UCLA vs UCI? Need Help.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

Hello,

I just got into UCLA and UCI as an undeclared major (undeclared- life science at UCLA), and I’m going through the phases of what college to pick. Now, before any of you automatically say: GO TO UCLA. UCLA #1 ALWAYSSS, just please hear me out and please be open minded. I need as much suggestions and opinions as I can get from my friends, family, and you guys.

Here are some of my stats:

GPA: 4.23 (W); 3.80-4.0 (UW)
SAT: 1310/1600 (Essays 7,7,7)
5 ap classes total
Rank: 10/446
Essays: REALLY deep and personal and well written.

Describing my situation

What I value: To make it simple, I am an introverted person. I love to be independent and recuperate after a long day of event(s) or self work. I am not a social person, obviously, and I rather speak less with people. I am comfortable working alone most of the time, but can join groups if i needed/wanted to. (It does not mean that I don’t have any friends, however.)

Where I come from: I live in a very low income area, so therefore my parents work hard labor (mostly my dad because he’s employed while my mother isn’t.) I go to a low income high school as well, and teachers sometimes can’t teach right, so I find myself struggling more than I would’ve.

Challenge/ disorder: I have a stuttering issue since I was a little kid, and to this day it hasn’t gotten any better and I struggle most of the time to communicate. (I don’t stutter that bad, but I can’t control it is what I’m saying). This correlates to me being an introvert. by the way. I try not to let it get to me from participating and what not, but it’s hard sometimes, and I’m always trying to learn to improve my courage and communication.

EC/Volunteer: From ^ to this, my impairment made me skip two years of H.S doing absolutely nothing! ( And yes I totally regret it!) However, I made a huge improvement in junior year that I began as a mentor (leadership) toward youths and have represented a program during a summer that really challenged my impairment. (That I believe got me into all of these UCs), and have planned to continue to lead youths in the future. PLus, I’m not a sporty person so I didn’t join any sports. Clubs… ehh I joined some clubs, but weren’t passionate about it. Though my main point is that in the future, I want to restart my social and volunteer life during college and do as much as I can.

Major I chose: I chose undeclared (mainly in the life science) because I don’t know what I want to do with my life yet and I would rather explore every major and find the one that I like and find most interesting, and then commit to that major. However, I see that UCI’s undeclared offers you a whole rounded exploration of EVERY major rather than UCLA that focuses more in the science field (and Yes, I do like science and would love to have a career related to science, but like I said I wanna explore.)

Financially: Since I come from a poor family, money is a struggle for sure. I did not get any scholarships (regents or chancellors), so just a prediction that Im going to have to pay some money out of my own pockets. I calculated my UCLA net cost and it comes out to be 9000, while UCI is lower I bet. I live closer to UCI, so the cost decreases because I don’t have to dorm nor spend on meals, so that’s a bonus for UCI. (Yes, I applied for FAFSA).

What I fear: I fear that I’m going to be the underdog at UCLA because everybody else worked their butt offs to get to UCLA while I’m here with low scores and barely any leadership experience and sport, got in. Of course I’m going to struggle SO MUCH at UCLA, but everyone tells me the education is rich and many opportunities. UCI, however, is more “tamed” and have many people that are just like me (same stats and same social experiences), so I’m not alone. I also fear of leaving my only two parents behind. My father has some serious health issues at times, and my mom is unemployed, which makes her lonely most of the time at home.

Overall, I understand that UCLA and UCI are prestigious colleges nowadays, and have put confidence in my future, but I don’t want to be in a predicament that I will regret what I chose in the future, and have to scurry out somewhere else. And yes, I do feel bad sometimes that I got accepted while other well over-qualified applicants didn’t, but I’m just very blessed that they have confidence in me to succeed and improve.

So, what do y’all think? I am planning to visit both campuses too and see for myself.

Should I be more comfortable financially, academically, and socially by going to UCI
or
Should I be more open to the world and meet real leaders and geniuses at UCLA and TRY TO learn from them. (While struggling in academics and financially, but hopefully push through and succeed).

Thank you! I appreciate a response!

2

@orionary UCLA is a great school and many people dream to get in. However, based on how you described your situation, it may not be the best fit for you. Too many of my friends are solely focused on school ranking and name recognition but I know quite a few who are very stressed, unhappy, and feel like total losers at Berkeley and UCLA. It’s great to get into a good school, but more importantly, you should feel that you fit there and don’t find yourself struggling every day. That’s just my 2 cents. Go visit both and then decide.

3

After reading your whole post and actually thinking (yes, I tried to put myself in your shoes to see how I would choose), I think that you would be overall happier at UCI. Not only Irvine appears to be a more familiar neighborhood for you, but the overall peaceful and more quiet atmosphere of UCI appears to suit your personality and needs better. UCLA is definitely a good school, but given all the competition in there, you never know what type of people you will be meeting, and you might not get as much help when you need it. If you feel like your gut is telling you that you want challenge over comfort for the next 4-6 years, definitely go to UCLA. If your heart tells you otherwise, I would recommend sticking with UCI. That’s my 2 cents here too.

4

It seems apparent that UCI might be the better choice for you. Trust your gut feeling, both are excellent universities and UCI has a very strong sciences department, it could be a better fit for you. As for UCLA, you’re right in that it will be way more difficult to earn good grades- all of the science majors are insanely competitive and filled with ambitious pre-med students and feature curved grading systems which cause so much stress for nearly every student. Also, not having to pay for the expensive dorms is a great reason to attend Irvine, and you have the benefit of living close to UCI and simply commuting from home to UCI. Go to Irvine!

5

I read through your whole post and while I love UCLA and advocate for it whenever I can, I think in your situation you know uci is the better fit. Financially uci is cheaper and the education to be quite frank is pretty much the same. UCLA is also very very crowded. There’s no where without any people so if crowds aren’t you’re thing then the dorms at UCLA can be overwhelming (10k residents live in a 2 square mile area). There is also a large oos and private school population so many students are well ahead academically. Of course I think of you chose UCLA you can certainly succeed but going off of your description it seems uci is the better fit. Don’t listen to the whole prestige thing. Fit is much more of. Alec. It’s 4 years of your life you’ll want to be happy.

6

Thank you for all of the opinions. I agree. Uci have definitely been rolling in my heart ever since this application process began. I just never would’ve expected UCLA to put their confidence in me too haha. It makes me feel bad that I took a spot away from someone else that would’ve loved it.

7

@orionary Don’t feel bad. You couldn’t have known and be proud UCLA chose you. Only 1/3 if the accepted students will SIR in the end. Plus we have a waitlist.

8

Go to both schools and sit in the class and check which environment that is best fit for you.

Both schools are good.

My daughter has the same issue. She is planning to go sit in the class during her spring break. Her brother is at UCLA so he can probably help her. My son has a difficulty to keep a high GPA, but he is trying his best, he does not stress out and he is having fun there. All his friends are very nice and they help out each other. I believe they have a mentor program there, those senior will help u out.

9

“Should I be more comfortable financially, academically, and socially by going to UCI?”
YES. full stop.
NOTHING will make your life [ even] more miserable over the next 4 years, than having to go in debt or pinch pennies because you made the wrong decision to go to a more “prestigious” UC campus.
Save yourself , and your parents the grief and go to UCI!
and CONGRATULATIONS!

10

It sounds like UCI may be the best fit for you, but maybe UCLA will challenge you and make you push your boundaries a little bit. UCI might be the safe, comfortable choice, but part of college is also growing as a person and becoming an adult. UCLA might draw you out of your shell a little bit.

11

UCI is also a very competitive place. With all due respect to UCLA, its academics are not that much more difficult unless you are in several STEM majors that are sought after.