<p>oooh i had the same schools to decide from last year too…BIG DEAL</p>
<p>^bitter about something in life, perhaps?</p>
<p>To me, “feel” = atmosphere of campus, perhaps resources available (e.g. pre-medical counseling services aren’t great here at UCLA, though we make up with having research or clinical opportunities at the nearby medical center and at Santa Monica or Venice). You want to be enjoying your next four years, and have a good support network.</p>
<p>Academically? Any five of those aforementioned schools would be great - it’s not the school’s potential to make you great, its the student that takes advantage of what each school has.</p>
<p>
I’m going to buck the trend and tell you to pocket the money you’d have spent visiting college campuses everywhere across the country. </p>
<p>Berkeley is offering a Regents. This is a no-brainer, even if one of the pending universities were Harvard about to admit your son. I know we’re on CollegeConfidential, but people make too much of a deal about which university they want to go to. You’re complicating things for yourself! </p>
<p>I could literally choose between any number of universities in a matter of 15 minutes. There is no “wrong” college as long as it will land you a decent job. Even if you’re unhappy with where you are, it’ll only be 4 years.</p>
<p>Actually, S’s situation is the reverse. A Regents only gets hims the nominal $1,000 per year (plus all the benefits), while attending USC would garner him tutition remission, since my H is on the math faculty there. So there’s that dilemma, plus the consternation about how budget cuts might play out at ALL the UCs. My H knows faculty at these UCs so has regular discussions about it. </p>
<p>Of course, at the Regents interview my S was told the budget cuts at Berkeley have had less impact on the sciences (his proposed major is physics, although his prime interest is interdisciplinary sciences.</p>
<p>He’s visited UCB, UCLA and USC (obviously.) He hasn’t yet visited UCSB or UCSD but it’s not looking like he feels that’s necessary now, since his focus is on UCB vs USC.</p>
<p>^ excuse me, but is it really that hard to spell out “Son” or “Husband?” It literally takes 1 second more if not less. Should I start asking questions with initials too? Oops I mean, S I S A Q W I T?</p>
<p>sentimentGX,</p>
<p>I disagree. Having done two degrees, I can assure you that the campus makes a huge difference in the overall experience. </p>
<p>And four years is a pretty long time. </p>
<p>FindAPlace,</p>
<p>A drive up to Berkeley isn’t so bad. Makes for a fun weekender!</p>
<p>I think it’d be a good idea to visit, and if he doesn’t click with Cal, then USC becomes a very easy choice, IMO.</p>
<p>UCLAri,</p>
<p>Yes. I’m always referring to undergraduate programs. I believe CC is largely focused on undergraduate programs, so I direct my post accordingly. </p>
<p>For the record, UCLA’s grad programs are great. But, it is my firm belief that their undergraduate program is a wash.</p>
<p>Sopheee,</p>
<p>I’m sorry that you’re so hurt that the UC system doesn’t glorify UCLA as much as its own students do. Even ask UCLAri, he admits that the majority of programs at UCLA are either beaten by Berkeley (everything), UCSD (sciences, engineering, bio, chem), and USC (undergraduate professional programs, film, and music). But, I think UCLA is a good option for some, but it’s not the best and often it’s not the second best. </p>
<p>Go on UCSD’s site and see how often Bruins put down UCSD for being inferior, when it is easily on par and, dare I say it, superior to many of the programs at UCLA. Again, ask or even look at some of the post UCLAri wrote and you will see that he and I are on agreeance.</p>
<p>i agree with bay…honestly ucla isn’t this oh-so-perfect place…i strongly dislike ppl who try to act like its so amazing…those ppl are either stupid or immature…so many problems with ucla: terrible profs, bitter TAs, useless classes, enrollment system…and yes UCSD OWNS for bio sciences…have u seen their bio majors compared to ours…lol theres are so much more interesting…and the fact that UCLA allows to use very little to none of your ap credit to remove required classes affirms the fact that UCLA just wants money</p>
<p>BayBoi,</p>
<p>Please don’t put words in my mouth.</p>
<p>I said that most of Cal’s programs are higher ranked. That doesn’t mean that I think it’s necessarily a superior option for all students. I, for one, don’t think that rankings necessarily translate into a better education. To that end, I’m a big proponent of schools like Dartmouth and Brown, as well as LACs, because I think the undergraduate focus is much stronger.</p>
<p>I think pretty much all of the big research universities provide big impersonal experiences. Some do well in that environment, some do not.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I think that UCSD’s GRADUATE programs are better (I did my graduate degree there, and can speak volumes about its graduate body), but I don’t know that I’d prefer the 6 college system myself.</p>
<p>And really, find me a Cal student who wouldn’t say Cal over UCSD. That’s as rare a duck.</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>No, UCLA is not perfect. Many people, however, had/have great experiences there. I still think that UCLA was the best 4 years of my life. I had a fantastic time there, and I think a lot of people say the same thing. My classes were interesting, I got to study abroad and go to UCDC, and I met my best man there. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is true in most schools. I wonder if you’d have gotten many more units at Cal or UCSD? Probably not…</p>
<p>no u would at UCSD and i checked this…i also have friends in UCSD who had fewer AP exams AND lower scores at UCSD than me and they get to use more of their credit to knock out GEs AND useless prereqs for majors…which is completely unfair…and at Berkeley my friends also got to use more of their APs…so no UCLA really is the worst when it comes to this</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>Well, if it makes you feel any better/worse, my buddy who went to Penn and I compared our AP credits and what we got knocked out. UCLA was generous compared to Penn. At least this was true back in 2004.</p>
<p>To be flat out, only uncompetitive schools liberally hand out AP Credit. The higher up and more prestigious a university gets, the less AP Credit they will honor. For example, Princeton doesn’t recognize any AP credit. This is because stronger institutions do not recognize AP courses as on par with their own. Naturally, this means UCLA would be honoring less credits than UCSD. We are second best UC after all. UCSD would not be so “generous” if it were ever to swap ranks with us or Berkeley.</p>
<p>While the lack of AP Credit may be a setback, it is also an indicator of the prestige of our university.</p>
<p>Many students hold the misconception that AP exams are primarily for college credit when in reality, for top tier universities, they are practically admittance requirements.</p>
<p>lol then why does UC Berkeley take more AP credits than UCLA, when Berkeley is clearly more prestigious and consistently ranked higher…and UVA takes more AP credit than UCLA</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>I just looked really quickly at the list, and I’m not seeing how Berkeley is that much more liberal about AP units. Here are the two pages:</p>
<p>[AP</a> Credit - College of Letters and Science - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm]AP”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm)</p>
<p>[Advanced</a> Placement Examinations](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/faq/ap.html]Advanced”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/faq/ap.html)</p>
<p>I don’t see any real discrepancies here other than the fact that UCLA allows exceptional scores to meet higher requirements than Berkeley. It seems to me, at least, that UCLA’s policy is in some ways more liberal than Berkeley’s.</p>
<p>mnop444’s arguments are all based on a small sample size of a few of his/her friends, rather than actually backing them up with actual data/facts from university websites</p>
<p>I also recently looked up Ap credits for Cal and UCLA. I agree with UCLAri that they are comparable.</p>
<p>whoa there jose i would say ur argument about me is unfounded…and um no i actually did look themself up considering last year UCSD was one of my top choices…i also called berkeley and asked them which of my APs would count…soooooo</p>
<p>And yet you came up with a different conclusion than what is plainly written in the websites? Strange indeed.</p>
<p>lol u’d be an idiot to think that everything they write on a website holds true…let me give u an example: someone was going to take a physics 6A, when they said ON THE WEBSITE that the ‘enforced’ prereq was math 3c’…if u called the physics department they said that isn’t true…SO REMOVE THE SARCASM BUDDY…AND I DONT KNOW WUT A UNIVERSITY OF SECOND CHOICE KID WHO PROLLY DIDNT GET INTO UCLA IS DOIN ACTIN LIKE HE KNOWS UCLA BETTER THAN ME, A UCLA STUDENT LOL</p>