Hi everyone! After a disappointing Ivy day, I realized that I need to move forward and look at what acceptances I did get. I have narrowed it down to these three and here’s some background why/what I am looking for (overall I don’t know which one between these three so I would really appreciate some biased advice on what you do/don’t like about these schools).
-Im a psych/business econ major and want to go to (a really good) law school
UCB:
Pro: I was invited to apply for Regents (I’ll find out if I get it tmrw), in Nor cal (I’m from so cal and would appreciate the change), by SF which I don’t love but something new, really great psych programs/ Haas school of business
Cons: I know this is superficial but berkeley goggles? – by this I don’t mean that people are ugly but maybe not enjoying college as much?, idk I just don’t know if I can handle the stress
UCLA:
Pro: I have alumni scholarship interview so we’ll see how that goes, I am really used to LA but I’ll know the area well/lots of stuff to do, I used to audition so I probably would if I lived in LA, Heard campus is super nice (never visited) and people are supposed to be really nice and enjoy UCLA a lot, I would be two hours away from home which has its pros
Cons: I’m like super used to LA so idk if I would really like it that much since I used to go like twice a week (I kinda want a change for college i think?), no business program/psych program is good also but less prestigious (idk if theres a reason why?), given i have lived in socal my whole life and never went to beach much why would i start now?
CMC:
Pro: I like that I would have a lot of personal attention, lots of access to other college students, heard everyone likes the environment, school awarded me mckenna scholarship so I feel like they really want me, good programs for business, maybe more flexibility to pursue what i want to/less stress, i like the ath talks
Cons: i dont like how hot the area gets, and how isolated the campus is, I also heard that the only thing people do on weekends is party but i’m just not a big partier and i like having a lot of cultural excursiony stuff to do, really expensive so I’ll only really consider if I get the seavers scholarship
Anyway feel free to ask more questions if needed. Thank you so much and good luck to all of you!!
→ Also I’m visiting the campuses again and hopeful that will help me make a decision!
Hi! I’m not econ/psych/business (im going for comp sci, and maybe music), but I do find myself in a similar situation this year. For me it’s berkeley, ucla, and pomona rather than cmc. Haven’t decided where i’m going yet, but i’ve done a lot of research on the schools. I know that at least for my major berkeley is super cutthroat and hyper (hyper) competitive, and ucla is less so (although still rigorous). Both are probably more impersonal than cmc would be. I think if you got regents at berkeley that could make a huge difference there. Never visited Berkeley, and I heard the campus is gorgeous there, but yeah the UCLA campus is beautiful as well (although in my opinion not quite as pretty as Pomona’s! but i’ve never been to cmc either). lol i saw a bunch of ppl studying in hammocks on the UCLA lawn when I visited on a Sunday. I visited Pomona and they seemed to be really caring there, and I knew I would get a lot of individual support. As for the cmc party thing… I haven’t really heard that much about any claremont party scene. I know Pomona doesn’t really have that, it’s mostly off campus (And i’m not a partier either!). UCLA is definitely a bit more a party school, as is berkeley, being state schools and all, but you could probably avoid it if you tried. I do know that at CMC you could totally go to LA on weekends if you want to and have time. (and yes it does get pretty hot there, but UCLA probably would too) best of luck!!!
UCB EECS should not be competitive, since students are direct admit to the major. UCB L&S CS requires a 3.3 GPA in the prerequisite CS courses, but at least two of them explicitly do not grade on a curve, so there should be no incentive to cutthroat other students. But if students are trying to cutthroat each other, maybe they did not read the grading policy…
However, EECS + L&S CS enrollment makes the EECS department the largest one by far in terms of undergraduate majors (although each of the two majors is smaller than the economics major). The class of 2017 had 557 L&S CS and 401 EECS majors in it (and nearly all EECS majors focus on CS; upper division EE courses are typically under 30 students, unlike upper division CS courses which can be over 600 students).
However, the business and economics major prerequisites are mostly graded on curves, and the business major admission is highly competitive and subjectively reviewed (though the economics major just requires a 3.0 GPA in the prerequisites). Psychology is also a capacity-limited major, requiring a 3.2 GPA in the prerequisites.
Thank you both for all of the input! I am leaning towards Cal because I didn’t get the Seavers at CMC, but I definitely loved the campus and could see myslef going there. When I visited Cal day I was still unsure, but after a few days I feel pretty strongly about my gut feelings. Best of luck @anathecomma !!