<p>I was accepted to both UCLA and UCI. I am a Bio Major. The issue is that UCI offered me a fantastic package, including their Campuswide Honors Program and a Regents Scholarship worth over $10,000 per year. UCLA hasn't offered anything. I realize UCLA is a higher rated school, but I would like people's feedback on this decision. What would you do?</p>
<p>The honors program really isn't much, or at least at UCLA. If you meet the gpa/SAT or rank qualification at your high school you're just about guaranteed in the honors program, or if you maintain a certain gpa when attending UCLA you can apply for the honors program, not a difficult thing to accomplish (but maintaining the honors credit required to stay in the program can become a hassle). The Regents makes things interesting though, because aside from the fantastic money they give to begin with (money is very important to a college student), they usually come with other perks that are very useful, especially at a public school with so many students (longer housing stay, priority enrollment, etc). Have you visited both schools? Does one setting seem more comfortable to you than the other? The scholarship tips the scale one way to begin with, but look at the other factors involved to decide if the benefits of attending LA will or will not outweigh the benefits of going through UCI on a Regents. Yes LA is usually the higher rated, but you need to look at the other side and realize the increase in competition involved. You need to assess the colleges as they fit you personally, and if all things are equal, I'd go with the scale tipper because a regents is hard to pass up.</p>
<p>I just wanted to clarify that the UCI Honors Program is a pretty nice benefit. First, they only admit 160 students to the program each year. All of them receive special Honors housing, and guaranteed housing all 4 years. They also have first choice of all courses, special honors seminars and opportunities to interact personally with professors. There are also monthly honors activities, special seminars, and higher level research and library privileges. Last, the diploma states that the student is an Honors Program graduate. So, added to the Regents Scholarship, this appears to be a pretty nice package.</p>
<p>Interesting that UCI considers those opportunities as perks of their select honors program. At UCLA, first years are offered special seminars known as fiat lux's which is capped at around 20 students and led by a dedicated professor to the subject. Housing is guaranteed to all students for 3 years at LA. If you enroll in honors at LA, you're given priority enrollment (but just about everyone here seems to have priority enrollment from some sort of involvement). All professors have office hours here at LA, so anytime you want to interact with them personally, they'll always be a time that they must set aside for you. You're granted additional library/computer lab access here depending on majors. LA also designates on your diploma if you graduated with honors. I guess its two different viewpoints of opportunities for two different campuses.</p>
<p>Although I love LA, I would probably choose UCI if I was in your place. They seem to really want you if they are offering 10,000 dollars along with the Honors Program.</p>
<p>cappi20,</p>
<p>one of my friends got the exact same package last year, honors program and regents scholarship from UCI, and she also got into UCLA. </p>
<p>she chose UCI and is having a great time there. </p>
<p>also note that as a bio major, UCI may present more opportunity for you to do bio research.</p>
<p>UCI is a wonderful choice for a bio major -excellent department. The Regents is a great opportunity - congratulations! I would absolutely take UCI over LA with this package, with guaranteed housing and first pick of courses, that alone is worth quite a bit. LA does not guarantee 3 years - only 2 for regular students, and it often takes 5 years to graduate because it's hard to get into all the classes you need.
Irvine is beautiful - my husband graduated from Irvine (a couple of decades ago!), and then received a full fellowship to Princeton in history for grad school. And 10k year!! How can you say no?</p>
<p>i would also pick Irvine in this situation, although i want to clarify on ASAP's post</p>
<p>UCLA guarantees 3 years of housing now, and their goal is to guarantee 4 years of housing. UCI only guarantees 1 year of housing for regular students, I believe.</p>
<p>UCLA recently implemented an Expected Cumulative Progress policy that makes sure you attain 180 units that are needed for graduation by the end of 4 years. </p>
<p>However, without priority pass at UCLA, you might be stuck with some classes that aren't your first choice during your freshman year. That's what makes the UCI honors/regents worth it (besides the money).</p>
<p>I don't mean to be argumentative, kfc4u, because I'm very interested in the facts, as my son will be choosing one of these schools next year. I got my information on page 8 of the 2005-2006 University of California "Introducing the University" booklet. The information they quote is as follows:</p>
<p>Berkeley - one year
Davis - one year
Irvine - one year
Los Angeles - two years
Merced - one year
Riverside - one year
San Diego - two years
Santa barbara - one year
Santa Cruz - two years</p>
<p>Where did you find the info about UCLA providing three years? Perhaps it has changed recently.</p>
<p>Yes, it is changing as of next year. Juniors are allowed to live in the dorms. They are currently building 3 new dorms, which will be completed by the time 2005-06 school year starts, and their goal is to provide 4 years of on-campus housing. </p>
<p>I can't find a website that confirms this, but ask the other UCLA posters on this forum, they can confirm it. </p>
<p>All I can show you is that UCLA is building 3 new dorms:
<a href="http://www.housing.ucla.edu/housing_site/oncampus/map.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.housing.ucla.edu/housing_site/oncampus/map.htm</a></p>
<p>Yup, indeed, UCLA is changing it to 3 years guaranteed. In fact, they seem to be encouraging people to return for a third year so that they can fill up all the new dorms.</p>
<p>And yea, due to ECP, it isn't "often" that a person takes 5 years to graduate. And if it happens, it'll usually be a conscious choice on the student's part. (e.g. suddenly changing majors in your 3rd year or something)</p>
<p>UCLA is now offering 3 years of guaranteed housing to all undergrads. Here's a copy of the announcement that was recently mailed to me:</p>
<p>*
3rd Year Returner - R3</p>
<p>February 1, 2005</p>
<p>Dear [name omitted],</p>
<p>We are pleased to inform you that as a current second-year resident, you
will be offered on-campus housing for the 2005-2006 academic year. As a
third-year returning resident, you will be given priority to sign up for a
room in any current On-campus Housing facility or in one of the two new
residence plazas currently under construction -- Hedrick Summit or Rieber
Vista. </p>
<p>Scheduled for completion this spring and summer, Hedrick Summit and Rieber
Vista will feature air-conditioned double and single rooms with a shared
bathroom. This new housing will help create a residential academic community
geared to meet the needs of upper division and transfer students. </p>
<p>Your may apply online with a credit card at <a href="http://www.housing.ucla/myhousing%5B/url%5D">www.housing.ucla/myhousing</a> or
pay in person at the Housing Cashiers Office in Sproul Hall. The application
deadline and non-refundable $30 fee must be received by 5:00 p.m., February
23, 2005. You will receive a priority sign-up time and room selection
instructions on April 4, 2005</p>
<p>We look forward to your return as a third-year resident in On-campus
Housing!</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>UCLA Housing Services</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>UCLA also aims to have complete four-year housing by the year 2010.</p>
<p>is this stephanie C. ......this be zach....</p>
<p>Back to the subject, I too had a close friend who was making the same choice. She decided on UCI. She told me that the honors courses were the only things making college worth it for her. She misses the competition that we had in high school (we came from a very rigorous high school), and she has a lot of regrets about not coming to UCLA. On the other hand, she laughs at me whenever I complain about the elevators in Dykstra breaking down (again) and she loves the dorm life in the honors college.</p>
<p>I made this choice ten years ago. I chose UCI with CHP and Regents' over UCLA, Berkeley, and a couple of top privates. I don't regret my decision for one minute. Because I never attended UCLA, I don't have any other first-hand experience to make any comparisons, but I thoroughly enjoyed college and will make the same decision again if I had to. For those people who don't find it competitive at UCI, maybe they didn't try to challenge themselves. If you ever tell a professor that you're bored and aren't being challenged, they WILL find something for you to do, whether it's research, independent study, or having you go to conferences with them. The benefits of being in CHP were awesome, and it really made me feel like I mattered to the university. The CHP staff knew who I was and was able to tailor their advising to my personal profile. I did not think that I would get this at UCLA, Berkeley, or any of the other schools I got in to.</p>
<p>On a side note, I am attending UCLA next fall for graduate school. There are people that I have met that will be in my class next year at Anderson who all went to Harvard, Penn, and several other top-level universities. All I know is that I went to college for free, they paid a ton of money, and we all ended up together in the same place. So UCI was definitely a good choice for me AND my wallet.</p>
<p>nice post alicantekid.</p>
<p>Congratulations for getting into Anderson.</p>
<p>I am a freshmen CHPer at UCI myself, and I know a girl who is a bio major in CHP at UCI with a Regents who turned down UCLA honors. She said that she just felt like she'd get more personalized treatment and felt really wanted here, and of course the money was an important factor. I can't put down the UCLA program though cause I don't know much about it. Anyways, she likes it here and I really don't think she'd say she isn't being challenged at UCI. CHPers are pretty much all at the very top of their HS class. I live in one of the honors dorms and we have 5-6 valedictorians (that I know about) in a 51 person hall.</p>
<p>once you get invited to be part of the CHP are you already in it? No applicantions or anything? I was invited as an out of stater and wasn't really considering UCI unitl now. So are there a lot of research opportunities with CHP? How are the professors? Are they pretty much friendly? Thanks for responses.</p>
<p>I'll answer your question on the UCI board.</p>