<p>I'm currently a transfer student and though I am confident that I will be accepted by all the UCs I applied to, I will probably end up deciding between UCI and UCLA. My ultimate career goal would be to get a phD in physics. Here are the pros and cons about each school in my opinion:</p>
<p>UCI:
-I can commute there instead of living in dorms/apartments (I really don't want to think about who my roomate will be
-Commuting will save money as opposed to living at UCLA or save time if I decide to commute or carpool to UCLA
UCLA:
-More prestigious, which will matter if I decide to just get a bachelors in physics
-The college of letters and science at UCLA doesn't require upper division GE/writing classes right? UCI requires an additional upper-division writing class</p>
<p>Since I'm a physics major and I'm hesitant of doing a double major/minor in math /applied math, I would like to know if anyone could talk about the upper-division math courses at UCLA. I would also like to know about the research opportunites at UCLA.
Also, which school has the better professors? </p>
<p>Any useful input would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>hahah well do you like/good at writing? if your terrible at writing theres no point in hurting ur gpa. It would be alot nicer to get a summa cum lauda or better on ur diploma..but in all honesty i think prestige plays a big factor. Employers will automatically assume UCLA is better then UCI at teaching physics regardless if it is true or not adn going to a bigger name can only help u later on. If its only for 2 years, i think you can absorb the cost of living on campus and you wont have to burden urself with an extra class that u dont find necessary.</p>
<p>UCI has a pretty good physics program, but I think that UCLA is the better school overall and for the major. While I'm not a huge advocate of major based undergrad choosing, I think that someone who has a defined career goal can be considered smart for looking at a specific program with some scrutiny.</p>
<p>How much more money are you looking at spending? $20K? $30K? For that amount, I'd definitely choose UCLA. As far as faculty goes, UCLA's almost certainly stronger.</p>
<p>Well I just checked the UCI student's forum and they said that the upper-div writing class I have to take is an easy A. So no worries there.</p>
<p>"As far as faculty goes, UCLA's almost certainly stronger."
I hope that's not a biased-opinion. </p>
<p>My name is not Newton Chong</p>
<p>The math minor at UCLA/UCI are pretty identical, so that shouldn't be a problem wherever I go</p>
<p>So while UCLA has more prestige and may help my getting a job, the major reason why I'm favoring UCI over UCLA is the housing situation. I would much rather commute to UCI than live in a dorm/apartment at UCLA. </p>
<p>By the way, how are the single-room apartments like at UCLA? </p>
<p>Bias will inevitably enter into any discussion, but UCLA's physics program is generally seen as top tier or right on the margin. UCI's is on the margin at best, but probably closer to second tier. </p>
<p>If you feel that you'd rather commute, however, then commute. Just be aware of the fact that you might make your ability to get into a top PhD program more difficult. It might not sound fair, but name of undergrad does matter a bit when it comes to PhD admission, particularly when it comes to your recommendations.</p>
<p>if you're tight on money, go to UCI. If you can afford it, go to UCLA because it will help when you apply for graduate schools. Also, you'll prolly get more research opportunities at UCLA.</p>
<p>Grad schools are looking for future scholars with potential to become colleagues in the field they work in. Which school do you think demands more attention to an admission committee? The work you do as an undergrad, and who you work with, matters.</p>
<p>Well I heard elsewhere that it makes little, if any difference where you go for undergrad for grad school admissions</p>
<p>So my big questions are (which can hopefully be answered by physics or math majors):
Is easy to do undergrad research in physics?
How is the math department at UCLA? </p>
<p>I just heard that the math department at UCI should be avoided at all costs. However, it is very easy to do undergrad research for physics there. So I'm still unsure which school is the better choice</p>
<p>No offense, but if you believe that undergrad does not play at least somewhat of a role in admission to top grad programs, then I suggest you actually do your own research. Look at top grad programs in almost every field, and you'll see that they're largely populated by students at top undergrads (LACs included.) Of course, there may be endogenaity issues, but not all of it can be explained by the personal ambition variable. If you're an undergrad at UCLA, and you can get a letter of rec. from a well-known prof in your field, it will go a long way toward getting you noticed at a top grad program.</p>
<p>UCI is NOT a bad school, but UCLA will get much more attention in general.</p>
<p>A fair warning: I'm not saying that you should go to UCLA in all cases. There are legitimate reasons for going to UCI, but I think that yours are not the best ones. You're weighing one variable (parking, commuting, etc.) over something that is probably more important to you in the long run (getting into a top grad program.)</p>
<p>"You're weighing one variable (parking, commuting, etc.) over something that is probably more important to you in the long run (getting into a top grad program.)"
Yes, I understand that UCLA will have some benefits. But if I decide to live in an apartment at UCLA, I may end up with a really bad roommate. What if the guy is really noisy or a real pain? I won't have the time to have to deal with people like that as I'll be really short on time with my classes. I don't work/compromise with people well.</p>
<p>What if your doctorate adviser is a real pain? Or your future coworker? Or your boss? Or your in-laws? These things happen. It's all part of learning how to interact with people and grow up. What are you going to do when you get into grad school, and it's almost inevitably in a place you didn't expect to go? Or when your first academic job is on the other side of the country?</p>
<p>I'm not saying that you shouldn't consider your personal tastes... just that you should consider the long-term as well. </p>
<p>If you absolutely cannot handle a roommate, then get a studio apartment.</p>
<p>You're definitely right. I'm gonna have to learn to deal how to deal with people better, and I might as well start as soon as possible.
Anyways, back to my big questions (which can hopefully be answered by physics or math majors):
Is easy to do undergrad research in physics?
How is the math department at UCLA? </p>
<p>I live in Irvine and had a chance to go to UCI but picked UCLA....Irvine is NOT a college town...Westwood is. Go to UCLA you will enjoy it more. Good Luck.</p>
<p>As Citan mentioned, go to UCLA if you want to college experience. You will not get it at UCI as (or so I heard) a fairly large amount of people commute to UCI. UCLA will push you to become more social (I now know that from this quarter), to get out of your comfort zone, as you will practically be forced to engage in clubs / activities if you want to make friends and research / internships / work experience if you want to open up more doors for your future. It's really up to you and where you think you'd succeed at: UCI or UCLA?</p>
Wait, I thought grad schools that really care where you for undergrad? as long as you don't go to a cal state or something at least.
Haha, UCI has quite a few grad students that did their undergrad at a Cal State University.</p>
<p>If you're going to do the Physics major, choose the UC that best suits your academic interests not because of logistic convenience.</p>
<p>I took classes last summer at UCI and started doing a collaborative protein-chemistry NMR research project between UCLA and UCI labs that continues today. UCI classes are much easier than UCLA's, in my opinion. My general impression of UCI students was that they tend to be more close-minded compared to UCLA. UCI students seem to have a chip on their shoulder which I think is because UCI gets treated as a bastard son, compared to Berkeley and UCLA, when it comes to academics. The UCI professor I'm working with, who came from Yale, has made the same assessment of close-mindedness in regards to students AND colleagues. Mind you, this is an evaluation of a specific department within UCI so it would be unfair to project the same opinion to UCI Physics.</p>