I got accepted to both UCI and UCLA (and others but these are my top two). I’m not really sure which to go with. I was accepted to engineering for both (mechanical for UCI. Undeclared for UCLA) but I’m not really sure that’s what I want to do.
As far as finances go, UCLA is probably going to cost about $20,000 per year (when living on campus). I’m not sure about UCI yet but it will probably be comparable. I also don’t know how off-campus housing compares.
UCLA is the more prestigious of the two (not sure how important that is in real life). It is also more difficult? Both have really nice campuses but I don’t really know how their dorms compares. However, UCI seems to have a more relaxed and calm feeling vs the competitive and elite UCLA (maybe I’m wrong). I also have some friends going to UCI and going to UCLA is daunting enough without not knowing anyone (I’m pretty introverted and making friends seems difficult. Although I’m sure I will)