WARNING: Lengthy description. I sincerely appreciate any insights you have. I want to give my full story so you can better understand.
I am a Cognitive Science major. I was honored to have been accepted to both UCLA and UC Davis. For Davis, I’m a regents scholar and also got into the honors program there. For UCLA, I did not get regents but am fairly confident I can get into the Honors program as I meet the GPA requirement.
ACADEMICS:
Academics wise, UCLA definitely is a lot better. My interests align significantly closer with UCLA versus UC Davis, which takes a more computational approach to the major (which is the specialty I would be going into). I’m not very interested in CS classes; more so psychology which is what UCLA emphasizes. By approximation, I’ll have to take about 15 classes for UCLA and 20 for UC Davis when I transfer for my major (this not including UCLA). In terms of the actual material, I know that I’ll enjoy LA more.
LOCATION:
Comfort wise, I love Davis. It’s a small town and it’s relaxed and low key. It’s also an hour away from home, which means I’d be able to come home every weekend (a massive plus). It feels much more welcoming to me.
Versus UCLA is more “vibrant,” different, and big. I’ve never lived in SoCal before, so the culture is very different there. Not to say this is a bad thing, but it’d be a transition for sure. I wouldn’t be able to come home every weekend. This CAN be a good thing because it’ll really force me to make friends and get out of my comfort zone. I like that, but it also scares me (I’m more on the neurotic side). My biggest fear is that I’ll feel trapped at LA.
COST:
This one is no contest. Davis is significantly cheaper, by thousands of dollars. While I am fortunate enough to be told that financial cost won’t be a huge burden in my decision, it still is a factor I have to consider. Simultaneously, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to even graduate in 2 years with Davis. It’ll definitely be tough for both schools, but even tougher for Davis I feel just because there’s more courses.
RANKING:
Cognitive Science, in general, is a new field. At UC Davis, it’s very very new. In terms of rankings, UCLA ranks high while I haven’t found reports on Davis (but this is because most people don’t even know what CogSci is). The department is much more developed at UCLA. Generally speaking, both are obviously world renowned institutions.
I also want to mention that UCLA has been my dream school for years. When I made the decision to go to CC before university, I did it with the specific intention of getting into UCLA. It was my #1 goal and I reached it. If you asked me four months ago where I’d go between LA and Davis, I’d choose UCLA. But now that it’s real, I’m scared. Scared I’m making a mistake. UCLA is a risk for me and Davis is the much safer option.
I think what this ultimately boils down to is should I take the risk, go out of my comfort zone, and go off to college for my dream school 6 hours away or stay closer to home and take it safer?
(If any of you read all of this, thank you so much. I really would love to hear any comments you have!!!)
