<p>I don’t really have a dog in this fight, I may end up going to either or neither…but I lived in Europe for two years, every time I said UCLA they’d just look at me and didn’t really know where I was talking about, in fact all they really recognized was the ‘LA’ most of the time.
When you say Univ of California or Cal, it’s the same reaction, but when you say ‘Berkeley’ their eyes would always light up, it’s synonymous with Harvard, Oxford, Yale, etc…etc…just my 0.2.</p>
<p>UCLA the most branded university in the world?</p>
<p>Get real. It isn’t even the most branded university in Southern California.</p>
<p>And as for the “Cal has better academics but UCLA has better sports” argument… that’s just ridiculous.</p>
<p>Who has the better football team? Who has the better men’s basketball team?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but you lose bragging rights to athletics when you finish towards the bottom of the Pac-10 in both football and basketball. What kind of “storied program” can’t pull out a winning season in either sport in a weak (at least for basketball) conference?</p>
<p>That said, UCLA is a fine academic institution. It that category, they are #1. At least in Southern California, that is.</p>
<p>^ Hahaha nice try…UCLA has won the most national titles with 104. So no, they don’t exactly lose their bragging rights.</p>
<p>patsidono- UCLA is the best known University in Asia and overseas. and they are growing in popularity. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2005/4/5/ucla-name-la-lifestyle-marketa/[/url]”>http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2005/4/5/ucla-name-la-lifestyle-marketa/</a></p>
<p>It’s a dream school because this is the best school that someone with a 3.5 GPA , many retaken courses, and plenty of Ws can transfer to.</p>
<p>xelink makes a good point:</p>
<p>the arbitrary rankings of internet websites equals proof</p>
<p>UCLA is a great school. </p>
<p>I turned down a scholarship there out of high school to go to (surprise, surprise) Berkeley. I also turned down Ivy (for the person above who said that doesn’t happen). I was an out-of-state kid and didn’t even bother looking at UCLA because it was my safety (I know, I was definitely not well-versed in the college admissions process and that was dumb of me).</p>
<p>To make a long story short, the only school in the US that had a stronger program than Cal for what I ultimately got my degree in was UCLA. Had I wanted to pursue a PhD, UCLA absolutely would have been my “dream school.”</p>
<p>So it’s definitely a great school.</p>
<p>But the most branded university in the world? Ridiculous.
Great at sports? Sure… If you’re talking about men’s volleyball.</p>
<p>I think a lot of people have heard the name “Berkeley”, but never associated it with the UC. I know growing up out of state I would always hear about big names like UCLA and Berkeley, but it wasn’t until later in high school I actually realized they were in the same system. Even now, some of my friends have said to me stuff like, “You are applying to Berkeley? Isn’t that a famous private school? Where is it?” The “Cal” on Berkeley’s athletes’ shirts always used to confuse me too. I think if everyone called it UCB, it would be a little clearer, but that definitely doesn’t sound as sexy.</p>
<p>Also, citing the most recent football/basketball seasons of CAL/UCLA as proof of one’s dominance over the other is silly. UCLA is still considered one of the best basketball programs in the nation. Last year just happened to be a rebuilding year after a bunch of NBA guys (Love, Westbrook, Aflallo, Collison, etc) had left the team the past couple of years. Next year CAL’s gonna be in even worse shape after their top 4 leading scorers (all seniors) graduate. Coming from a CAL fan, this year just happened to be a bad year for UCLA and a good one for CAL, it’s definitely the exception to the rule.</p>
<p>What’s silly is going from the Final Four to a losing conference record in two years.</p>
<p>That suggests a weak program built around a few excellent players, most of whom will undoubtedly leave early for the NBA.</p>
<p>And, I just have to add, Westbrook’s an idiot. If Rasheed Wallace hadn’t scored on his own team last night, Westbrook’s breakaway missed dunk would have been the worst play of the week. OKC was tied with Portland at that point in the game; that play led to a change in momentum. Now OKC is playing the Lakers in the first round.</p>
<p>Are you somehow equating UCLA’s recent teams to a team like this year’s Kentucky team? The only recent UCLA player to be one and done was Kevin Love. Guys like Afflallo and Collison stayed 3 and 4 years respectively. That’s like saying UNC has a weak basketball program because they went from a NCAA title to a 5-11 conference record after their best players left. It’s called a rebuilding year – one year has no severe consequences for the prestige of a school’s basketball program</p>
<p>haha. I wouldn’t equate UCLA with either of those teams. A sharp decline isn’t always due to the same cause. You seem to think UCLA will be dominating again soon; I disagree.</p>
<p>What’s more, I’m beginning to fear that we are entering a new era in which athletics will be viewed by public schools as an unnecessary expenditure in a bad economic climate. I will just about barf if I have to watch teams like Duke, Stanford, and USC compete for all the titles in the future.</p>
<p>There was a disturbing article about this in last month’s Cal Alumni magazine. Not quite as disturbing as the advertisement for the Endowment Seating Program misspelling the word “guarantees,” but disturbing nevertheless.</p>
<p>Are you sure, MT, that you aren’t a bruin at heart? :)</p>
<p>I don’t think they will come back to dominate next year but I do still think it’s the best program in the Pac 10. The only reason I brought up UNC is because of this quote:</p>
<p>“That suggests a weak program built around a few excellent players, most of whom will undoubtedly leave early for the NBA.” </p>
<p>By that same logic, UNC is a weak program based on this year.</p>
<p>The only reason I know a bit about UCLA basketball is because they’re usually the top team in the conference and they produce NBA talent. There’s a reason I don’t know **** about Washington State. It’s also the same reason why I could probably recite the starting lineup and rotation of the Oakland A’s despite them being my most hated team in all of sports but I don’t wanna to show off :).</p>
<p>But i do agree with you on the public school part. I doubt a school like Cal, who actually has a pretty rich tradition in the major athletics fields would cut any of their major programs. But for example, a lot of UCSD students are clamoring for a football team (ridiculously stupid idea btw) which will probably never happen any time soon.</p>
<p>Man, I just want to get into UCLA.</p>
<p>I love how people feel that popularity implies quality.</p>
<p>trust me, that chick who got around in HS might’ve been popular, but I wouldn’t want to touch her disease ladden self any day.</p>
<p>@xelink
After your first ridiculous post you now go on to imply that UCLA lacks quality? You even go as far as to personify the school as “a disease ladden” chick. </p>
<p>What’s your problem?</p>
<p>Honestly, at the undergraduate level there is virtually no difference between the schools in terms of academic quality. Both schools have over 25,000 undergraduates, a student-to-faculty ratio of 20+, and classes run mostly by TAs. If you honestly believe there is a huge difference in academics at the undergrad level then you are simply a deluded Cal fanboy.</p>
<p>everyone is overthinking, awesomestudent is right:
</p>
<p>Not saying there is a huge difference, but there is a significant difference, imo</p>
<p>Cal:
[Test</a> Prep: GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, and More](<a href=“College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review”>College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review)
LA:
[url=<a href=“College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review”>College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review]Test</a> Prep: GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, and More<a href=“Academic%20Rating”>/url</a></p>
<p>I love how people believe that I’m pro berk and anti-LA.
it’s generally the other way around…</p>
<p>Im pro-berk and anti-la.</p>
<p>I’m pro-Berkeley and pro-UCLA :)</p>