So I’ve been going back and forth debating whether to go to UCLA or Wellesley. Granted, they’re both excellent schools.
Coming from the eastern part of the world, life in LA seems exciting - the appeal, the lifestyle (perhaps exaggerated by television shows). I feel like I’ll have opportunities to take advantage of both in and outside of university life. My family in America urges me to go there as “California is the place to be”, and I’m caught up in the romanticised idea of it. UCLA has a brand name, of course, and for good reason. It offers way more courses than Wellesley does. I have a tendency to be passionate in so many things, so UCLA - being so eclectic in what it has to offer - seems a like a good place for me to explore my various interests, whereas Wellesley seems slightly restrictive.
I do want to study Liberal Arts, so Wellesley also seems specifically incredible to me. I feel like since it’s smaller, the benefits of the school will directly invest themselves into me. I have this perception of graduating from Wellesley as a tailored individual whereas I might get slightly lost in UCLA (due to its size - but a large student body at college should be a standard rather than an exception). But the all-girls aspect makes me hesitant (largely because I’m more of a tomboy who mostly talks to guys). I’m already an introvert, so I feel that by entering the “Wellesley bubble”, I won’t break out of my comfort zone - which I should. I’ve heard of the competitive academics at Wellesley (perhaps more than that in UCLA), and I worry that outside the school’s walls, I won’t have much to learn from. UCLA has the city and the culture directly outside college walls.
One day I wake up and think “I want to go to Wellesley”, and the next day I go on and on about UCLA. Both places offer new experiences that I can learn from and obstacles that I’ll have to overcome. I’m just so confused and don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret.