UCLA or University of Illinois, physics

College Search & Selection
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<p>My dad went to UIUC, and my son goes to UCLA, so I am somewhat impartial between the two. </p>

<p>When my dad was a student at UIUC, they played in the Rose Bowl and he came out to California for the game. While in California he visited UCLA, Westwood and went to the beach in Santa Monica. He totally fell in love with the place, and started making plans to move to Westwood immediately after graduation.</p>

<p>When my son was visiting multiple UCs to which he was admitted, he was completely undecided until he got to UCLA. He said that “everybody there seemed to be so happy and having so much more fun” compared to the other schools. </p>

<p>As to whether UCLA is worth the out of state price, I can not say that it is compared to Illinois. But there is definitely something in the air in Westwood that makes the students very happy.</p>

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<p>a fool and his money…</p>

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<p>Yes, but maybe they will see a Kardashian. UCLA–more set than college.</p>

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<p>There’s no need to be snide. People are free to spend their money on what they wish. It’s pretty childish to call her a “fool” or say she’s doing it to see celebrities. It’s not like she’s spending her money on an expensive university just for the sake of being in California/Los Angeles. If her son does attend, he’ll be attending one of the best, and most prestigious universities in the world. She’s also taking many factors into account that are important when students select a college. These include (but are not limited to):</p>

<p>*Fit
*Prestige
*and Academics</p>

<p>And if her son decides to attend UCLA, he’ll be one among many people who decide to do so for similar reasons. Many people pay OOS tuition for public universities like UCLA. According to UCLA’s admission statistics, 50% of admitted international transfer students enroll, and 25% of admitted OOS transfer students enroll. And i’d imagine that they enroll for a combination of the above reasons.</p>

<p>[Profile</a> of Admitted Transfer Students, Fall 2011 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof11.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof11.htm)</p>

<p>It’s not as if she’s saying her son should go to UCLA name carries more juice at the high school or whatever, she clearly said:</p>

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<p>That’s interesting. I personally disliked Westwood when i was staying there. There’s so much traffic, hills, etc. I strongly prefer West LA over Westwood, but i guess that just falls down to personal preference.</p>

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<p>Illinois is a great school, and your son would do well to go there.</p>

<p>But the thing that draws students to UCLA is that it is immersed in CA culture. If the U is in any other state, there’s not the same draw/pull that would take people in. As it is, it is quintessential CA, and particularly LA, and there are plenty of non-residents who would pay full price to experience it.</p>

<p>UCLA is an enticing blend of so many things. It’s Hollywood, with many students aspiring to work in Hollywood either in front or behind the camera, and even peripherally associated with it in agency or entertainment law. But then way on the other side of things, there are great science programs with kids wanting to be physicists, MDs, dentists, engineers, similar to your son. UCLA (as well as Illinois) does exceedingly well in producing bac grads who pursue and obtain PHD’s in the sciences.</p>

<p>There is a distinctive jock culture on campus as exhibited by both the jocks and regular students. But it’s highly intellectual, opposite to someone who posted that the school was “anti-intellectual,” … and for whom I wanted to rebut but never got the chance. This characterization couldn’t be anything further from truth, with a good handful of Nobelists, including the great Ralph Bunche. (The Peace Prize now can be a sham as Alexandre intimated, but not by the way Mr. Bunche won … and he is by far UCLA"s most famous Nobelist.) </p>

<p>The only way you should pay full price is if you can afford it without any hint of financial aid which the U reserves only for CA residents. If your bank account would allow you to value $50K more like $500, then UCLA might be good for your son. If you have to take out loans, UCLA would not be worth it.</p>

<p>So, I would say that Illinois would offer the same things UCLA does, and might do some things better like CS or Engineering, but there are some things UCLA does better because it is in CA. There’s only one westcoast and one CA and one Hollywood to experience, and UCLA is in the heart of it and offers things for kids to be successful in these uniquely CA industries.</p>

<p>And Mom2collegekids, has no idea what she’s saying when she said that UCLA is a ‘concrete jungle.’ This couldn’t be anything further from the truth.</p>

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<p>And I would like to echo what bandmom stated wrt the ‘happiness factor.’ The only really bad weather on campus would be a rainy stretch in March and April, but other than this glitch, the rest of the time duiring the school year is usually sunny. Even Decembers can be fairly warm, certainly pleasant. The weather helps add to the students at UCLA being incredibly happy. And I’m not saying this to counter Illinois, because there are plenty of people who prefer distinctive seasons.</p>

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<p>So let me get this straight beyphy; you feel that it’s ok to recommend UCLA at 30K more per year over UIUC, but at the same time on another thread you don’t feel that Michigan is worth 6K more per year than Ohio State. Yeah, you really are a good one to give advice. Here’s my advice to the OP, unless you can easily afford UCLA, there is no way I would recommend it at 120K more for four years over UIUC.</p>

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<p>I thought that beyphy recommended UCLA only if she (they, both parents) could afford it, similar to what you stated. No one would ever recommend any UC, dare say, even UCBChemEgrad in ChemE at Cal, ;), unless the family could afford it.</p>

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<p>bephy recommended on another thread for a poster to attend Ohio State, simply because it was free. That same poster could also attend Michigan for 6K/year which is of course an unbelievable bargain for a school that has more “prestige” and better “academics.” He went on to say that he wouldn’t pay the additional amount to go to Michigan over tOSU either. My point was that UIUC is more comparable to UCLA than Ohio State is to Michigan in overall quality. I would never, ever pay 120K over four years for a degree from UCLA over UIUC. I would however, pay 24K for a degree from UCLA over UIUC.</p>

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<p>rjkofnovi, you make some valid points. The only thing I would add would be is if by the OP’s post that she added that she is profoundly rich. If so … if $50K is like $5-500 to her, then UCLA might be worth the full-sticker price. Similarly, kids who go to Michigan from CA find the price well worth it to them (or their parents do).</p>

<p>I actually came back here to post a snippet from a Sporting News [article](<a href=“http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-04-18/ucla-coach-jim-mora-basking-in-the-college-life”>http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-04-18/ucla-coach-jim-mora-basking-in-the-college-life&lt;/a&gt;) with obviously a sports theme:</p>

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<p>My point, and I’m sorry if I seem overly promotional of the U, is there are lots of interesting things to do, interesting people to meet, and exceptional weather to experience while on campus at UCLA. Illinois undoubtedly is similar in this regard. There are no right or wrong decisions here, provided the funding is not a problem.</p>

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<p>I also recommended a full-ride at Michigan over Princeton, which is much more comparable in rankings to Michigan vs TOSU</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14295835-post17.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14295835-post17.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As might be inferred, i’m a big fan of free rides.</p>

<p>My views on the three current threads are also different:</p>

<p>Michigan vs TOSU: i picked TOSU due to it being a free ride.</p>

<p>Michigan vs Princeton: i picked Michigan due to it being a free ride</p>

<p>UIUC vs UCLA: i recommended UCLA (ONLY IF) the mother could afford it. And that’s only because she was so amazed by it. Obviously it would rest on whether her son was amazed by it too. But if he does, and she can afford it, i don’t see the harm.</p>

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<p>I’m having a hard time believing a parent wrote that. </p>

<p>Also, is there a thread for “things you don’t have to worry about when considering your in-state flagship”? If not, maybe I’ll start one. This will be my number one entry: “You do not have to worry about rubbing shoulders with people you knew in high school if you go to a school with a student body of 30,000.”</p>

<p>I do not know a single person who didn’t love his or her undergraduate experience at U. of I. At the same time, lots of kids at my D’s school have chosen out-of-state flagships and expensive private schools that are not necessarily going to provide a better education than U. of I. But if the family can bear the cost and the kid wants to leave the state, why not?</p>

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<p>Concerning mikemac’s post #8, about class sizes…</p>

<p>Yes, class sizes at UCLA can be large for intro classes and even for some upper division in the most popular majors on campus. </p>

<p>But, this reminded me of brownparent’s post chiding a UCLA student (Brown v. UCLA topic for CS major … UCLA students defended UCLA well in stating that the U has good ins to NorCal’s Silicon companies)… that the largest class at Brown would ‘probably be 100 students,’ or something to this effect.</p>

<p>This would be presumptuous and folly to believe this. Harvard has reputedly the largest no. of small classes and the smallest no. of large classes among national u’s, but yet the students there complain about large introductory classes. So I could probably state w/certainty that a 100-student class would not be the largest at Brown. The way people overstate things on this board is ridiculous.</p>

<p>If someone wants the smallest class sizes possible, he/she should opt for an LAC. And a point is: if someone needs help at UCLA, there are several opportunities to receive it from fellow students, the academic services centers and from the profs themselves (opp. to my stating earler that UCLA is ‘sink or swim’ on one’s own – an obvious overstatement, but obviously true wrt the comparison of Pomona College).</p>

<p>And lest the topic bubble up again, four-year graduation at UCLA is a very good ~ 70%. Engineering students stay longer, but this is because they need to be industry ready.</p>

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<p>Absweetmarie…</p>

<p>You’re right. I don’t think the parent wrote these posts. No clear-thinking parent would write those words. Good catch!</p>

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<p>Then again, what child would use the word ‘juice’?</p>

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<p>^^^The phrasing is not idiomatic to English for a person of any age, which is neither here nor there. </p>

<p>My point is that I have a hard time believing a mature adult would factor in how the choice of school would play in the high school cafeteria when making a decision about how to spend tens of thousands of dollars.</p>

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<p>Gotcha … you made some good points.</p>