UCLA vs University of Washington

I am trying to decide between these two colleges for undergraduate. I am an international student and leaning towards biology but i may take up neuroscience or human biology or something along those lines as my major. I definitely want to do research and will probably apply for a masters after my undergraduate.

A lot of people tell me that UCLA is better in terms of employment at companies or research institutes as it is considered to be a “more prestigious” college and so it will also be easier to go for masters at a better university. On the other hand, students often do not get the courses they select or the research projects are too competitive but i’m not too sure about this.

I’ve heard that University of Washington Seattle has a more easy-going college experience where people are nicer and there is more student-teacher interaction. I don’t know how this is possible as the undergrad and class sizes are similar for both. Another factor is that University of Washington is cheaper in terms of tuition fees and living expenses.

There are many factors that i haven’t considered yet such as location and how many other international students study at these universities. If it’s not obvious yet, i’m pretty clueless at this point. Any remarks, suggestions or advice would be very helpful from you guys.

I am also in exact same dilemma for my daughter. She has also narrowed down to these two colleges and is intending to major in biological sciences related areas. But she is looking for flexibility in terms of different course , combination with technology related courses as minor also as she has not made up her mind if she wants to be in pure medicine in graduate school