<p>basically im studying at a university in England (Essex, if anyones heard of it, which i doubt) which has pretty strong links with the UC study abroad programme. Im doing American Studies (dont ask what that is please! I have been doing it for two years and still dont quite know myself) so i have had the chance to come to California for next academic year.</p>
<p>Applied in January with 6 other essex students for UC, UCLA 1st choice, UCSB 2nd, UCI 3rd - I spent the xmas break deliberating over whether to go for UCB or UCLA, but went for UCLA in the end. And i got it and to be honest im f**king hitting the roof with excitement over it, we all are, and we are going live it up large for the entire year. Other people are going to UCI, UCD and UCSB.</p>
<p>So yeah, UCLA. One of the best uni's on our entire exchange scheme without doubt, arguably the best. Im meant to be reading History but I wanna do loads of different stuff, see what i can blag my way onto. From the scale of discussion on the entire college application process on this site, i get the impression its a really huge thing in the us, more so than here, and i cant wait to get involved in it all.</p>
<p>Im planning to live on campus, hopefully the north side (thats where it all happens right?), anyone had any experience of there? Whats the campus like in general? Obviously I havent seen it or the surrounding area but i have only heard (very) good things about it, which was one of the reasons for me choosing UCLA instead of Berkeley. How much is it likely to cost for accommodation/other expenses very roughly? I know the prices are available on the site but theres no account for the numerous variables which are not doubt involved.</p>
<p>I really cant wait people, understand how excited i am about this! Any help at all would be really appreciated!</p>
<p>Well I can't tell you all that much since I myself have yet to experience the UCLA undergrad life, but I'll tell you this much: by choosing UCLA you're not about to make a choice you'll ever regret.
In terms of social experience, I've heard that "it all happens" on bruinwalk-- all the daily entertainment in the form of "random smelly men" handing out flyers, student activist groups, zealous ideological rants.. etc. In terms of the party scene, that varies- people seem to party around the dorm halls and around the frat houses, and of course off campus as well (it IS Los Angeles, movie/media capital of the United States, so its bound to have all kinds of events to attend..) UCLA as a school estimates personal expenses for an undergrad to be around the order of a 1000 some dollars a year- which I guess would include shopping money, etc. Some people have advised me to save an extra 500 since I'm probably going to be very involved in the poker scene.. so its upto you how much you want to spend.
So yeah, you'll definitely enjoy yourself, without a doubt. The prospect of finally living life on our own (at UCLA), physically if not financially independent of our family, really is a huge deal for us in California, let alone the rest of the nation. You can't wait to get involved in it all? neither can we ;). Just four more months to go...</p>
<p>Should have gone to Berkeley! The English department is amazing, and the American Studies department (yes, they have one) has many resources, and works well in conjunction with poli sci and history. But I hope you enjoy UCLA. They have an almost as good English department, probably equal poli sci and almost equal history department.</p>
<p>to be honest im gonna try and get onto courses which arent all to do with history eg cold war/anglo american relations. the study plan i submitted had a real variety of courses on it, from international relations to media/marketing to business to communication studies (*** is that anyway?!). i didnt really look so much at which departments were strongest at Cal or UCLA, i based my opinion on projected workload/social life/geography/first person reports but the impression i have certainly got so far is that yes Cal is no1 in the UC system but UCLA is nearly equal to it in the vast majority of factors.</p>
<p>i cant wait, its gonna be immense, thanks for the feedback people, anymore would be good!</p>