<p>UC Berkeley = People's Republic of China
UCLA = Republic of China, a.k.a. Taiwan :rolleyes:</p>
<p>UCBChemEGrad,</p>
<p>The jabs are one thing. The reality distortion fields are something entirely different. It's kind of irritating after so many years on this site to still see people trying to convince people based on minutia instead of seeing the bigger picture.</p>
<p>I agree with you about the LACs, but I'm trying to show that the variable that really matters isn't so much the doodads that your department has, but the quality of the student and the student's interest in academics. This is why LAC students, despite generally inferior labs and facilities and access to star researchers can easily trump their research university counterparts so often.</p>
<p>It's the student, not the facility.</p>
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UC Berkeley = People's Republic of China
UCLA = Republic of China, a.k.a. Taiwan
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</p>
<p>Berkeley is like that guy that got all the praise in hs. He probably finished #1 in his class, all the teachers raved about him, and he was president of 10 clubs...but he was always picked last in gym and spent his time studying 24/7instead of gaining any actual social skills (may have been in vain anyways). </p>
<p>UCLA is like the kid who finished around top 10%. He probably wasn't busting his ass every day, and wasn't the jewel of every teacher because he got his stuff done but didn't feel the need to brown nose. He was a cool cat though and very well liked by fellow students.</p>
<p>LaxAttack09, those are stereotypes, and as such are bound to be inaccurate. Please keep that in mind when listening to other users post about how Berkeley is known for its "intellectual" atmosphere and how "there is a great social scene at Berkeley for anyone who goes out and seeks it." :)</p>
<p>trust me on this: a lot of social things that you consider when you are still on the "other side" will become non-issue when you actually get through college. i remember considering stuff like the whole "UCLA is more laidback" or "Cal is more prestigious" shpeal that people were throwing at me, but in the end, I barely notice/think/care about that stuff now. I'd say that unless you are looking into some specific program, they are almost the same. it's not like we're comparing a top UC school with some small dingy school in the deep south.</p>
<p>thecheesecake,</p>
<p>That's the crux of my point (said in fewer words.) We're not talking apples and oranges here, people. We're talking apples and apples. Gala and Pacific Rose. This is not choosing between Harvard and Cal State Suckington. This is UCLA vs Berkeley, and neither one is going to mean the difference between $150K a year and barely scraping by.</p>
<p>You'll do fine at either one, as long as you do the work necessary.</p>
<p>
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. I've heard Berkeley isn't that social at all, but that's just what I've heard.
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<p>Berkeley is whatever you make it out to be. They pack the stadiums with 70,000 people every weekend during the fall, and they don't do it by holing up in their dorms. Do some people do that? Sure. But some students also do the same at UCLA. Honestly, "if you're bored with Berkeley, you're bored with life"</p>
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That's what happens when you have a bunch of gunners who study 24/7 and never leave their dorms.
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Yeah, well they discovered 17 elements. They must be doing something right.</p>
<p>flopsy: the "Cal=people's republic of china" is unnecessary and immature. Please, don't lower yourself to $C's standard.</p>
<p>OP: I was recently admitted to UCLA, with an honors invite. Both schools are unique in their own way. Some prefer Cal's lively atmosphere, others want warmer weather year-round. Visit both schools, they're truly great institutions and you will not go wrong either way. good luck!</p>
<p>Everyone on here is:
a) Completely biased towards UCLA
b) Completely biased towards Berkeley
c) Doesn't care one way or another</p>
<p>Now, what you want to find is c), the people that don't care one way or another. However there are always people that SAY they don't care, when in fact they don't know that they are biased. The only 100% way to find out which one is your college is to go on campus and get a taste for yourself. In fact, UCLA is having a little gathering (I believe), today and next Saturday in the local and Northern area. Maybe you could try and go.</p>
<p>OP: perhaps you should post this on, say the Michigan, UNC or Virginia forum...other elite public schools that will truly have an unbiased view. You'll get a wider-range of responses that way as well. </p>
<p>Castel: agree about the visit thingy!</p>
<p>@vc08: But they'll be like, GET OUT OF OUR SECTION YOU UC INFIDEL!</p>
<p>agree with vc on the posting on other forums thing</p>
<p>castel: perhaps, but i'd bet they'd find it an interesting topic, and i'm sure someone would be willing to respond!</p>
<p>vc08,</p>
<p>flopsy was joking. What standards?</p>
<p>Castel,</p>
<p>There SHOULD be some bias on the part of the students/alumni. They should at least attempt to defend their school to some degree. Otherwise, why bother having forums for each specific school?</p>
<p>The $C standard of making completely inappropriate comments about every school except their own.</p>
<p>I realize he was joking. Still doesn't make it right, does it?</p>
<p>OP: perhaps you should post this on, say the Michigan, UNC or Virginia forum...other elite public schools that will truly have an unbiased view</p>
<p>nothing is unbiased... it's just getting wider perspective or a variety of opinions. bias is opinion.</p>
<p>the guy went to the ucla forum and asked . . . what responses would you have expected? "go to berkeley; ucla sucks. i made a stupid decision" ? ? ?</p>
<p>vc08,</p>
<p>Uhhh... how is it inappropriate to call Berkeley the big dog and UCLA the upstart offshoot?</p>
<p>Just because it's the mainland? I don't see what's so inappropriate about it.</p>
<p>Unless you're drawing some conclusion from the fact that the PRC is, well, "communist." Even then it's great, because it works on so many levels. Sure, the PRC used to be really communist and revolutionary (huh, Berkeley...) but is today a bastion of business and career-minded folks who are usually just fed up with the administration (huh... Berkeley....)</p>
<p>It's actually pretty clever if you think about it. Not really that inappropriate unless you want it to be.</p>
<p>^^ I think it's pretty clear that offense was taken because of the generalization that all the students are Asian.</p>
<p>Hang on a second, though. He was offended because of the jab at Berkeley. It's not like he didn't call UCLA Taiwan. What would the implication be, then? That Berkeley is... also full of Asian students?</p>
<p>Oh me oh my. :p</p>
<p>Personally, I think people are just getting too easily offended over what was pretty harmless. It's not like the Berkeley students don't make all sorts of comments about UCLA being the offshoot, the baby bear, etc. It's not like UCs being full of Asian students is anything that hasn't been run around the block a few times.</p>
<p>Seriously, I think it was just a quick little metaphor thrown out to amuse.</p>
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Seriously, I think it was just a quick little metaphor thrown out to amuse.
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Well then perhaps he should think a little harder next time.</p>
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He was offended because of the jab at Berkeley. It's not like he didn't call UCLA Taiwan. What would the implication be, then? That Berkeley is... also full of Asian students?
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<p>Er, who said it wasn't also offensive to those who are in support of UCLA? You assume that it was only a jab at Berkeley. I see it as a jab at both. It's patently offensive to call either "Republic of China" (not only because that is a bit of slap to the Asian community, but also because most Asians there are not Chinese). It seems to me as though certain students are so used to that sort of jab that they do it themselves. ("University of Caucasians Lost in Asia" and "U C Lotsa Asians" are not supposed to be endearing.)</p>
<p>Not to mention neither is "full of Asians."</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but I think it's pretty well-established that flopsy, of all people, is known for being sardonic. Of course it's unfair to impose that upon anyone, but since when has he been known to go out of his way to insult anyone?</p>
<p>Seriously, maybe I spend too much time amongst disaffected grad students (mostly Asian, mind you), but I don't think most people would be as upset by this. Who cares if it points out something that IS true (Both campuses having large Asian populations.) The metaphor is pretty clever. It captures a lot of the situation.</p>
<p>Would it be better if it was: UC Berkeley = Germany in pre-WWII Europe
UCLA = Alsace-Lorraine?</p>
<p>Or better yet: UC Berkeley = Canadian Niagara Falls
UCLA = American Niagara Falls</p>
<p>Y'know, because EVERYONE knows that the Canadian falls are just a little better.</p>
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Not to mention neither is "full of Asians."
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</p>
<p>40%+ at both campuses isn't a lot? C'mon, if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck...</p>