Austin. Those are schools that Californians could care less about, but when you compare programs, they're pretty close in quality. So why all the hype?</p>

<p>I also think that UCLA's social life may be great, but I think Berkeley's social life is undervalued. Most people who come to Cal don't nerd all day long. College of Engineering is only 2200 ppl or so. That's the same size as HSSEAS (UCLA's engineering school). So the rest is filled with normal people that you will find at LA too. There's plenty of social activities at Cal, and when you come here I guarantee you won't feel bored or deprived of anything from not going to LA. Ok, I can name one thing. Movie premieres. You can catch a glimpse of celebrities at LA once in a while like in Westwood at Fox Theaters or something. Still, that's rare, to me thats not a stab in the heart.</p>

<p>You know, GPA does matter, but I live right here in the Silicon Valley where tech companies are hot. My parents have friends who live in Palo Alto (literally half a mile from StanFUrd). The dad is VP in a small tech company and he has a son who went to MIT undergrad and Cal grad school and another who went to Cal undergrad. Anyways, they have said that even though StanFUrd infaltes GPAs like enormously, they hire not solely based on GPA but partially based on school's reputation. I talked to him once and he says that the StanFUrd grads they hire come in with great stats, but more times than not they are crap trained and skilled. He tells me that the Berkeley grads are far better choices and he himself prefers hiring them.</p>

<p>I'm not saying UCLA will inflate ur GPA and provide you with crap skills, but I'm saying that Cal will better equip you. You may have the lower GPA, but I'm sure companies will know that beforehand and will factor it in. If Cal students demonstrate better ability than UCLA students, then why should they hire based on GPA if they're getting lower quality workers?</p>

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<p>you will feel laughable just to think that UCLA can hold Berkeley's jock</p>

<p>LOL um... right</p>

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<p>qwerasdf: Wearing two different shirts in two different country has too many variables. Perhaps you should have worn a Cal shirt and UCLA shirt in one country; test the urban area and then the rural areas. Then move on to a random sampling of the population.</p>

<p>trump: Rankings do matter. But Karen Hughes went to a school with less than steller rankings. Remind me where Ms. Hughes is again in her life?</p>

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<p>qwerasdf: lol. A Cal shirt won't be echoed much overseas, because people only know "Berkeley" is a mecca for science and engineering. If you don't like sports, you don't even know what Cal is.</p>

<p>eiffelguy87, this shirt argument is as valid (or invalid) as the girl argument for you to choose a school. No need to do the statistical study at all:)</p>

<p>Berkeley is a much more reputed school, but this doesn't mean UCLA is a bad school. Instead it is great, and has smart students, but you won't catch up in the reputation department very soon. There is a huge distance in between, especially in academic world.</p>

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<p>It comes down to what you want. If you want a school with a reputation for academics you go to Berkeley. If you want a high paying job you go to UCLA. Berkeley graduates get jobs but they really don't do it for the money. They are above all that and are only here on earth to help others less fortunate than themselves. That is almost everyone except for Stanford students. That's why they hate them. UCLA students are happy to go to a very good school that prepares them to be successful in the real world. They will not be as educated as the Berkeley student and can only brag about their degree in certain circles. Luckily those circles are with the rich and famous. UCLA students don't spend much of their time at Star trek conventions. (Not that there is anything wrong with that). As for me I was not accepted to Berkeley which could explain my sarcastic view. My grades and scores were high enough but maybe that Berkeley person knew something I didn't. I really didn't want to go there. Damn they are smart. So if you are accepted to Berkeley you probably should go. But if you don't, then you probably were not smart enough anyway. It's a WIN WIN no matter what you do. I wonder if that same logic applies to my choice between UCLA and UCSB. Probably but on a much lower intellectual level. Good Luck!</p>

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<p>theCollegeGame, your post makes very little sense.</p>

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<p>Exactly! Sense is in the mind of the beholder...</p>

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<p>This is ridiculous. I have never read so many ignorant posts in my life. Well, actually, CC is filled with ignorant posts. How can so many potential/actual college students be so dumb as to lack the ability to use their heads and think? This makes me glad I am a recovering CC addict. Anyway, I love Cal with a passion. Any old school CC poster can tell you that. I have defended Cal more than most Berkeley students have on this site. But come on! Grade inflation is non-existent at UCLA AS MUCH AS AT CAL!!! Competition among students is great at both as well. I have only attended UCLA as an undergrad but believe this to be true because all of the complaints regarding competition I hear from Cal students are the exact same things I heard during my years at UCLA. Competition among students at Berkeley and UCLA is one of the things, I believe, that makes us so much better than graduates from other schools. We cannot be lazy at our respective schools without suffering the consequences. Cal is a greater school than UCLA because of its faculty, research, and history. The students are statistically identical and have been for some time now. The students are NOT what makes Cal a better overall school. UCLA and Cal are equal in that department. Cal students versus UCLA students would end in an academic draw if they were to compete.</p>

<p>To all Berkeley students and Alumni out there, I love you. You attend(ed) one of the best schools in the world. </p>

<p>To all you UCLA students and Alumni out there, I love you more. You too attend(ed) one of the best damn schools in the world!! But don’t sit back and let people who obviously don’t know what they are talking about say negative things about us. </p>

<p>I got really got to stay away from this site. I don’t want to fall off the wagon.</p>

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<p>"Exactly! Sense is in the mind of the beholder..."</p>

<p>that makes even less sense</p>