<p>@Cayton </p>
<p>You didn’t mention ARWU/Shanghai Ranking which ranked Berkeley at #3 of world universities while UCLA is not far behind at #12. Both schools are very well recognized in academics and you’re getting a great world-class education either way. But at the end of the day, I think we can agree that Berkeley takes the advantage…by a slim margin 
</p>
<p>And Berkeley is an awesome college town with SF right by! I think that’s just as good as being in LA. </p>
<p>@CalBruin, haha wait so just to clarify, you can send in the UCLA housing app and submit your SIR to UCB?</p>
<p>@ocnative </p>
<p>I’m well aware of the ARWU ranking; it’s pretty generous to both schools. :D</p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA are actually ranked ahead of many ivy league schools in that ranking system.</p>
<p>There is a reason why UCLA is the most applied-to university in the US :)</p>
<p>@randombookie yep just go on over to the housing app and you should be able to fill in a file no problem. As for the SIR, I have no idea where I’m submitting that but yes theoretically you could submit housing for UCLA and then a SIR to Berkeley but that’s a waste of money.</p>
<p>@AnthroFlo I feel like a lot of people are these similar sentiments. Although, I must say that the quarter system is wonderful; I’ve gotten to take some many interesting classes and the ones that I’ve liked less were over soon enough because it’s only 10 weeks.</p>
<p>@Cayton I see, I’m probably just a bit leery of the semester system because I did so poorly in high school. UCLA offers me a little bit of comfort in knowing that at least my scheduling won’t have to change.</p>
<p>@k4201505 </p>
<p>In all fairness, it might be because there are a lot of people in Southern California and UCLA is in Los Angeles, the second-most populated city in the United States, so that’ll influence the number of applications UCLA receives. Then again, Los Angeles is a great city(When you ignore the ghetto and the awful traffic) and UCLA is a public school in a great neighborhood, good community, and with first-class faculty.</p>
<p>@CalBruin, yeah it is a waste of money but I’m not sure which school to pick and I know that UCLA gives housing on a “first come, first serve” basis. </p>
<p>looks like ur still considering Cal too :)</p>
<p>@randombookie actually, the lady in housing told me that it’s a lottery system. Reserving first won’t help or hurt you. Haha I’ve actually been doing a lot of thinking and I think I might be ready to commit to Cal.</p>
<p>@CalBruin, UCLA has a lottery system? Wow, I didn’t know that. Haha thanks for the helpful information! :)</p>
<p>Awesome! Cal is great, to say the least. What was the factor or factors that drew you to Cal and not UCLA?</p>
<p>I really dont know what to decide either. When I lived in Oakland I would visit UCB all the time for social justice events so I know how beautiful and prestigious it is. all the students i met there were dedicated but also really radical which I liked. UCLA is also a great school my boss went there for his undergraduate studies and now teaches at Yale , sunny weather is also nice.
I actually went to look up at the courses being offered at each for my major (cultural anthro) and I was not expecting but wow UCLA has so many interesting courses that I would LOVE to take. UCB upper division courses were fewer and had the more traditional subjects</p>
<p>@AnthroFlo have you taken a look at the courses in each? what did you think?</p>
<p>@randombookie you’re welcome! Well, it was a laundry list of little things that helped steer my decision. One reason I was more inclined to go to UCLA was because of its location. It’s close enough for me to go home whenever, Westwood is absolutely beautiful, and (on a slightly unrelated note) the campus is breathtaking. But then I figured, it’s only 2 years and going to Cal would give me the chance to experience something completely new and exciting. </p>
<p>Sure the campus is small and there might be the occasional homeless person here and there but Berkeley is what I think about when I imagine a college town. As Cal is still in California I’ll still be able to go home often enough and I’ll get to experience NorCal. Another thing was academics. I realized that I have been treating UCLA like a “safe” option just because I am coming from another UC. I’ve long regarded LA and Cal to be of equal calibre in academics so it made no sense for me to think that I could do better at LA than I could at Cal. (well, except for the quarter versus semester thing but thats a whole different thread haha).</p>
<p>I think it came down to me being willing to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I honestly love UCLA and I know I’d have the time of my life while getting a world class education but, I think I’d always wonder what it’d be like if I had chosen Cal. I haven’t submitted my SIR yet because I’m going to attend the SoCal reception in Costa Mesa on the 12th to get some questions answered but I’m feeling pretty confident that I’m going to pick Cal.</p>
<p>Personally, I always felt that the semester system was too long. Classes dragged on and on. I am somewhat happy that classes will only be a 2.5 months. Having the chances to take 3 quarters in a year, is nice because I believe I will be able to graduate a bit faster. </p>
<p>@Tik1127 You won’t graduate any faster since in a quarter system, each class has less units and heavy duty classes are divided in 3, while in semester system they divide it in 2. So overall, it’s the same amount of time.</p>
<p>I also in between, but not the name of the school is what makes me wondering but the major. I applied to Physiological Science in UCLA and Nutritional science: physiology and metabolism in Berkeley, so I don’t really know which one should I choose. Nutritional science sounds weak and very narrow, but it’s more interesting to me. First world problems?</p>
<p>That is fine if I won’t be able to graduate faster, I just disliked being in the same class for about 4 months. Was a pain in my keister. Being in class 3 days a week instead of 2, so, be it. </p>
<p>-sigh- nevermind, I take it all back. I’m back to square 1. </p>
<p>@lamelcriada
I have looked at the courses at each school.
Upon reviewing some of the courses listed, I feel that Cal has more interesting courses; however, I think both schools have a great array of topics they cover. I will say that I am really disappointed that I didn’t see any environmental anthropology courses at UCLA. If I were to attend graduate school I would want to specialize in environmental anthropology. </p>
<p>@CalBruin
Let me see if I can help you out. I will give you my story.</p>
<p>I thought long and hard about applying to Cal. I felt I had the grades(3.83- History Major), my essay was excellent(according to my English professor), i had years of experience in the mortgage sector and working for the State of CA as a caregiver which would look good on paper. Whoever i spoke to, told me I was a shoo-in for UCLA, and even for Cal. But for me, moving up North was not an option I desired. I can get to UCLA in 20-25 minutes. I have lived in LA all of my life. For a backup, I applied to UCI,UCSD(Which I also got admitted) as well as USC(Blah, kidding, kind of… so it begins). I thought about about applying to LMU and Pepperdine, but no, did seriously push that option. In other words, I wasn’t leaving SoCal, not even Stanford would’ve dragged me out. Only way I would’ve, were Ivy League School’s, or studying at Oxford or Cambridge(Fantasy, nothing more). It just wasn’t worth it for my undergrad to apply to UCB.</p>
<p>You have to use other determining factors that will make the choice a little easier. Do you live near one of the school’s? Will you be close to friends and family? Are these important factors for you, as they were for me. Does the social life mean a lot to you? Do you want to enjoy your youth? If so, UCLA is on Sunset, take it down, and enjoy the perks of Hollywood. UCB does not have that LA feel. My friend that went to UCB, said, he likes UCLA’s campus a bit better, but again, he was probably sick of seeing UCB. As others have pointed out, UCLA and UCB are both very prestigious school’s, you can not go wrong with either or. Find something that could be a tipping point. </p>
<p>I hope you make your choice, and it becomes easy for you. Do not have any regrets! </p>
<p>@CalBruin, Oh no lol. I’m in the same boat as you though
Your username accurately represents how many of us are feeling</p>
<p>I think the big (and only) thing that’s making me shy away from Cal is my major. I know, I’m terrible. Transfers should have their major set. I didn’t really know what I want to do at the time of the application. </p>
<p>I keep hearing different things on changing majors at Cal…so I’m frustrated</p>
<p>@randombookie You can change majors at Cal (as long as it isn’t into engineering and you have your prereqs done). If not, they are really strict about graduating in two years, so it might be really difficult. But keep in mind UCLA has a unit cap too. </p>
<p>@CSB111, thanks for the info! can you explain the UCLA unit cap? :)</p>