<p>I appreciate the informative post. The difference in financial aid is due to a scholarship, which makes the decision more difficult. </p>
<p>Concerning the difficulty dilemma, I definitely agree, there are going to be brilliant, competitive students wherever I choose to go, especially for pre-med. And like others have mentioned, it’s all going to come down to the effort I put in. I guess GPA and SATs can only tell us so much, and it wasn’t very intelligent of me to assume levels of difficulty based only on those things. And I agree, UCLA and UCI are both amazing schools with strong opportunities and advantages :]</p>
<p>When I visited UCLA, I went into the campus hoping to be dissatisfied and uncomfortable due to my assumptions, and that’s exactly what happened. My decision isn’t going to be easy, but disregarding difficulty and my other assumptions, I’m probably leaning towards
UCLA, especially with its financial aid. I’m sure I can be content in UCLA, especially with a more optimistic viewpoint. </p>
<p>Again, I sincerely thank everyone for the enlightening replies. They have really made everything easier :]</p>
<p>If you went in hoping to be dissatisfied, the human brain is designed in a way to encourage that response. I wouldn’t worry too much about your first visit not being great.</p>
<p>If it helps any, most of the people I met who went to UCLA loved their time there.</p>
<p>4 years down the line, you could see yourself saying “i remember when i was hating UCLA because i was hoping to get into UCI, but now i wouldn’t trade my experiences here for anything else” etc.</p>
<p>not everyone gets into the school they’d love. One of my TAs for Latin told me that he went to Upenn, whereas he really wanted to go to Brown, but life just happens that way sometimes.</p>
<p>Money is definitely something you should not overlook. That’s quite a bit of money. </p>
<p>Be sure to be optimistic if you decide on UCLA. It’s a great university and a lively campus. You’ll meet great people and do stupid things that will make your college memories unforgettable.</p>
<p>As an International student, this question is virtually a no-brainer for me That being said, I don’t not believe that UCI is an amazing school in its own respect but UCLA definitely has a more international presence. While that may not necessarily be of any importance to you, which it doesn’t have to, I still feel that it is a huge boost when applying to Grad schools. But that is just my personal opinion and I may come across as completely ignorant for having said so. But as a student in an incredibly competitive International School that is known for its academic excellence, UCLA is a lot better than UCI. In our school UCI is a school that virtually anyone who applies can get into, even as an international student, while UCLA is a prestigious school where only a select few can get into. </p>
<p>Also, in terms of the difference in difficulties, I understand that you may not necessarily want to be in an environment that is seemingly more difficult. However, I do believe that being around intellectually apt people who like to challenge themselves will challenge you a lot more than being around people in a less challenging environment. The level of difficulty at UCLA and its competitive nature will push you to succeed even more than you already do. That being said, while I understand your desire to get a higher GPA, I feel like a UCLA GPA will be worth a lot higher than a UCI GPA. That is, a 3.6 in UCLA is better than a 3.8 in UCI. Again, this is just my own opinion but because grades are based on curves, I feel like while you may get a lower GPA in UCLA, it will mean a lot more as you are competing with people who like to challenge themselves more. For example, I believe that it would be better to place last in the best heat of a race than to place first in the third best heat or something like that. While races and colleges are different, the concept behind it is the same. Once again, I would like to emphasize that this is all just my own personal opinion. </p>
<p>Also, UCLA has one of the best hospitals in the nations so as a premed student, that should mean a lot to you right? Like, you would have access to such a renowned hospital. </p>
<p>Anyhoo, that is all just my own opinion. I have never actually been to either UCLA or UCI nor have I ever researched about UCI, but when I received my acceptance to UCI, I did not even think twice about attending as I had already gotten my acceptance for UCLA. That being said, I have not yet decided if I will be a Bruin next year. So maybe I really don’t have a place to say this. But yea, just my two cents.</p>
<p>And for the record, I moved from UCI undergrad and UCLA for grad. Competition is definitely more tough for grad school and maybe a little more at UCLA. However, I’m doing perfectly fine. and I wasn’t even the top of my class at UCI :].</p>
That being said, I don’t not believe that UCI is an amazing school in its own respect but UCLA definitely has a more international presence. While that may not necessarily be of any importance to you, which it doesn’t have to, I still feel that it is a huge boost when applying to Grad schools. But that is just my personal opinion and I may come across as completely ignorant for having said so. But as a student in an incredibly competitive International School that is known for its academic excellence, UCLA is a lot better than UCI. In our school UCI is a school that virtually anyone who applies can get into, even as an international student, while UCLA is a prestigious school where only a select few can get into. </p>