I am a senior from Rhode Island who was originally was planning on going to UCSB. I love the community atmosphere, the fact that it is so close to the beach, and that I would be able to sail at the club/varsity level at the school. However, I just found out that I got into UCLA and know that UCLA is a far superior school in terms of academics. I feel like my future will suffer if I don’t go to a big name school, but SB was definitely my favorite atmosphere and I would be able to sail competitively there. I really did like UCLA though, but it is certainly not what I am accustomed to, so it would be a huge transition. Any help would be so beneficial, and so would pros/cons of each school.
Happy students are successful students, so go where you think you will thrive regardless of reputation/prestige. UCLA is a great school but not “far superior” to UCSB (maybe in name recognition only.)
UCLA has a club sailing team as well. Look for the “UCLA Sailing Team” Facebook page.