@spindip we live in southern California and received it yesterday.
The UC’s only count sophomore and junior year grades, freshman grades do not matter for acceptance.
A lot of posts are related to engineering at UCLA and are less admission geared so I made a new thread that is pinned with the other UCLA admission threads in the UCLA forum dedicated to engineering: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/2180359-ucla-engineering-2024-discussion.html#latest
With Discover Engineering only a week away feel free to use that thread to get some of your questions answered ahead of time and possibly meet your fellow engineering classmates.
@lkg4answers okay thanks. im from norcal so maybe itll take a bit longer. congrats on ur admission!
@10s4life When you say “campus culture” what does that mean? I am just trying to get a feel for what it is like for students - and what it might be like for him. I know he wants a well rounded experience but is definitely academically drivedn
@Rozzienc I guess for starters everyone seems happier. People are generally always smiling and friendly. Because all the students either live on the Hill (dorms) or apartments right next to the hill, you’re never far from your friends. At cal the dorms are all spread out. Ucla seems like a big school but you can’t walk to class without seeing at least someone you know. There’s a ton of activities and extra curriculars to get involved in (over 1,000 student groups) outside of your major which is great. Thousands of students like up for basketball and go to football games. The football program isn’t great but tailgates and games are still a bunch of fun. What’s cool too is while the students have a good time, come midterm season everyone buckles down and takes exams seriously. People also can’t wait to go back to school here too. Again there will always be those that don’t like it but this is what I’ve seen over the past 3 years.
@Rozzienc . . . So is your son, with your input because of cost, down to either UCB or UCLA? No other college in the picture?
If so, there are doubtlessly points for both sides, but academics legitimately shouldn’t favor UCB. UCLA is actually tougher to which to gain entry, but for those who enroll, UCB might have a little higher scores, but UCLA will have a bit higher weighted grades. But there is a distinction between getting in: UCLA is clearly tougher.
Since nobody, even you son, knows what he’ll end up studying, we can’t advise which school to choose based off of major. And it wouldn’t necessarily be good advice to base such a choice on perceived prestige of a department, because a student will do well at either university because they both offer the whole package with respect to academics and as a consequence, your son if he studies something that doesn’t appear to have some luck involved like acting or whatever, he’ll do well professionally.
Some will definitely say that UCB is clearly better in Engineering and Computer Science – and I realize this is probably not your son’s possible end majors. But UCLA E is definitely a harder admit, which includes CS. UCLA E and CS are better funded programs than UCB’s, and UCLA is a better funded university overall. It does have to continue to try to generate greater interest in the physical sciences and E/CS, because it has to fight the perception that UCB has gained through however many decades, and rankings achieved over a long period of time are extremely slow to change.
All these ancillary things definitely do favor UCLA, the attitude of the students, the location, the weather, sports teams, how smoothly the University runs, etc. A lot of UCB students will admit to these things. They’ll fight and say that UCB is the greater global university because of global rankings, but the more detailed picture would probably point towards UCLA for a significant number of things.
@10s4life - first off, thanks you so much for all the support you are providing to this group! The question I have for you is about dorm life:
(1) The 3 year housing guarantee is a huge plus for us. We see that as a commitment to promote campus living, similar to the private schools. However, how many students other than freshman actually live on campus?
(2) Read on the housing website that most students live in triple rooms for their first 3 years. Is that the case?
Thx.
And by the way, my son is also in the UCLA + UCB category. So, we appreciate all the inputs provided earlier!
@2024CuriousDad Sure thing! Usually students stay for 2 years then spend 2 years in apartments. Those in sororities usually do second year in a sorority house and 2 years in an apartment. Those in fraternities usually do the same but a decent amount spend two years in the dorms then move out, that’s what I did. All freshman are in triples. It’s great cause that’s the year you meet the most people! I’ve actually chosen to live in triple setups after freshman year just cause I enjoy it more than a double. The apartments at ucla are like dorms in the sense that every apartment in Westwood surrounding campus is all students, just older ones.
Thanks @10s4life for the dorm living info. I am now able to relate to the apartment living - sounds good! We’ll checkout the Westwood neighborhood on google maps 
Maybe my son can play some tennis with you when he gets there
I’m in So Cal and didn’t receive one yet. I hope my incompetent mail man didn’t deliver it to the wrong address. He’s already delivered two others to the wrong address ?
I was wondering what the best method is for getting your first choice of dorms. I would like to stay at a deluxe triple, but I know most freshman normally get classic triple. Thanks for all of the help you give us in this forum.
Since at least a couple asked for more info, I’ll add a bit more but since this is a UCLA thread, you should probably start a new separate thread of UCLA vs Berkeley pros and cons to discuss it further.
Berkeley has major issues with housing.
https://sf.curbed.com/2019/12/3/20993208/uc-berkeley-student-housing-match-retirees-retired
Students frustrations in dealing with housing
https://abc7news.com/uc-berkeley-dorms-mice-at/5239370/
https://www.dailycal.org/2017/11/19/temporary-housing-constant-stress/
Most UCs have freshmen living in triples. I think there is a lot of angst at the thought of a triple before moving in and a lot of happiness at the end of the year.
As far as campus culture, it is a tangible feeling when you walk around campus. You see students walking in groups, eating together, working in the library together. They are happy and involved. It is nice to see.
@laagirl . . . There’s a site which shows UCLA baccalaureates’ process of applying to med school. It also shows how they did with grades and the MCAT. UCLA students who were accepted score higher on the MCAT and have a bit lower grades.
The four sections to the MCAT are:
Again UCLA students score higher than the national average for those accepted, because they have a bit lower grades. But their lowest sub-section score is on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) part.
I’m thinking that Human Biology and Society might be something that might improve their scores on the CARS, because some of the students are too into the study of biology and science in general.
All the best!
P.S. Sorry, here’s the link:
https://www.sairo.ucla.edu/2018-amcas-score
about 52% of UCLA graduates who applied to med school in 2018-19 were accepted to med school. That’s excellent for a university that doesn’t cull the numbers who do apply. UCLA Is about enablement and would never stop anyone from applying.
Hi…I’m from New York and currently deciding between UCLA, UC Berk and Georgia Tech. I am a bio major and possibly pre-med or pre-dental track. I got a scholarship at Georgia Tech for their in state tuition so it come out to 30k/year I think while UCLA and UC Berk would be around 60k to 65k respectively. Cost really isn’t an issue and I could attend the UC’s if I wanted but I’m definitely hesitant on if going to the UC’s (which are maybe objectively a better academic school and better for my major) would be worth almost double the price.
Additionally, I’m concerned between the sizes of each school. The UCs are about 30,000 undergrad students while GT would be about 15,000. Do you think there is an issues of lack of research opportunities, mentorships, and individualized attention at the UC’s? Although they might be better schools, if opportunities are harder to come by compared to GT then I would also be more inclined to go to GT.
I guess what I’m asking is while the UC schools are probably academically better and better for my major, is it better enough to be worth the significant price difference? If you look at attending college more as an economic investment, would paying the extra to go to the UC’s make it easier to get into good grad schools and jobs? Is it worth the difference?
@confusedstudent827 . . . what really helps UCLA is that the UCLA Reagan Medical Center is just a stone’s throw away from the life sciences classes. Because the med center is there, there are some affiliated research groups that are also on campus.
Therefore, there are excellent research and shadowing-of-doctor opportunities for UCLA undergraduates.
But with this said, the general consensus on the College Search board is to reduce cost for medical school so that you won’t have a heavy burden, even a possibly unrecoverable one, after m-school.
Unless your parents would make a willing commitment to pay full tuition for one of the UCs along with medical school, it’s obvious that GT should be your choice.
All the best; you’ll do well.
Hi!
I’m currently going between UCB and UCLA for international relations. For UCB, I applied for the global studies major and for UCLA, I was accepted for the pre-international development major.
I couldn’t really find anything online about the rankings of these two programs and I’d like to know if anyone had some input. I’m leaning towards UCLA because I heard a lot of great things about the environment and atmosphere but I’m not sure how great UCLA is for IR compared to UCB.
Also, for humanities & social sciences, is UCLA stronger? My interests might switch but I think I will generally be within the humanities & social sciences field so I’d like to choose a place that offers great programs and opportunities for this field.
Thank you!
@hsparent13 Deluxes are all gone. Many current students couldn’t get them. Classics, plazas and suites are all that’s open. For the best possible freshman experience preference a classic triple. Anyone putting doubles will hurt their chances cause they rent open. Plazas and suites are a lot “deader” as a whole. But preference triples above doubles if you want your selections to count. Cause doubles are all gone
Anyone receive any thing from the Alumni Scholarship? I was just wondering if they e conducted interviews or anything.