<p>I got accepted into both colleges and tuition for both are the same exact amount.
My sister went to UCLA and speaks fondly of it, having a UCLA connection with all the alumni and now thriving at her job. </p>
<p>From other people's conceptions, UCLA has a student body that is mostly outgoing, friendly, well rounded students that love sports and leadership, while UC Berkeley consists of introspective, intellectual students. I understand that the stereotype can easily overlap into each others college but I just want somewhere that caters to my interests.</p>
<p>I plan to play club volleyball. I love sports and exercising! I love socializing with others and am Christian. I heard that UC Berkeley has a really strong Christian fellowship.</p>
<p>I love the beach and being somewhere that is convenient to get groceries and great food (especially Chinese food!) </p>
<p>I heard Berkeley has really small cramped dorms which is a con but that UCLA is decentralized. </p>
<p>I am majoring in History and possibly minoring in political science or English since I have educational aspirations. </p>
<p>Congrats on being accepted to UCLA and Berkeley! I am a current student at Berkeley and would like to say a few good words about it.</p>
<p>You mentioned “outgoing, friendly, well rounded students that love sports and leadership” as describing UCLA; all of these also describe students at UC Berkeley. There are many options if you wish to play sports or get involved with any sort of club (such as Christian Fellowship). I’ve never heard anyone at Cal complain that the dorm rooms are too “cramped”; during my freshmen year my roommate and I had plenty of free space in our room and took advantage of our common area in our suite (I lived in Foothill). Campus is very close to grocery stores and there is plenty of great food in Berkeley (if you enjoy Chinese food you should read about “Asian Ghetto” near campus). Berkeley has great programs in history, political science, and English, so you can’t go wrong with any of those choices. </p>
<p>In my experience with UCLA and Berkeley students (I know several) both student bodies have students that are intellectual and into sports. I never met a Berkeley grad. that impressed me with the sheer force of his/her intelligence in real life (or on these boards!) with the one exception perhaps being my brother. For the most part, the student bodies are pretty equal.</p>
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<p>UCLA has had a fantastic history in volleyball. I believe they’ve won more NCAA championships in volleyball than in any other sport. And there are several Christian groups on campus as well.</p>
<p>And regents at UCLA is certainly nothing to slouch at. I believe you get priority registration and I believe it also covers dorm fees. That’s certainly a nice perk!</p>
<p>Sorry for the misinformation- I thought it was the same amount for both campuses but it’s not.</p>
<p>UCSD and UCLA have both offered me the same amount of financial aid with $2,000 in Regents scholarship, Cal Grant, and other academic merit/financial based aid. However, UC Berkeley only gave me Cal Grant. </p>
<p>The difference between UCSD/UCLA and UC B is 7k. I’d like to ask them about it because UC Berkeley is not a viable option if it continues to be dependent on just the Cal Grant itself.</p>
<p>I really want to go to Berkeley, but I’m pretty deterred by it since UCLA is offering me the Regents Overnight Stay Program and seems to value me more. I don’t know whether I should deviate from my sister’s decision. Cal really appeals to me but I really am stuck in between both of them. Berkeley would be only 40 mins away from home.</p>
<p>7k per year is 28k in 4 years. That’s quite a bit of money, especially if you’re looking at grad school.
I’m only a junior so I’m not an expert in this but in my opinion, unless there’s something about UCLA you really despise or something about UCB you can’t miss out on, UCLA with Regents sounds like an awesome choice. UCB, from what I’ve heard, is often overbooked, and without Regents you may not get to enroll in the classes you want. At UCLA, however, Regents will not only save you a bunch of money, but it’ll give you more benefits like priority enrollment. UCLA and UCB don’t differ much in terms of academics, so having Regents at one campus really tips it over the top imo. At the end, it’s your choice to make and no one can make it for you. You have a tough (but fantastic) choice, so congrats and good luck!</p>
<p>@kei04086
I’m leaning towards UCLA as well Thanks for your help & advice, it makes me more confident in my decision! I’m going to call UC Berkeley’s Financial Aid office soon to ask them if I qualify for more financial aid. But if that doesn’t work out, looks like I’m a future Bruin! :D</p>
<p>I’ve never had a problem getting into any class (this semester I started off at #90 on the waitlist for a 600+ person class and ended up getting in), although I entered Berkeley with many AP/college credits (so I entered with sophomore standing). I suppose it depends on your intended major / AP credit standing.</p>
<p>^So you did have a problem getting into a class… </p>
<p>UCLA is one of the smallest UCs by land area but one of the largest by student population. I’ve lived at UCLA for almost three months starting in middle school and continuing to college Winter Break. The dorms are cramped at UCLA although it’s not awful particularly if a student wants to get an apartment just off campus after freshman year. </p>
<p>You’re generalizing about the personalities of Berkeley and UCLA students. There are plenty at both types of schools. Thousands even. Over the years my high school sent dozens of students to both institutions. Some of them were as extroverted as could be, some of them were the opposite of that. The only common denominator was that they all worked extremely hard in high school to get the admission letter. </p>
<p>There are two supermarkets in the college town area of Westwood although no Chinese markets (that shouldn’t be a criteria in choosing). You will also find incredibly active Christian organizations at UCLA, some of which organize skiing retreats, beach days, etc. </p>
<p>I seriously doubt that the quality of the humanities education will be better or worse at either school. Both attract intelligent students and by sophomore year, class sizes collapse in the humanities. Berkeley is ranked higher, but that’s mostly a function of its graduate programs. There are still plenty of visiting politicians, writers, historically note-worthy people, etc who visit and lecture at UCLA every month. </p>
Thanks for your help & advice, it makes me more confident in my decision! I’m going to call UC Berkeley’s Financial Aid office soon to ask them if I qualify for more financial aid. But if that doesn’t work out, looks like I’m a future Bruin! :D</p>