<p>I have been accepted to UCLA and Colgate and I am completely torn between the two schools and I have to make a decision in two weeks. I live in California and I hate cold weather. I want to get a really good education and I want to be challenged, but I also want to have lots of fun and have a typical college experience. I want a school with many internships and interactive learning opportunities. UCLA is huge and overwhelming. Colgate is comfortable and personal, but more like high school. How do I decide? Any ideas?</p>
<p>I would do UCLA, it has more opportunities available than colgate</p>
<p>What opportunities are you thinking of?</p>
<p>If you hate cold weather, then you would not be happy at Colgate. It is still 30 degrees in the morning in mid April!!</p>
<p>You seem to be siding with UCLA. While I have a preference for colgate, I think your preference is for UCLA.</p>
<p>What exactly do you mean by "Colgate is more like high school?"</p>
<p>Colgate is cold, but it is my favorite campus. The living options are really good- after freshman year. There is a lot going on all the time on campus. They are serious about their athletics. It is a lot smaller than UCLA, of course, but it is bigger than a lot of the top LACs. The Patriot League schools are excellent. If you can stand the cold, and want a more personal college environment, go with Colgate.</p>
<p>"I live in California and I hate cold weather. I want to get a really good education and I want to be challenged, but I also want to have lots of fun and have a typical college experience. I want a school with many internships and interactive learning opportunities."</p>
<p>If you didn't provide any suggestions and I had to name a school out of the blue, UCLA would fit that description!</p>
<p>"I live in California and I hate cold weather. I want to get a really good education and I want to be challenged, but I also want to have lots of fun and have a typical college experience. I want a school with many internships and interactive learning opportunities."</p>
<p>Does Colgate actually fit that description better than UCLA? :eek:</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your comments and thoughts. I agree with what many of you have said, but I'm still not sure if I will get the best education at UCLA. I am not sure what I want to major in and I am assuming I will want some guidance and advising from teachers along the way...could I get that at UCLA? Also, in regards to the social scene at UCLA, if I am not in a sorority, what else happens on campus on the weekends? Do a lot of people go home? At Colgate anyone can attend the fraternity parties and 96% of students stay on campus on the weekends.</p>
<p>Colgate is good at advising and having good professors who love to talk to students.</p>
<p>As for the cold weather...be like most colgate girls and break out some cute sweaters, north face jackets, and uggs.</p>
<p>If you don't know what you want to major in, then go to Colgate. As an LAC with a core curriculum, it'll expose you to things you probably haven't considered. Also, you'll be taught by professors and not TAs. You will develop very strong relationships with your teachers and get the attention I think that you want. Colgate is also known to be rather social and you'll walk across campus saying hi to about 20 people between classes whereas at UCLA you'll be one among the thousands. Don't let the cold & snow dissuade you, BTW. Most kids in the Northeast going to school find ways to live with it -- and to love it! At Middlebury, for example, the cafeteria trays become sleds down Chapel Hill on the first snowfall. Same thing at Colgate too, I'd guess.</p>
<p>"I hate cold weather" = no brainer</p>
<p>We live in NJ and my son is going to UCLA. One of his first criteria was warm weather. I like the fact that he's going to UCLA - a completely different social culture (not necessarily better) than what we have in NJ - an exposure to a different social mix (more Asian-Americans than we have here in NJ). Maybe Colgate would be good for you - give you the opposite exposure to the East Coast and to cold weather. You can't lose either way.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am not sure what I want to major in and I am assuming I will want some guidance and advising from teachers along the way...could I get that at UCLA?
[/quote]
Do you consider yourself pretty outgoing and assertive? The answer to your question at ucla (or any other large state school) hinges on this very question.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that at a large university there are dedicated and caring people who want to help. The catch is you have to find out who they are and go to them. At ucla you will not be assigned a faculty advisor like you are at many smaller schools (although I have no idea what they do at Colgate). The department advisor may be someone you share with 500+ students in more popular majors. Many of your intro classes will be huge (200-500 students) and needless to say the prof is not going to know you from class.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to paint a dire picture, just a realistic one. To get the guidance and help you want the burden falls on your shoulders. Your profs hold office hours every week, but you're going to have to go to them. You want advising in your major (or with picking a major), you need to find the right person(s) to help you and go to them. There's plenty of help out there, but especially if you're a quiet or shy person you may not be able to take advantage of the resources. For many people the right choice may be a college in which the environment is more focused on the undergrads and in which advising, guidance, etc. are provided as a matter of design and not something you have to initiate on your own.</p>