D is not on this site, but she is my 4 of 4 to go to college, so I am asking for her.
She wants to major in communications or something like public relations/marketing in music or film genres.
UCLA Pros
- costs (same as Cal or slightly less)
- food
- location (we live in So Cal)
- communications major (her desired major)
- opportunities in music, film
- guarantee freshman housing
UCLA Cons
- location (we are in So Cal)
- impacted, competitive major
- expensive housing outside of dorms
- housing on hill/lots of walking
- visited recently and felt the campus was dead
UCB Pros
- costs (same or slightly higher than UCLA)
- Media Studies major seems in line with her desired major
- dorms within 1-3 blocks of campus, most not on a hill
- transportation options
- visited on Cal Day and she loved the vibe
UCB Cons
- no freshman housing guarantee
- transportation costs
- impacted/competitive major
- housing outside of campus expensive
UCB media studies requires a 3.2 pre-major GPA with no worse than B- in Media Studies 10:
https://mediastudies.ugis.berkeley.edu/overview/
UCLA communication has a competitive admission process including essays:
https://comm.ucla.edu/undergraduate/admissions/
At each school, what alternative major (that is not capacity-limited) would she choose if not admitted to the first choice major? The better alternative major may influence which school has better contingency.
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what alternative major (that is not capacity-limited) would she choose if not admitted to the first choice major?
At UCLA, she mentioned the public affairs major.
At Berkeley, she thought maybe rhetoric.
We’ve always felt campus spirit and overall student happiness is better at UCLA than UCB. That is likely to be reinforced next year by the basketball team, after the final four run this spring. It’s a shame you couldn’t experience Bruin Day but Spring Sing is a good example of student spirit (https://springsing2020.alumni.ucla.edu/).
In addition to tuition costs being lower, housing costs (both on and off campus) are likely to provide an additional saving at UCLA.
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