<p>Is 40,000 dollars a year for UCLA really worth it (I'm from NY)? Mainly I am concerned about the academics. </p>
<p>In other regards, I know I'll have a blast at UCLA. There's tons of things to do on and off campus. The weather's great. There's UCLA basketball and football. However, I understand that first and foremost my reason for attending college is to get a good education. Then the next most important thing is the college experience (growing as a person) which I'm sure UCLA will provide.</p>
<p>Please help. Thanks.</p>
<p>To be honest, all the hype surrounding academic prestige and whatnot is overrated. College academics is what you make of it. As they say, there are smart people everywhere. But what they don’t say is that there are some ****ing ■■■■■■■■ people everywhere too, including UCLA.</p>
<p>True. </p>
<p>Still, UCLA’s educational programs are fast-paced and well worth your time, money, and effort. If you intend to live/work in California for the rest of your life, UCLA is for you. If you want to stay in New York, I’d rethink it.</p>
<p>I don’t know what other universities you got into, but UCLA is a great school - both academically and socially. It is the #3 best public university in the nation, a leading research university in the world, and an amazing social atmosphere.
It is prestigious, UCLA is considered one of the public ivies and its academic departments are ranked in the top worldwide.
But like I said, I’m not sure what other universities you got into. Like if you got into any ivies (like HYP, or UPenn, or etc), then they probably will be better for an OOS applicant. But UCLA is still a good choice and you shouldn’t regret it no matter what.</p>
<p>Well I also got into U Michigan, UNCCH, UVA, Berkeley, and CMU. They all cost roughly the same amount ~40,000 a year. Academically they are ranked pretty close to each other. But I like UCLA the most. Is paying 40,000 for UCLA over the other colleges I got accepted to justifiable? I’m going for engineering. I know UCLA is not the strongest for engineering but its the most appealing to me.</p>
<p>Obviously if its the most appealing and you like it the most its justifiable</p>
<p>If you’ve already decided that academically they’re really close to eachother (so it won’t make a huge difference if you choose one over the other), then by logic, academics should not be a criteria you would use to choose your school. See what I did there?</p>
<p>Haha, well by national rank they are similar. But when examining them by department, they differ quite a bit. I want to major in engineering and clearly UCLA is not the strongest in that field. Also the price of the UCLA is kind of daunting since its four times that of in state applicants. I feel like I’m paying much much more for the same education that others receive. But again, I feel that UCLA is the best fit for what I want in a university but that’s not necessarily the reason why I am going to college. Like I said, first and foremost students should go to college for the education. So I guess my question really is how does UCLA Electrical Engineering (that the department I applied to but not necessarily what I will stick to) compare to that of the other schools and then finally would it be wise for me to choose UCLA over those other schools. By the way, at CMU I did not get into the computer/electric engineering.</p>
<p>The EE department is pretty good, but not “world renowned” as Cal or CMU. But it’s not shabby either. What I’m saying is that it’s no slouch and should not hurt you in terms of employment, since there are a lot of firms that come here to recruit (including a lot of the silicon valley big companies). And, when it comes to getting a job/internship, what you actually know is a lot more important than the “prestige” of the school. Talent is talent no matter where it comes from.</p>
<p>^ I agree. UCLA’s engineering might not be the best, but it is still good (I think it is in the nation’s top 20s). But prestige shouldn’t be as important as your college experiences and the jobs/internships/volunteering events that you do in your next four years. Employers don’t want to hire the smartest people from the best universities, they want to hire people who are both academically good and also know how to live an enjoyable life. They want the ‘vibrant youth’ inside each of their employee. And frankly I think UCLA and its surrounding areas have more to offer than any of the other areas.
There are a lot of internships/research opportunities available at UCLA and its nearby area that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s right next to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Broadcom, Sony, Activision, DreamWorks, Walt Disney, and etc…
If you are kinda worried about academics, then you should know that UCLA is right next to CalTech. Sometimes there are joint classes/research projects offered, so basically you can go and do research programs or listen to seminars at CalTech.</p>
<p>Mann… soon… Do not listen to those people up there boosting about UCLA.
Sure it’s got the reputation and everything people said. But so what?
In a bad economy like this, you have consider the cost very heavily. Do you really want to graduate with 160,000 thousands in debt with the possiblity that economy might grow worse and you might not even get a good job for your education’s worth? </p>
<p>And you also have to think about graduate school, because it’s also about 40,000 a year to enroll in a good graduate school.</p>
<p>College Life is what you make of it, not what people think of your college’s prestigious. </p>
<p>For this kind of decisions, you have to think about the long term and keep your mind open</p>
<p>I was curious why you didn’t have a financial backup college…</p>
<p>If you are that rich, and money is not a issue for you, then you should certainly go for UCLA</p>
<p>I am also curious … did you get into any other universities that are perhaps cheaper than UCLA?
And did you get any financial aid from UCLA? If you filed a FASFA and if your EFC is less than 40k, then UCLA should’ve offered some gift aid to you.</p>
<p>Well…if you have the money and don’t need to worry about loans and such then I would say go for it if you feel it fits you best.</p>
<p>However, if you don’t have the money I would recommend rethinking your decision because $160k in debt is not a pretty figure.</p>
<p>Do yourself a favor. If you are going to spend 40k, spend it at cmu. At least you will get private education. Overall, 90 percent of ucla students pay 9k per year in tuition. So the whole university staff and faculty treats students like everyone is paying 9k. That is dirt cheat, and they get similar treatment. You will not get brownie points for paying 40k. You are subsidizing everyone else’s education a bit at ucla. If you like California (why not), then go to Cal.</p>
<p>To answer a few of your questions:</p>
<p>Yes, I do have one financial safety school. My parents, however, think that I will get a better education at one of those other universities. My family believes that one’s college education will be with them for the rest of one’s life so (and college on comes once) so they think its definitely worth the investment.</p>
<p>Yes I did receive some sort of aid for every one of those schools. I received merit scholarship at UCLA. Some grants for CMU and etc. But roughly the net cost for all of them is 40,000 dollars.</p>
<p>Also I am keeping my options open, that why I posted this thread. </p>
<p>Will the education I receive at UCLA be (inferior/greatly inferior/not inferior at all) to those other colleges? As long as I will be receiving a good education, I think the price is justifiable. Also if I go to a good graduate school will I be at a disadvantage with my peers if I graduate from UCLA as opposed to University of Michigan or CMU?</p>
<p>class2009college,</p>
<p>The best answer I can give you is go to the college that best “fits” you. You will learn that there will always be flaws, but if the pros outweigh the negatives, and you can see yourself having the best four years at the place, then chose. You do not need to go to the best engineering school, because that may necessary not be the right choice for you. The campus life and college experience you will get at any of those top public schools you got into (UNC-CH, UVA, Berkeley, UCLA) will be so different than one you would get at a private university. First and foremost, UCLA has it all, an awesome campus life, amazing athletics, strong and diverse student body, etc. However UCLA is not as much of a college town as Chapel Hill or Charlottesville. You really need to sit down and write out the pros and cons of each university. And if you have not done so yet, you need to visit each of these universities that you’re highly interested in. You can’t really based your life off other people’s opinions and rankings, you need to experience it first-hand. Hope this helps. College is all subjective. Some want that college experience while others want a smaller learning environment without the thrills and excitement of the college campus and college town.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Just curious, you think it will be difficult to focus in an environment like UCLA?</p>
<p>That is very subjective too. Depends on your personality and the type of person you are. If you are easily influenced by others and prone to distractions, than you may abandon your studies and get lost in the college-life, but this would not just be at UCLA. If you’re very focused and good at organization and allocating your time so that you have time for academics and social, than you should be fine. Again, this is not just for UCLA. It’s for most big public schools and private schools too.</p>
<p>If you grew up in an environment where everything was pretty much force-fed to you (public high school, parents on your case about homework, parents taking care of things for you), you’ll have a harder time to adjust to the new-found freedom of college. In any college, not just UCLA, you’ll have to manage your time and set priorities (studying vs. partying on a thursday night for example). At college, there are so many options and things to do, if you have the “i’ll do hw after i do _____” mentality, you’ll never get around to your homework.</p>