<p>UCLA OR UCSB. I posted this on the SB page but not much traffic there. I have been accepted to both. I think UCSB would be great but I wonder if I will regret turning down UCLA. I am undeclared but I don't think I will be taking engineering or some other super demanding major. Academically I should be able to succeed at most anything but I don't want to study all the time at college. I live closer to UCLA and it would be a lot easier to go home when needed or to visit with friends. SB could force me to be more social although I am pretty social now considering my schedule. I like to party but am not a drinker or smoker. I also plan to walk on for baseball. Maybe it's easier at SB. I have already ruled out SD since it does not seem as social and I do want to have some fun. I suspect UCSB's party reputation is overblown and I don't think UCLA is as cutthroat as advertised. It looks like the you can get a good education either place and have fun while you are doing it. Both campuses are impressive but in different ways. It's like choosing a Beemer or a Benz. Both are nice but one has more presitige (or does it?). Which one gets the girls? Probably could choose either. Right now I am not sure but I need to make up my mind soon.</p>
<p>Go with the Beemer.</p>
<p>-Ender</p>
<p>Thanks. Now what parking lot? UCLA or UCSB</p>
<p>my main decision is between USC and UCLA. I got accepted to UCSB as well, and I refuse to visit becuase I'm worried the breathtaking campus will brainwash me again. I definitely want to stay in L.A. ---but wow SB is amazing. </p>
<p>just go wherever you feel most at home :-)</p>
<p>While it is ultimately your decision, I would go to UCLA. From what I hear, the social scene at UCLA is awsome. I'm sure you'd have fun there. At the same time, you'd get a top-notch education and a degree that will open many doors for you in the future. With a degree from UCSB, you may not get the same type of job as you would with a degree from LA. But then again...you should go where you are happiest because that's when people usually learn best. The college experience is what you make of it.</p>
<p>I would also go to UCLA. It seems like a great school ( I may be attending it in the fall ), and I believe you have a better chance of getting a good job if you are not going on to graduate school. UCLA is also a beautiful campus and has a great location...ultimately it is your decision and nobody else can make it for you.</p>
<p>UCLA is the better school. You'll be much more impressive in job applications with LA than with SB, famed party school. It's a no-brainer to me. Even if name didn't even matter, UCLA has a good social scene and is in a great area.</p>
<p>go to UCLA! ucla has a great social scene and an amazing school.</p>
<p>i am going to ucsb and love the school, but if i got into ucla, i would go there in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>UCLA. Better academics/faculty than UCSB, tremendously better athletics than UCSB and an equivalent social scene (Los Angeles, come on) to boot. How can you go wrong?</p>
<p>UCLA for sure. UCSB is totally filled with pot smokers. If you're not a total hardcore partier, UCLA would be far superior. It's reputation far exceeds UCSB. And trust me, based on the description you game, you WILL regret picking a school like UCSB over UCLA.</p>
<p>Although i picked Cal last year, UCLA was close behind.</p>
<p>bubblesforsale: i thought ucsc was the pot-smoking, drug school in general. and ucsb's drug of choice is alcohol, lots of alcohol...</p>
<p>Both are. All the low UC's have lots of pot smokers. </p>
<p>Forget Berkeley. Their reputation is undeserved because pot smokers drop out the first year. Unfortunately, the lower UC's dont ax their pot smokers.</p>
<p>I can't believe this is even an issue...UCLA..um duh! ;)</p>
<p>my advice is to visit both and see which is a better fit for you. You probably know people from your HS at both places; take a sleeping bag and go spend a full day & nite at both, eat in the cafeteria (you can buy a meal ticket for a few bucks) and talk to people, etc. You can find plenty of sites with google that discuss what to do on a campus visit; see, for example, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/4lfu9%5B/url%5D">http://tinyurl.com/4lfu9</a></p>
<p>UCSB offers the classical college town, which is rare in CA. I think UCSB is the classic college town. Everyone lives on/near campus so all your friends will be nearby, and the school is actually in Isla Vista (not Santa Barbara) so the town adjoining campus is dominated by student stuff (pizza, etc). You have bike paths all across campus and that's how people get around. There's something special about spending your day in shorts and a t-shirt, with that beach-air feeling on a mostly sunny day, cruising around on your bike or playing frisbee with some friends. Academically it has a good reputation, although not as good as the top UCs. But it isn't like there's a 1:1 correspondence between college name and job; what YOU do in college has a lot to do with it! If you get good grades, get an internship in college, you can do fine out of UCSB. When you're on campus drop by the career center and identify yourself as a prospective student; let them tell you who recruits on campus and where ucsb grad are working.</p>
<p>UCLA, on the other hand, is one of the premier public universities in the entire country. Name recognition is just the start of it. You have profs that can be the tops in their field, nationally-ranked sports teams, a great (if crowded) campus, etc. You should talk to the coach to see what your odds of walking on in baseball are. At ucla they guarantee housing for 2 years so all the people you meet at the start will be nearby and so will the campus. However in the later years people tend to move away into the LA neighborhoods and traffic on the 405 is a killer; this makes it harder to drop by campus for an hour or two if you're already home, harder to just drop by to visit friends, etc.</p>
<p>In the end it really comes down to feel, so visit and decide for yourself. Quite often you'll get a sense that one place just seems "more right" than the other. You can debate merits endlessly, but in the end without a crystal ball to play your life at either choice you can't KNOW which is better; you have to go with your hunch.</p>
<p>As for BubblesForSale, she's a well-known crank who's always going on about how great Cal is and how the others suck. Just click on "find more posts" to see for yourself.</p>
<p>Berkeley? Hippies? No way...</p>