Hello,
I got into UC Berkeley and UCLA for L&C. I am planning on majoring in data science. Im very grateful but I’m having a very hard deciding between the two. Pros of Cal is that its very prestigious, great in statistics, and my brother goes there. Cons are that i am very scared of the location, crazy amount of competition, not 4 year housing guarantee, expensive as heck, grade deflation. Pros of UCLA are that im in love with the location, less competitive, better student life, and 4 year housing guarantee. Cons are that its not as good in stats and its in the quarter system. Im OOS so i would be paying roughly the same amount for both. I really want to go to an amazing ivy for law so I need great gpa and good research and internships. Which college is the best in your opinion for me?? I have till May 9th to decide.
Hi!
Sorry, can’t directly answer your question but just wanted to share that Im in the same boat as you. Currently picking UCLA vs Cal and im paying OOS tuition as well. Just wondering, do you know how much roughly you’re paying for both? I feel like for me, that’s gonna be a deciding factor (again, that’s just my personal case).
I got into chemical engineering for both schools and I have my heart set on Berkeley. I have talked to quite a few students from Cal and seems like i would enjoy being in berkeley. also works in my favor that i don’t need a car if i went to Cal. However, if it turns out that UCLA will cost me significantly less, then I may have to go there instead. UCLA was actually my first choice initially from how absolutely beautiful the campus is and how their dining is far better than Berkeley. But again, I was just drawn to berkeley based on what current students have shared to me. Also, Cal is ranked significantly higher than UCLA for ChemE. I’d say ask yourself which do you prioritize most. Cost of attendance? Ranking for your major? Location? Again for me, the deciding factor would be cost of attendance.
Sorry if this isn’t the answer you’re looking for but wanted to share my own situation as well. Good luck in deciding!
@pl82524 . . . per your like message on the main College Confidential Board…
One the differences between the two universities is that UCLA is now in the process of becoming better funded with differentials in teaching and services showing a more discernible difference because it typically receives greater donations between the two per academic year.
UCLA now pays its professors more with it being the top-ranked public university in 2018. Here’s a link:
https://data.chronicle.com/category/sector/1/faculty-salaries/
And it would place 9th among combined public and private universities, among some of the elites. One telling point, e.g., is how well UCLA pays its instructors who are mainly teachers and not researchers. Therefore it may or may not show up in the placement of departments, because rankings are more of a function of research. It’s evident though that UCLA’s trying to pull up its teaching.
Hi! UC Berkeley is not much more than UCLA, so if that’s the main reason you are looking at UCLA, you should choose Berkeley. My reservations lie in that Berkeley is super competitive and has intense grade deflation. I need a pretty high gpa for law school, so that’s why Im leaning towards UCLA, but I know you UCLA is quite competitive too. UC Berkeley’s location also doesn’t sit right with me with the homelessness problem and the extreme living costs. It’s such a hard decision! But it seems like your gut is telling you Berkeley, so I hope that works out for you.
https://calviz.berkeley.edu/t/OPAP/views/GradesbyCourse/GradesDB?:isGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&:embed=y
https://www.berkeleytime.com/grades
Someone posted this in the UC Berkeley forum in CC. The grade deflation is not as bad as people say it is.
There was another one posted, but I do not remember where in CC (college confidential). That one was much better and I recall, it seems like the average/median GPA’s were around 3.2 to 3.4 depending on the major. That might have come from a UC Berkeley site.
@UCBUSCalum Is this the thread you were looking for?
@pl82524 it sounds like UCLA would be a better fit for you and that Cal is better for @iris17 Congratulations to both of you!
Hi! First of all, just wanted to say congratulations on your accomplishments! It would be a dream of mine to have the struggle you have right now. I’m not sure if I could be of much help, but I had a question. UCLA has data science? Or would you major in something like statistics? Thanks for your time!
Thank you so much! UCLA does not have a data science major, which is a huge reason I ended up picking UC Berkeley ultimately! The closest thing UCLA has is an Applied Mathematics/Data Theory major, but I didn’t want to do a major that was largely theory-based! I hope they will add a data science major in the future though, since it is becoming a very popular study topic! Also Berkeley’s statistics major is ranked very highly, in the top 5 if i’m not mistaken!
@lkg4answers : Yes this was the thread I was referring to. Thanks for posting it.
https://pages.github.berkeley.edu/OPA/our-berkeley/gpa-by-major.html
@pl82524: see above link regard UCB gpa by majors.
Ohh I see! Thanks for responding! I asked because UCLA is my dream school and I’m exploring a couple major options. Data science seemed interesting to me because a close friend of mine is at Berkeley for data science! You’re going to do amazing! 
thank you so much!
@pl82524 . . . just as a point of clarification, Applied Math isn’t attached to the Data Theory major; it’s a standalone major.
Here’s what Professor Miles Chen said about the Data Theory major for future reference, with a datestamp of around middle part of 2019, and I’m sure (I hope!) he won’t mind as I’m just someone who wants to disseminate information about the major:
The major is jointly administered by the Math Department and Statistics Department. The goal is to provide a strong foundation for students who plan on pursuing graduate studies in fields related to Data Science.
Students will have to take statistics courses that cover data analysis (Stats 101A, 101C, 102A, 102B) as well as courses that cover more advanced proof-based math like Math 115A and Math 131A. Students will learn programming in C++ (Pic 10A), R (Stats 20), and Python (Stats 21 - new course). It is a capstone major, so students will take a capstone course with a data project in their final year. A few new courses are also being developed for the major. The full requirements for completing the major is expected to be published and made public by Fall 2019.
There’s a few reasons for the naming “Data Theory” rather than Data Science. Data Science rests on a foundation of math, statistics, and computer science (in addition to domain knowledge of the source of data). One could imagine another major with a stronger focus on software/computer engineering that is developed as a joint venture between Stats/CS or Math/CS departments. “Data Theory” highlights the more theoretical components of the major. That said, students in the data theory major will still get a lot of exposure to computer programming - but will probably learn less of the theoretical aspects of computer science (similar to the difference between PIC courses and CS courses.)
Edit: And all the best at UCB.
And the language by the professor is standard at UCLA:
The University wants to convey that the major will set someone up for graduate studies if she/he desires, not that the main or only focus is to go for graduate studies.
Thank you very much for the clarification!
I just wanted to add that there’s also a Python class in PIC 16 as well as Java ones in the three-course PIC 20 series.
Here’s a list of the PIC courses,
https://www.math.ucla.edu/ugrad/pic-course-descriptions
which can be attached to one’s degree as a Specialization in Computing, which just about any major can include, with exceptions being the Computer Science major, Statistics, and Data Theory, because, of course, most of their computer courses are self-contained.
There are computationally based majors for various disciplines: Computational and Systems Biology leading to an MS, Linguistics and Computer Science – e.g., Alexa and Siri, and Mathematics of Computation. And there are minors in Digital Humanities, Bioinformatics, and GIS&T through Geography.