Out of state student from PA, deciding between Georgetown and UCLA. Planning on majoring in econ and probably minoring in english at both. Torn between the two schools- love the vibe/weather of LA, but it is far from home and I am worried about being in the minority as an oos student at UCLA. Georgetown seems completely different, definitely a safer choice, but not sure I would have as much fun/be as happy there…any input would be appreciated!
What a coincidence! My child (international) is in the same situation as you. Accepted to several schools including G’town’s SFS program and College of Letters and Science at UCLA. Very good but very different options. Also loved the weather/vibe at UCLA. When visited Gtown recently, liked the campus but was not head over heels. I do not think you need to worry about being in the minority by being an oos student. Even though OOS proportion is only 7%, I don’t think culturally there is such a big difference between a native Californian and say a Texan or a New Yorker. Maybe you see big differences between people of different states, but everything is relative: for the rest of the world, those differences are negligible, specially when it comes to living in a college campus: mentality, culture, values, look to us pretty similar.
A friend of ours suggested to my child the following to help her decide between colleges:
List important characteristics of all schools, give each characteristic a grade, 10=best, 1=worst. For each school, rate the faculty, students, social atmosphere, intellectual atmosphere, spirit, likelihood of making lifetime friends, Location, Internships, strength of specific departments that interest you, Campus, facilities, career placement support, etc.
For each characteristic give it a weight from 1 to 3: Give quality of faculty a weighting of 3, give quality of student body a 3 weight. Location a 1 or 2 weight.
Total your list, multiply characteristics by weighting factors. But the heavily weighted characteristics, such as faculty, students, department, should probably count much more than location and campus facilities. You must decide on YOUR priorities: how much does who the students are, matter? Students and faculty should probably be heavily weighted in your assessment. What really matters to you should have the highest weight. Look really closely at the faculty bios in the department that most interests you. What are their research interests, what projects engage them? Do they excite you?
Total up the numbers. See who gets more points.
This quantification forces you to think about what really matters. In the end, you must go with your gut or instinct.
I’ve attended both UCLA and GU as an undergrad. Plenty of opportunities (whatever that means to you) exist at either school if you’re proactive.
How do you feel about attending a large school vs a small one? 419 vs 104-acre campus? ~28,500 vs ~7,500 undergrad student body? Quarter vs semester? “Hollywood” on campus vs politicians? Football games at the Rose Bowl vs on campus? Basketball games on campus at the Pauley Pavilion vs downtown DC? 20-30 minute drive to beach vs 3 hours? Fraternities and sororities? And 2- vs 4-seasons, to name a few?
You need to decide what type of college experience you’re after. However, no number crunching will yield the “best” fit if your heart is set somewhere else.