<p>I applied to both school for a Development studies major / IDS. Just hoping I will get in either one of them. I live in the LA area so UCLA will be nice but also really want to attend Berkeley. I think the environment in Berkeley is really unique, plus I am a very active student with lots of ECs. I can really picture myself in CAL. </p>
<p>What would you pick if you get in both of them? </p>
<p>And good luck to you all!!!!!!!! Counting down !</p>
<p>UCLA, hands down. I’ve loved that school since I was in the 8th grade lol. In fact, if I somehow got admitted into all the UC’s, I would choose San Diego, Irvine, or Santa Barbara (maybe even Davis and Santa Cruz) over Cal. I live about 40 minutes away from Berkeley and I personally hate it over there. Sure its quirky which appeals to some people I guess, but not my type of place at all. Born and raised in the Bay Area but I much prefer soCal.</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using CC</p>
<p>Cal 1000%.</p>
<p>Berkeley, without a doubt. It’s far more prestigious. You can argue that within the US the difference in prestige is slight, but in the rest of the world, Berkeley is more well known than say, Penn, Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth. Going to Berkeley would open up doors for me outside of the states if I ever chose to move back to the country I was born in (not that I really expect to do that, or at least, not for any extended periods of time–but it’s still a factor), and it would make my family back home proud. Aside from that, I do truly love the campus and the city. It has such an incredible history, and I love the liberal, bohemian feel and the easy access to good vegetarian food. Its proximity to where I live now is a plus for me too, since I would prefer to stay close to my family, and NorCal just suits me better, culture-wise. I also think I’d like to try the semester system, since I’ve been on quarters at my CC. I just see no downsides to Berkeley, except for maybe the weather. Every time I’ve visited it just felt like it could easily be a city I’d call home.</p>
<p>Not to say that if I were rejected from Berkeley and accepted to UCLA I wouldn’t be thrilled to go to there. UCLA is an incredible school too. I just feel Berkeley suits me and fits what I consider important in a university better.</p>
<p>Mmmmmm… I guess UCLA …no Berkeley …no UCLA. </p>
<p>Can I take Berkeley’s faculty/laidback, free-thinking environment and put it into the amazing campus in sunny Westwood and make a super school? :)</p>
<p>Cal, easy choice for me. Like what newsoul said, it’s a prestigious school and it can open great doors after graduation. Berkeley’s math department is incredible and apparently there’s great access to vegetarian food ^^ The city isn’t all that great in my opinion, but the campus is very nice. It’s also about 15 minutes from San Francisco. But I’m sure UCLA’s weather is a lot better.
What are you majoring in? You should see which school has the better department for what you’re majoring in.</p>
<p>I majored in development studies which is belonged to the interdisciplinary department. For the most part I learned that Berkeley’s has a awesome interdisciplinary dept and UCLA is just ok in their IDS ( international developed studies) program. My friend was an IDS major in UCLA and she said the dept was not focus enough, so that UCLA closed that major and reorganized it last year. I don’t know how it is now. </p>
<p>Honestly I feel like that I am more confident getting admitted to CAL because I’m on their TAP.</p>
<p>Both school is very well known world wide but suprisingly I found that people throughout the world know more about UCLA than Berkeley, although I can careless about this as long as I go to the one that fits me better.</p>
<p>UCLA absolutely has better weather. But I wonder which school will provide a better learning experience for me.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, Cal is a hippie school that is full of cut throat students who will do whatever it takes to get a good grade. I currently live in Southern California and I was born and raised here. UCLA is in the heart of one of the greatest cities in the entire United States, if not the world. It’s minutes away from the beach, or minutes away from some of the biggest companies and places ever. It has the best of both worlds, plus it has some of that great socal weather that everyone wants. For me a school being more prestigious is just a naive reason to pick a school. I’m picking the school I want to go to because I like it, not because the rest of the world knows about it…</p>
<p>UCLA hands down. I just don’t want a cut throat environment that I hear exists at Cal.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who would totally dig a school of high achieving hippie students? 
It sounds perfect to me.</p>
<p>@ Ravous: Picking a prestigious school is naive? You’re joking, right? Prestigious undergraduate schools open up doors for prestigious grad schools, which in turn DO lead to better careers in some professions (medicine, law, etc). Yes, UCLA and Berkeley are both prestigious, but Berkeley still beats UCLA in that respect, and that’s especially true outside of the United States. It is actually a valid consideration.</p>
<p>Sure, maybe you shouldn’t pick a school you hate because it has a better name, but not everyone feels the same way you do about Berkeley’s quirky culture. Don’t assume that prestige is the only reason we’d pick it.</p>
<p>Go wherever you like, but don’t judge someone else for what they consider important in a university. Someone else may tell you location, proximity to the beach, and weather are a silly considerations, since you’ll only be there for two years.</p>
<p>Dude, UCLA is pretty cut throat. Everyone in LA is there to compete to be the best, There is a whole bunch of people in UCLA and LA so it take effort to get up there. Plus it has the highest Academic Probation from all the UC’s. UCLA is no joke, it is tough.</p>
<p>Berkeley is difficult too so, it not like either schools are easy, but cal’s AP is lower lol</p>
<p>I like both schools, just check out both schools and see what fits your personality the best. Everyone has their bias’s. Both Schools are great!</p>
<p>Both UCLA and Berkeley are very good schools and very well known around the world. If a person have to pick between the two, they would just have to pick it based on their own perspective of which area they like best. For me, if I were to be accepted in UCLA or Berkeley, I’ll go to UCLA. I just prefer SoCal over NorCal.</p>
<p>Probably UCLA. We’re not used to constant rain over here and although 2 or 3 rainy days a month are refreshing, any more than that is pushing it. Hell, I get bothered if rain lasts more than 3 or 4 consecutive days. </p>
<p>And Berkeley are hella stupid if they think that after taking 8 philosophy courses in my college career, I’m gonna head over there and take their 4 major prereqs just because they don’t wanna accept credit from classes that cover the exact same material. It’s not like there are new cutting edge breakthroughs in introductory categorical logic. It’s the same ****.</p>
<p>I agree that both schools will be tough! And I also agree that the raining in Nocal is a bit too crazy. The people that I have spoken to who goes to Berkeley they usually have no regrets. I wanna to hear from people who goes to UCLA, do they enjoy the school spirit there? Or it just all about finishing college and suffer with lot of reading and essays?</p>
<p>@emily
I sure hope that(TAP) helps our admission!
Were you seeing Aileen too?</p>
<p>lol, I love all these ridiculous, rashly-developed generalizations about which campus is “innately” superior to another and why. I personally will choose Cal over UCLA if I’m even offered admission, mostly because I’m in the bay area and because it is one of the top schools for my major – I’d get to study directly under a Nobel laureate in my field. either way, I can’t really complain at any UC.</p>
<p>I was accepted to both last year, but I chose UCLA. It made the most sense, since I live in SoCal, and going all the way to Berkeley to retake classes I already passed in CC didn’t make much sense. And when it comes down to it, I’d take the quarter system over the semester system any day. And you people talking about prestige and all this nonsense, just know that it doesn’t matter what undergrad you attended in all honesty. What really matters it the grad/professional school you attend as a segue for a worthwhile job. When it comes down to undergrad, what truly matters is GPA. Try to maintain it as high as possible, and do a stellar job in your GRE, MCAT, LSAT, etc. For many, undergrad is just another stepping stone to the big league post-grad schools, so predicating your choice on which UC to attend based on prestige is pretty silly. Choose one that you know has the most rigorous and best suited major program you’re pursuing. You might find out the most prestigious school may not have what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Yea~ I was seeing Aileen~
so you applied for this fall too?
I guess your major is math econ then! GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!
rmb to message me if you get accepted !</p>
<p>ucla hands down. From socal.</p>
<p>USC hands down.</p>
<p>@^ YES USC ALSO HANDS DOWN. high 5</p>