<p>Hello, I'm looking at going to either UC Berkeley or UCLA, and I know both are great, competitive schools, but I don't really know anything about the environment on campus. What do you think? Are they both ultra competitive, every-man-for-himself kind of places, or are people more friendly and outgoing? I fit in well with places that are diverse and accepting, and though I'm not one to drink and party all day, I want to fit in and have a fun time while completing my studies.</p>
<p>I think the most important thing you need to realize is that these are large schools. This means that among the thousands and thousands of students on campus, there is bound to be a niche just for you-even if that niche os not in sync with the prevailing student body as a whole. Those stereotypes you might hear about schools, I think tend to make more sense or be more important to small schools, where the school has small student bodies, and everyone there tends to know each other, and because of this you either fit in or you don’t.</p>
<p>In regards to ultra-competition, I think at any top school with impacted or popular majors, you’ll find competition. Once you get out of some of those popular departments(Business/Econ, Some of the Sciences(for Pre Med), Engineering, possibly Psych, etc) you’ll start to see less cut throat competition.</p>
<p>Also UCB and UCLA’s admissions is not that very predictable. I think when you start seeing admissions notifications, you’ll see some CC students on here get rejected by one and accepted by the other, some will get accepted to both, some will get rejected by both. Some might even get rejected by a mid tier UC, but accepted to either UCLA or UCB.</p>
<p>Go visit each of the campuses and see for yourself. Talk to the students, and ask them for specifics. Visit the surrounding area. See where you think you will fit in the best. Then trust your own judgement.</p>
<p>The students are similar and the competition is similar (and can be fierce in premed and engineering courses). Social life outside of class is different – Cal is more urban, while UCLA is somewhat more SoCal laid-back. But just all are generalizations. Band mom has it right – once accepted, go visit.</p>
<p>Football at Cal is played on-campus [Except for the 2011 season when they’ll be renovating the stadium]. Makes a big difference in atmosphere on fall Saturdays.</p>
<p>They are very similar. Weather is warmer in Socal. Rain is less in Socal. UCLA is right in the middle of one of the most expensive and safest neighborhoods in the country (Holmby Hills to the East (Hef’s place), BelAir to the North, Westwood to the West and South.) These are areas where a one quarter acre dirt lot costs over $3M even in this economy. Then you’ve got the vast expanses of sandy beach in Santa Monica five miles to the west.</p>
<p>I think housing off-campus is more doable at UCLA than Berkeley.</p>
<p>Berkeley is said to be more competitive in the classroom. I heard this about pre-med, don’t know about other majors. I would think that is no longer the case… or a small enough difference that it doesn’t merit being a decision criterion.</p>
<p>No disagreements with anything posted upthread. </p>
<p>Berkeley is grittier. The town comes right up to the edge of campus at Cal; at UCLA, there’s a 10 minute walk from the heart of campus into Westwood. Many of the dorms at Cal are separated from campus by a few blocks of downtown Berkeley, while the UCLA dorms are on campus but isolated from commercial areas. The surrounding streets are wider at UCLA, narrower at Cal. </p>
<p>You can easily get into San Francisco from Berkeley by BART. Getting to downtown LA is tougher from UCLA, but generally not as common. Beaches are better at UCLA; access to hiking/backpacking is better at Cal. You can have access to either at both schools.</p>
<p>There are students of all kinds at both campuses, but I saw more women wearing makeup to class at UCLA than at Cal.</p>
<p>UCLA is much more compact in area than Berkeley. No need for a bicycle to get to class. The UCLA campus also seems cleaner with less litter. Homeless people wandering around campus picking through the overflowing garbage cans seems to be tolerated at Berkeley.</p>
<p>It’s true that the atmosphere is different on days when Cal is playing football at home - the population of old guys wearing blue sweatshirts is much higher on those days. </p>
<p>That happens seven times a year at Cal; two of those games happen before the students return to classes in the fall. I wouldn’t let this be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>^Obviously you have never been to a college football game or just making a dumb statement. Did you mean the visiting team whose fans are usually older because they have more discretionary income to travel? Also Cal is not on the same schedule as UCLA so all seven games are during the school year, which is about two months worth of home games, a good portion of the fall semester. UCB wasn’t saying this should be a deciding factor but a nice plus to having to drive all the way to Pasadena</p>
<p>This I’ll disagree with. Assuming that we’re just considering on-campus housing, it’s generally a longer walk from UCLA dorms to classrooms. Not always, and it’ll depend on the specific dorm and where your classes are. </p>
<p>You do not need a bike to get to classes in either case, unless you happen to oversleep. In which case a bike is a lifesaver in either case. :)</p>
<p>I’m not biased as I respect both schools and would love to attend either one in the future.
However, this one is not even a contest. UCLA is notoriously known for its social culture and surrounding area. Students from all over the country dream of coming to Los Angeles, and not necessarily Berkeley.</p>
<p>UCLA is sterile environment, located in traffic-choked West L.A. It’s not student-oriented. </p>
<p>Berkeley is a much more vibrant, intellectual college town. All San Francisco attractions and airports are readily accessible via BART. </p>
<p>I will agree that UCLA does have a more glamorous image and has warmer weather. For me, though, growing up in Socal, I liked the cooler, rainier Bay Area weather.</p>
Uhhh, Berkeley is on the semester system. UCLA is on the quarter system…so it’s UCLA that “misses” more initial football games.</p>
<p>Look at Cal’s 2010 football schedule:
Two home games kick off the season. September 4th vs. UC Davis and September 11th vs. Colorado.<br>
Classes for Fall Semester 2010 start August 26th.</p>
<p>Greybeard, I thought you were a Berkeley alum…?</p>
<p>And the Berkeley greek houses are way better; the ones at ucla are mostly old apartments and spread out weirdly, and the sororities and fraternities are on different sides of campus.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the input. I live in LA maybe 45 mins away from UCLA, and though I would like to, I have yet to visit the campus. Seeing LA weather and culture wouldn’t be anything new to me. On the other hand, my high school’s in a pretty ‘ghetto’ area too, so UCB’s neighborhood probably wouldn’t phase me much.</p>
<p>I’m planning on going pre-med. I’ve heard that Berkeley’s pre-med program is really stressfull and competitive, is UCLA the same way? Would going to UCLA improve my chances of getting into their med. school later on?</p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA are very difficult premed environments. Their admissions rate to medical school from these campuses is very low considering the caliber of students that are are selected to go there. This likely has to do with large competitive lower division classes and the lack of contact with faculty (makes good recs difficult to come by).</p>
<p>In years past the med school admission rates at these schools is around 50%-60%. And that only includes the people who made it through and did not drop out of premed after 0-Chem (a very very large number). Compare that rate with the med school acceptance rate at CMC or Pomona College (usually 95%-100%).</p>
<p>BTW- I graduated from Berkeley and was accepted at several med schools- so it can be done, but it is a much more difficult path then most.</p>