UCLA or Carnegie Mellon?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I just can't decide between the two colleges.
I'm an international student and I couldn't visit UCLA or CMU even though I have been to LA when I was young.
On one hand people frown upon UCLA for being a party school and way too pretentious and on the other hand they say that the studies are amazing.
For CMU all I hear is that it's rigorous in it's workload and doesn't have good food.</p>

<p>Plus, Los Angeles is more cosmopolitan than Pittsburgh which is both plus & minus.</p>

<p>I want to pursue a major in Econ and a minor in Mathematics. I just wanted to know which university you would choose over the other and why. That just might help me make this decision! It's almost 2 weeks in.. :| I'm getting nervous now!</p>

2

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<p>UCLA is not a “party school”
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/719472-ucla-party-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/719472-ucla-party-school.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>ucla is a solid school, but cmu may fit better for yur interests.</p>

4

<p>I understand. So would you suggest UCLA over Carnegie Mellon?</p>

5

<p>@Aushsu could you please explain why?</p>

6

<p>UCLA is a large (26,000+ undergraduates) state university versus CMU (5,800) being a small private university. </p>

<p>UCLA is a fine school offering a wide range of majors. CMU offers a range of majors but has an exceptional reputation in math and the sciences.</p>

<p>My experience with CMU students/graduates is that they are academically very intense (nerdy?) students of the MIT/CalTech variety. UCLA students strike me as a more typical representation of college students.</p>

<p>In comparison to CMU, UCLA is a massive party school.</p>

<p>I saw no particular advantage/disadvantage to the food at either school.</p>

<p>This is about the experience you want to have in college. If you’re a math or science oriented type I think CMU is tremendous school. It’s size means smaller classes and likely better access to professors and research opportunities. Conversely UCLA will be the more typical big time university experience. This will mean larger classes, potentially more bureaucracy offset by warmer weather and the cultural/entertainment opportunities that Los Angeles has to offer.</p>