<p>UCLA is friggin awesome… like foshizzzzzzzle.
A trojan is good only once, but a Bruin is forever.</p>
<p>end of story…</p>
<p>kidding.
UCLA is no ivy league or ***** like that… but it is pretty friggin cool…
I mean think about it… UCLA students get to live in SoCal, have a life, wear booty shorts, go to the beach, chillax in Westwood, be with sexyyy people, go to frat parties, get some yummy diddy riese, do the undie run, eat the best effin dorm food, AND get a friggin awesome education in a top school! and all for under 26,000 bucks… (in comparison to idk how much for USC… not that im hating…just sayin)
you tell me what’s not to love, cuz I am deeeply in love with UCLA.
:P</p>
<p>UCLA in my completely biased opinion is underrated…
but ***** that’s me…
i chose UCLA over Cal and USC, and im hella happy.
=]</p>
<p>I have a friend (international- so the money’s not the reason) who rejected Harvard Math, Princeton and Stanford Economics for UCLA Business Economics! Another in-stater rejected MIT and Stanford!! So well- people do believe UCLA’s an awesome place to be! I personally agree it’s no Ivy league or whatever- but I also think that it’s heavily underrated! A degree from UCLA will probably be as impressive as one from- say, Cornell! So- I’d rather go to UCLA in the awesome Los Angeles than go to an apparently “elite” college elsewhere just for the bragging rights. And we’re TOTALLY proud to be Bruins! Oh- and ask someone in China/India/SE-Asia/Europe- UCLA IS CONSIDERED ELITE THERE! Overrated?- No! People just know it’s a complete package!!</p>
<p>I agree with yahooo. Choosing UCLA over Stanford and Harvard is indeed a very idiotic decision. Sorry but it just is. </p>
<p>Stanford isn’t Berkeley, Harvard isn’t just another “elite school”. They carry a unique value that only a handful few can par with, and UCLA certainly isn’t one of 'em. The only legitimate reason why your friend would choose UCLA is over financial issues. If I were admitted to UCLA, Stanford, and Harvard, the only reason I’d choose UCLA over the other is if I received a full-ride Regents Scholarship. </p>
<p>Choosing UCLA over Berkeley is totally understandable. Choosing UCLA over the lower-Ivies is also understandable. But Stanford? Harvard? Princeton? Stupid indeed.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think it’s fair to readily dismiss that decision as being “stupid”, since it’s a very personal one, and people value different things, have different reasons, different goals, and different financial positions, and whatnot. I had a friend in high school who rejected Princeton to go to UCLA. When some people heard that, they were incredulous. But it made complete sense to me after hearing her reasons, her mini cost-benefit analysis, the field she was interested in going into, and the industries that LA were strong in, etc. Decisions like these are not always so black and white.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, institutions’ reputations factor in a lot in some cases. I live in Washington DC right now, and I was told by my supervisor that pretty much the only things that matter are who you are and what school you went to(at least when you’re starting out). I’d imagine its the same for other high powered fields, like law or business. I can tell you that UCLA’s name recognition has helped me network before, whereas UC Davis(where I was originally planning to go) would not have had the same recognition or effect. Not to mention that location matters as well. There’s a lot more opportunities for internships and connections by being in a bustling metropolis than at UCSB or UCD.</p>
<p>depends on ur major dude. UCLA is a good school. however it is not prestigious like the ivy leagues. in fact, there is no way for it to become an ivy school. just too hard to compare them together. best UC is berkeley. the reason UCLA is hard to get into is way too many asian in this area, and their family all want them to go to UCLA/UCBerkeley. hell, if you are going to UCLA from high school, u should prepare to have 2300+SAT and a 4.4~4.5 GPA. at least that is what i have heard from many tutoring academies. when i applied to college 5 years ago, i only had a ~1300 SAT and a 3.8 gpa and got accepted but i didn’t go since i had a better choice. my point is things always changing, today UCLA is the #2 UC, tomo it might not be. u have to find out what u r really into and pick the college that is good at it. it is a quite overrated school, i would say that it is a ~30, 40th school with a top 10 admission requirement at this moment. if u have good grades, try some ivy leagues. my friends in UCLA said once u got in, it is super easy. alot of them cheat during the test and got good grades, but once they graduate, it’s a whole new story.</p>
<p>as for job hunting, i guess it depend on ur employer. most employer now prefer experienced workers. so i would say a UCSD or even UCI graduate with 2 years of work experience would be far better at job hunting than a UCLA or uc berkeley graduate with little or no experience.</p>
<p>SAT scores matter less than you think. It’s all about your GPA and ranking. I’ve met so many students here with scores < 2000 but got in because they were top 4% in their school. </p>
<p>So if you’re still in high school and want to get into a top UC, consider going to an “easy” school and get the grades.</p>
<p>“SAT scores matter less than you think. It’s all about your GPA and ranking. I’ve met so many students here with scores < 2000 but got in because they were top 4% in their school.”</p>
<p>Not necessarily true. I went to a really competitive public high school, where I ended up barely making the top 25% of my class, rank 100something. 3.7 unweighted gpa, 4.13 uc weighted I believe. The only thing that really stood out about my app was my SAT score (2330) and I still believe it’s the reason I got in.</p>
<p>While sat’ s and gpa are important, you guys need to remember that at UCB and UCLA, the essay is one of the most important thing (it says that on both admission web sites) because both schools have so many academically well qualified applicants that the essay, EC’s and honors/awards are what sets a person apart. Also leadership.</p>
<p>bullsht. the UC’s are entirely stats driven. you dont need to show any passion in your personal statement or have any outstanding extracurriculars to get into the UC’s provided you have good stats.</p>
<p>if you have a 2100+, near 4.0 GPA, difficult courseload, and mediocre EC’s, you will get into every UC. guaranteed.</p>
<p>sure, the essay might save applicants with lesser stats, but essays/EC’s matter little for people with good stats.</p>
<p>I completely disagree with “zzboy”. Berkeley and UCLA most definitely put much thought into the essay. For example, many people with higher GPA’s AND more EC’s at my high school where rejected from UCLA, but I with almost no EC’s, a 3.9 Weighted GPA, and 2000 SAT was admitted because of a kick-donkey essay!</p>
<p>I don’t know guys. Not sure about the stats thing because I had 1500 SAT, 4.3 gpa, and a lot of good ECs but I think it’s those damn essays that saved my life.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with essays playing a significant part in admissions.
My essay was also “kicked-donkey” I believe and I think that made up for avg SAT.
Using zzzboy’s rationale, it would be crazy or more like stupid to write a sub-par generic essay and think you have a guaranteed spot because of GPA, EC’s, and SAT. If you’re applying, then you need to stand out partly through your essay.</p>
<p>well, at least with kids from my school, it was ridiculously easy to predict who would get into which UC just based on stats. i still stand by my claim.</p>
<p>now, if youre looking for schools that care about essays, ECs, overall passion, AND stats, look at the ivies.</p>
So well- people do believe UCLA’s an awesome place to be! I personally agree it’s no Ivy league or whatever- but I also think that it’s heavily underrated! A degree from UCLA will probably be as impressive as one from- say, Cornell! So- I’d rather go to UCLA in the awesome Los Angeles than go to an apparently “elite” college elsewhere just for the bragging rights. And we’re TOTALLY proud to be Bruins!