<p>I've been accepted to UCLA and Tufts for engineering, and even though they are very different schools, I'm having a tough time deciding between the two. The main factors I care about are: prestige, engineering job placement, and social life. Money is not an issue. I live in MA so Tufts would be closer, but I'm leaning towards UCLA since it has a better ranked engineering program (I don't even think tufts is in the top 50 undergrad for engineering).</p>
<p>I'd love some insight, thanks for the help in advance!</p>
<p>Yes, I am well aware that Tufts is a private school. I didn’t mean he could take advantage of Tufts being an MA resident (as in it’s a state school.) I meant it would probably be better financially than attending UCLA as an MA resident (since he’d have to pay OOS tuition.) And I imagine Tufts would provide him with a fairly decent financial aid package (I assume at least a better one than UCLA would.)</p>
<p>Actually, even though I’m OOS for UCLA, tuition would still be cheaper (I didn’t get any FA from Tufts). But after factoring in travel costs it would be about even. My parents have said that cost doesn’t matter tho</p>
<p>So according to this quote of yours, cost isn’t relevant. </p>
<p>If someone comes to UCLA or UC in general from oos or from outside of the US, I need to see the ability of his/her parents to pay, almost similar to the perception of full-sticker price of $55,000/year for most people being translated over a couple places to the left for your parents, similar to their paying $550/year – or in other words, their having great cash-flow income, instead of their having all their equity based on the value of their house, the latter, like a lot of Californians. (I’m not sure if I’m entirely happy with how I wrote this, but I hope you understand my point.)</p>
<p>So the relevant thing left is, how do the lifestyles at the two u’s sound to you? I would imagine that there are a good amount of Northeasterners as yourself who do attend UCLA from oos, as seen in one of the [students](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrkxj96bjoM”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrkxj96bjoM</a>) in this youtube video. I’m sure a lot of them as possibly yourself come to LA to experience the year-around balmy weather. If you could see yourself, too, as possibly wanting to settle in CA, this could further cement your choice.</p>
<p>I would, though, if I were you, go over the cost of attendance with your parents again, to see if everything would be a go. Any possible hangup in unaccounted cost would blow things up.</p>
<p>What kind of engineering are you interested in? You can check on job placement with the engineering schools at both campuses. The type of engineering will make a difference, of course. </p>
<p>I have a D at Tufts, and have a lot of connections with UCLA. They are definitely two very different schools. My main concern for you would be if you changed from engineering to another school or major. Class sizes at Tufts are generally much smaller than at UCLA, though if you are in engineering or one of the physical sciences this is less of an issue. </p>
<p>I have visited UCLA, and I loved the campus. Seemed much more vibrant and well kept than the simple and small campus of Tufts. UCLA, however, may be too big (student wise) and I feel like Tufts will offer a more personal teaching environment. They’re both so different which makes it a very tough choice. </p>
<p>Tufts would offer you a more intimate teaching atmosphere than UCLA, certainly, but the nature of science curricula is that a professor has to get through material slated for the term. Otherwise, a student in his/her class may have a void in his knowledge (I’m assuming “him” in your case) that could affect him in later courses, especially in his prep leading up to his upper-division courses … in classes like calc, if you haven’t a good portion already, physics, etc. So no matter where you’re at, professors aren’t going to slow down for whomever, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be your problem either. (Any perceived difference in availability in large to small campuses of professors have shown that they are readily available for office hours at UCLA, according to E majors at the U.) In addition, UCLA is on the quarter system, ~ 10 weeks + 1, which makes for a whirlwind of study (and it appears that Tufts is on the semester; correct me if I’m wrong). Added to this, UCLA engineering is undoubtedly pretty competitive, probably moreso than Tufts, by how much would seem to be a legitimate question. </p>
<p>If you plan on employment in Mass, Tufts would certainly be the better choice, but if you want to experience CA if even only for four years, UCLA would undoubtedly love to have you enroll. </p>
<p>So we can add some things you might have to hash out:</p>
<ol>
<li>Class Sizes; Mega v. Moderate/Small Campus</li>
<li>Quarters v. Semester</li>
<li>Competitiveness</li>
<li>Where you see yourself for college and afterward</li>
<li>Social Life, as you mentioned previously</li>
</ol>
<p>and some of the other things you might want to bring to the table.</p>
<p>thanks for your reply, still deciding tho. How favorably is a degree from UCLA engineering seen in the northeast (compared to a degree from Tufts engineering?). </p>
<p>Ironically, when we first saw Tufts, coming from Southern California, we loved the campus which seemed much more well kept than, say, UCLA. Perhaps it’s seeing something that looks very new and different? For whatever reason, the trudge from the heart of UCLA’s campus into Westwood seems much more tiresome to me than the stroll from Tufts to Davis Square. ;-)</p>
<p>I agree with your instinct about Tufts offering a more personal teaching environment. If that is a huge factor for you, then Tufts is the obvious choice. You’ll have to weight that in along with other factors–which type of campus you prefer, the quality and placement record of the engineering programs, and so forth. Sorry, no obvious answer to give you!</p>
Perhaps it’s seeing something that looks very new and different? For whatever reason, the trudge from the heart of UCLA’s campus into Westwood seems much more tiresome to me than the stroll from Tufts to Davis Square. ;-)</p>