All of this is true. They will get credit for some of it and it may get them out of UC or University-wide requirements. My son used APs to get out of foreign language, the history/civics requirement (I forget what that’s called), and the entry-level and Writing 1 requirements. The other APs go towards generic credits but just don’t count for GEs. They want you to take those at UCLA. Or through DE I guess. Certainly AP credit may help you place into higher math levels to start, etc.
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My son is in Life Sciences major and pre-med track
He has 5 in both AP Calc AB and BC. His plan is to do Math 3A,3B,3C series. Does it mean, he has to take Math Diagnostic Test ?
What about Chemistry 14A,B,C series ? Does he have to take Chemistry Diagnostic with a 4 on AP Chemistry ?
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My son chose Cal. His heart was with UCLA, but his head said Cal. He felt Cal offered more resources/opportunities than UCLA; the size of the fabrication shops, dedicated engineer student support services, full day of engineering events on Cal Day, business major (MET), etc. Also, he spent his whole live in the LA area and wants to experience something different for four years. This decision was probably the hardest he has had to make in his young life. Hopefully, when he visits his brother at UCLA he will not have any regrets. Without a doubt UCLA is a beautiful campus and a fabulous school. If he was not engineering, he would have picked UCLA in a heart beat.
Yay! Congrats on making the decision.
Congrats!
Mine hasn’t clicked the button yet. But we have the same conclusion with regard to the resources etc. after Cal Day. It’s just that we live in San Francisco, going to Cal is like not leaving home, even though we don’t go to Berkeley ever, not even for soccer games as we happened to be with a different regional league. Most of the adults we know vote for Cal especially for engineering. We will drive by Cal again this weekend on our way to soccer game in Davis. Hopefully a decision will be made on Sunday so we have time to make the housing deadline.
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I’ll say 2 things in hopes that it helps you feel like either way will be great!
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My Bay Area son is loving UCLA and it feels like the perfect distance. Far enough away and different enough that he’s learning to live somewhere that feels new. Close enough that when he got COVID his first year I could drive down and back to pick him up and bring him home, all in one day. If yours decides at the end to go to UCLA, it will be great!
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When I flew across the country from San Francisco to Cambridge, MA for college, I ended up with a roommate from Boston and I’m not exaggerating to say that she went home the same amount or even less often than I did. Distance is what you make of it! He can treat Berkeley like a brand new state.
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Your son would have to take the Chemistry diagnostic (extremely easy and no charge), but not the Math diagnostic. And with those AP math scores, your son would be exempt from 3A and 3B (basic calculus classes), and only need to take 3C plus some stats course for med school.
A little-known secret about UCLA chemistry is the honors freshman sequence, 20AH and 20BH. For premed students looking to get research, these classes are small, give out mostly A’s in comparison to the highly competitive 14 series, and the professors (especially the 20BH prof) will guide you into a lab at UCLA. Catch is the courses are substantially more effort and are at a higher level conceptually than the 14 series, which is basically high school level AP Chem.
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Current students or parents of current students. I think I’m almost ready to commit to UCLA. The one thing still holding me back is the dorm situation. I’m super nervous about living in a triple! I actually care a lot about my living space and having a nice room with my own space, etc. One of the other schools I have been considering has AMAZING dorms but it’s considerably more expensive and it doesn’t make sense to base my whole decision on the dorm, lol. Can someone please ease my anxiety about the UCLA dorms and living in a triple??? Don’t lie to me, I want to hear the good and bad, but let me know how you managed and what you did to survive it…
My kid signed up for a classic triple, along with one chosen roommate, and they were planning for a “rando”. Then in early summer the two of them got an email that there weren’t enough requests for classic doubles, and would they be interested? Both families could afford the upgrade so they are in a double this year.
I’m not saying it would happen every year.
But if you and another person ask for a classic double, your chances aren’t a 0. My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that those who can afford a double can also afford to spring for a deluxe (air conditioning, etc, maybe semi-private bathrooms, I can’t remember), and that deluxe double might be a more common request than classic double.
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You know what your needs are, but I can say that my son would have been so sad if he missed out on UCLA which he loves just based on triples. You can of course try to get something other than a triple. But chances are you end up in one. However he spends so little time in his room (both last year and this year; this year they chose a triple again but signed up for one with
AC.) He is outside and all over campus and Westwood or studying in many of the available libraries or dining/hangout areas. Where you live isn’t that much in the scheme of things!
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Also hall bathrooms are fine or better because they get cleaned more often! And more showers and sinks.
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My D22 is in a classic triple and she’s having a great time there. You quickly get used to the amount of space, and you can decorate your area as you see fit. She brought her guitar, she has twinkly lights, her roommate has a bunch of plants, the wall above her bunk bed is full of favorite pictures and posters, they got a carpet for the floor to make it feel cozy… they are very happy.
With the classic triples, the floormates also hang out a lot in the lounge and they all become close. Socially, this is a wonderful experience. Next year, she’s chosen a triple again. It’s in a plaza, so it’s bigger with a shared bath, but living with her friends has been terrific and she’s doing it again 
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Does anyone know what the “PEERS” (CLA Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences (PEERS)) is ? or how helpful it is.
Was there every a connection found between alumni scholarship invitations and acceptances? Curious about experiences.
My son got the invitation. He didn’t apply though. He got waitlisted. I think most of the applicants got the invitation and lots of them got rejected also.So I dont think there was any connection.
A few years ago, yes. Recently it’s gone out to virtually everyone. 2 years ago my son got the email and was admitted. This year his sister got the email and was rejected. I wouldn’t read much into it.
Does anybody know if the family orientation and new student orientation are both mandatory?
We went to Bruin Day for transfer students today (it was incredible!) and heard from an admin during a presentation that student orientation is not mandatory but that’s where you meet a counselor and they’ll help you enroll in classes (or change majors if needed) and ‘if you don’t go, you’ll be a step behind other incoming students’.
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New student orientation is very important. The family/parent orientation part is very skippable if you can’t get there.
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I agree. New student orientation is really important. I went to the parent orientation (last day of new student orientation). I stuck around for about 1/2 the day, but then left to just wander around Westwood until my son said he was ready to leave.
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