Apple CEO Tim Cook got his Bachelors at Auburn. Lockheed Martin CEO Marilyn Hewson got hers at UA. You think anybody out there sneered at their Alabama education?
That game goes both ways-Presidents of Samuel Goldwyn, Lionsgate, the Lakers, NEC Corp, 20th Century Foxs,CEOS, Merrill Lynch, BlackRock, Deloitte, Chevron, YouTube, Nestles…etc–all Bruins. And no one is looking down at each other, more a matter of fit.
Actually it goes this way:
http://www.ceo.com/news_and_insights/which-schools-produce-the-most-ceos-infographic/#ceoid=arky996
That is of course for graduate schools, but I digress. 
@schuyler22 As somebody who is going through the process, the answer to your question is no, the value(bang for buck) of your undergraduate degree from UCLA is not much more than if you would have received one from Alabama. You will hear this many times; college is more about networking and it is not about what you know, but who you know, especially in the business world. This is something that has become more known as I have gotten older, as you begin to see your friends from small schools land top internships through connections.
@KaRU No it is NOT a huge “culture shock” to go from SoCal to Alabama. I am a Southern Calif native and both of my kids went to Alabama. There are nearly 900 Calif students at Alabama. There is NO culture shock…at all for a southern Californian at Bama. You need to visit Bama before saying such nutty things.
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38k is the tuition. I have to pay room and board at both schools and they are close to equal so I just cancel that out as it is an inevitable expense.
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Ok, but really you should be saying that the difference that you’d be paying is $220 over four years vs about $60k over 4 years (estimating all those non-tuition costs to be about $15k per year).
There is no worry about the “caliber of students” at Bama. The top 36% have an ACT 30+ Those are the kids who are largely found in about 12 majors…Eng’g, business, bio, chem, math, nursing, physics, English, The Classics, and a few others.
BTW…as someone who has been on both campuses many, many times…UCLA is not breathtaking. It is fine looking. But…It is too many buildings squished onto a small piece of land…almost a concrete jungle. Mostly only people who haven’t seen what the campuses on the eastern half of the US look like would say that UCLA is breathtaking.
Excuse me Miss, but I have two degrees from UCLA, and I stand by my original statement " it’s breathtaking",
right… going from one of the most liberal areas in the county to the heart of the deep south is not going to be a huge culture shock. I wonder how many of those 900 California students you mentioned got in via merit scholarship or full rides they have been giving out. @Dj22state if the value of the undergrad does not matter why is so competitive to get into top pubic universities such as UNC, Michigan, UC, UVA, the ivies, and so on. Look how USC markets itself, you will be part of the Trojan network and make it seems that employers will be lining u to take graduates for example. I agree that when it comes down to UCLA vs Alabama- UCLA comes out on top in terms of education value, instructors, environment, exposure, and access to the second biggest job market in the country and beyond. So don’t tell me that there is not a difference between the two.
and if you want to compare alumni between the two just look at the Wikipedia page an judge for yourself
@karu I do see where you’re coming from and I do know about USC’s “network.” As a current UCLA student, I am in noway discrediting this great institution. I also agree that there is a huge difference in the prestige of a UCLA degree than that of an Alabama degree. But in this particular case, @schuyler22 seeks to go to graduate school and paying that kind of money is certainly not worth it for an undergraduate degree.
I suppose the biggest factor is what you want to do after college. UCLA is incredibly prestigious in the state of California. I’ve been to UCLA’s career center. If you want to work on the west coast, UCLA is very heavily recruited. But if you decide to stay in the east, few east coast employers come and recruit at UCLA.
@karu I think that UCLA graduates are for more successful not because of the brand name, but rather, the fact that those admitted are of the most ambitious and intelligent. If you are ambitious and gritty, you will find success wherever it is you go.
The USC comment was directed at the fact that there is this perception that no matter what USC alumni will look out for each other, that’s what I was referring to, and the school builds on that reputation in order to get its name out there. What I wrote was more directed towards you comment about undergrad education which to me you implied that there does not seem to be much of a difference between a tier 1 and tier 2. Yes UCLA is heavy on the west coast, but these are companies which have offices all around the world and there should be problem transferring to what ever area you want to work out of.
@Dj22state
The fact that UCLA was the the most applied to school in the nation (freshmen and transfer slots)–with total applications that approached 120,000 speaks volumes. But, again it’s about fit.
@Dj22state I agree with you. You have to be ambitious and gritty in order to be successful. But to an extent there is the perception of the education you at what ever college you go to. and employers/recruiters look at that.
The “culture shock” of going from SoCal to the Deep South is not that relevant as I am not from SoCal, I have lived in Maryland all my life. I have visited SoCal many times and it is Completey different from Baltimore, but I do love it out there. I have never been to the Deep South, but I come from a school of heavy conservatives, so I don’t think it will be that much of a culture shock in that regard. I’ve decided to visit Alabama next week and have contacted the honors college and they are setting up a day for me.
I think it’s clear that the prestige and value of a UCLA degree is far greater than that of Alabama. However, how much does your undergrad degree matter in relation to your graduate degree? I’ve heard some opinions saying that all that matters is your Graduate degree. If that’s the case, what is they point in paying 200K for one if you plan to go to grad school? Or does your undergrad degree really mean that much? There has to be a reason people are paying these exorbitant amounts for their undergrad. I know my uncle went to city college for 5 years before going to stanford for grad school, however, that seems like a rare case. Can anyone attest to the networking and alumni pull at UA for recruiting and internships?
I understand the appeal of prestige, but prestige at the tune of tens and tens of thousands in debt means vanity more than sense.
I don’t agree with the notion that all that matters is your grad degree. There are plenty of people who prove that point. Does it help, yes no question but no way diminishes an undergra
@Schyler22, Will you have AP credits transferred? If you have enough, you may graduate in less than 4 years, and I believe you can use the balance of your UA Presidential Scholarship towards your Masters Degree at UA.
@boolaHI unless you have visited UA how can you compare the beauty etc of comparing UCLA vs UA campuses? @mom2collegekids has been to both, and she may be a bit biased towards UA with kids having successfully taken advantage of scholarships and wonderful education opportunities, but she has physically been on both campuses to talk intelligently about both.
@KaRU I would like you to explain how the $38k/year for UCLA is ‘worth it’ - you will need to say if you are a student, parent, and how this student will benefit from the additional costs - specific programs/opportunities this student would get at UCLA that they would not get at UA. It also doesn’t sound like the parents have the extra money ‘lying around’. OP also mentioned personal debt taken on.
OP you absolutely underestimate how good a school UA is, and totally over-inflate the ‘prestige and value’ of UCLA with the OOS price tag. What you should be looking at is business college to business college comparison, and the honors college advantages you would have at UA. Also that you may not get into the degree plan you want at UCLA.
I am from WI and have live in TX and AL. I absolutely do not have a sense that a UCLA UG business degree is worth $38K/year ‘more’ than UA (so more than $160,000 for UG price difference accounting for inflation of OOS tuition costs) for ‘prestige’ - and who knows if OP will get into the program they want, as they are only accepted into pre-business economics. You parents may be kindly wanting you to see and understand that a 4 year degree will not cost much out of pocket if you go to UA.
The reason people do pay exorbitant amounts for their undergrad is for a variety of reasons, including that they have the money and choose to do so.
It sounds like UCLA also didn’t admit you into business program (as you state pre-business economics) - that is a huge flag. No problem at UA with business and honors college admission. There is an eminent scholars program through honors college for students interested in research - very well defined program where freshman accepted to the program get lined up with research in their field - few UG colleges have UG research, let alone a sizable program.
I will give you an example of the wonderful things UA students are doing. For example within the last week, 4 students nominated were all named award winners with The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, which was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue research careers in these fields.
In addition to the athletic teams you hear about OOS (like football), there are events for students to see for free (gymnastics team puts on a great home show) etc. The only athletic tickets students pay for are football, and it is inexpensive ticket package (supply and demand so students have to electronically purchase as soon as their allotted time is). What UA makes with their football program, they help fund other sports and academics too.
More and more UA alum and families are from the 50 states - internship opportunities can be found via the school and personal networking. My UA DD interned in civil eng the summer before coming to UA through personal networking. My DD is one of the 300 freshmen in the STEM MBA program - and that program has been around 4/5/6 years, so pretty well developed program.
If you apply yourself fully at UA, do well academically, and pursue opportunities available, you will not be disappointed. I would hope you do so and then you can ‘sing the praises’ on CC.