<p>Alright...so there are amazing perks to both...
sb: substantial money each year, i'd have money left over to study abroad, honors program (priority registration, housing, etc.), smaller classes, knowing the professors for grad school rec's, gorgeous campus, nanotechnology center which is huge for me because i'm planning on going into cancer research</p>
<p>la: amazing reputation, honors program (priority registration, on campus housing for 3 yrs), great resources and sports, always have been a Bruins fan</p>
<p>any advice here is greatly appreciated, i've been so torn between the two. thanks!</p>
<p>SB classes aren't that much smaller, if at all.</p>
<p>Is money an issue? There's plenty of funding available for education abroad, and EAP meets need for almost all students who demonstrate financial need. My fin aid counselor for EAP sent me $500 during the end of my study in Japan just 'cause I said "I'm running low."</p>
<p>aid at ucla is basically just the whole taking out loans thing. my parents just told me it's more likely i'd get to go abroad at sb. you're right though, i'm sure i could at either. </p>
<p>and with the whole smaller classes thing, apparently there are honors sections at sb where you meet with the professors in groups of 40 or less...sounds nice...
I know though, no matter which uc i choose i'll end up having those huge lecture hall classes with hundreds of students. </p>
<p>i'd actually pick ucsb. at ucsb you'd stand out and it will be much more cheaper.</p>
<p>i feel that at ucla even with honors you'll still be another number. you're basically competing with all those others ucla'ers who are there for the name on their resume.</p>
<p>Yeah but if you really think about UCSB, people who attend UCSB are usually drawn more to the social scene. UCSB name does not carry as much weight as UCLA or UCB or UCSD does. If someone was strictly at a school for academics they would chooce UCLA or UCB, the fact that you have so many of these kids at those schools for those reasons, makes it more competitive. Do we really need another UCLA grad. You'll just be like the ##### to graduate from UCLA.</p>
<p>At least at UCSB it'll be cheaper and you still get the purks of being in honors. Probably stand out more from the kids who are there to party. I'm pretty sure you have more teacher's assistants teaching classes at UCLA than you do at UCSB.</p>
<p>I agree with Liek -- UCSB. UCSB and UCLA aren't significantly different, and SB's reputation is rising, and you seem to like the school a lot. Going to UCLA for the "reputation" and for the football, etc. is a mistake, unless you're actually playing football.</p>
<p>The off-campus housing at UCSB isn't bad, far, or hard to find. The immediate area is covered in cute apartment complexes that pretty much all house students anyway.</p>
<p>I disagree. I know plenty of people who chose UCLA for the entire package. </p>
<p>And remember that not every major at UCLA is going to have the same types of students. I bet there are incredibly competitive majors at UCSB (biology and physics, I bet), that would make a UCLA Scandanavian languages major blush. </p>
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Do we really need another UCLA grad. You'll just be like the ##### to graduate from UCLA.
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<p>I still don't see how this is different from UCSB, which pumps out similar numbers of grads.</p>
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At least at UCSB it'll be cheaper and you still get the purks of being in honors.
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<p>The OP would also be in UCLA honors. But cheaper? I can't argue with that. </p>
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I'm pretty sure you have more teacher's assistants teaching classes at UCLA than you do at UCSB.
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<p>I never once had a TA teaching a lecture at UCLA. I doubt they do at UCSB, either. </p>
<p>Which brings me to my next question: Are you in college?</p>
<p>we all know people who go to schools for different reasons. but to say that the majority attend ucla for the whole package would be false. I'm pretty sure more people attend ucla for the name rather than for the entire package. </p>
<p>if you look at rintintin's defense or reasons to attend UCSB they outweight the reasons to attend UCLA. I think your UCLA pride gets in the way of thinking or seeing clearly. UCSB plus the benefits rintintin would get is a way much more better deal than the one rintintin would get if rintintin attended UCLA.</p>
<p>You also may have not had a TA teaching a lecture at UCLA, but that doesn't means others havent. Because it's UCLA, there are more chances that there'll be more teachers doing research than teaching than UCSB, simply because it is UCLA. My current liberal art teachers mostly come from UCLA and they have not failed to mention that they can skip class the whole entire quarter and just show up for the final or midterms and pass the class without the teacher ever knowing.</p>
<p>I am in college. In fact I'm at Otis College of Art & Design, in their Honors Program. I was in a similar situation as was rintintin last fall, where I could easily have attended Parsons School of Design, but didn't. The only reasons I wanted to attend Parsons was the fact that it was a more well known name than Otis in terms of Fashion Design, but when it comes down to academic programs, Otis is easily comparable, if not better, as they have beaten out Parson's in fashion design competions for the past few years awarded by the biggest award in fashions, the CFDA! Had I not chosen Otis I would have not been in the Honors Program nor would I have had the extra money I have now(because of the money I saved).</p>
<p>To say that I'm just a stupid art student would be ignorant of a person to say. Last year I also went through the UC process. I was accepted to UCSD for fall 2005 as an art major, and reaccepted for fall 2006 as an econ major. I have yet to hear from berkeley.</p>
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we all know people who go to schools for different reasons. but to say that the majority attend ucla for the whole package would be false. I'm pretty sure more people attend ucla for the name rather than for the entire package.
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<p>What do you base this on?</p>
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if you look at rintintin's defense or reasons to attend UCSB they outweight the reasons to attend UCLA. I think your UCLA pride gets in the way of thinking or seeing clearly. UCSB plus the benefits rintintin would get is a way much more better deal than the one rintintin would go if rintintin attended UCLA.
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<p>The only particularly compelling reason that rintintin gave for UCSB was the Regent's. And I think that's compelling, indeed. You seem to forget that I haven't said that UCLA is necessarily the better choice. Merely that UCSB is not going to be quite unlike UCLA in its size, faculty interaction, and overall "feel" as a large research university. </p>
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UCLA and UCSB may pump up similar numbers of grads, but you fail to realize that UCLA
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<p>I fail to realize that UCLA...what? You left me on the edge of my seat here, man! Help a brother out!</p>
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You also may have not had a TA teaching a lecture at UCLA, but that doesn't means others havent. Because it's UCLA, there are more chances that there'll be more teachers doing research than teaching than UCSB, simply because it is UCLA. My current liberal art teachers mostly come from UCLA and they have not failed to mention that they can skip class the whole entire quarter and just show up for the final or midterms and pass the class without the teacher ever knowing.
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<p>Every lecture at UCLA, with a few exceptions (like say a conference or the professor is sick) is taught by a prof. Only sections are taught by TAs. But it's not like I'd know. </p>
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To say that I'm just a stupid art student would be ignorant of a person to say.
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<p>Uh...huh...that's nice, dear. The thought didn't even cross my mind.</p>
<p>OP cites specifics such as loving the way the campus looks and enthusiasm over the nanotechnology center. This usually means the OP has done research on a school and is very interested.</p>
<p>Yes, and I think that that's a perfectly valid reason for choosing a school. Campus feel should affect your choice. But to say that one is going to necessarily get more faculty interaction at UCSB, or that classes will be taught by profs at UCSB and not at UCLA is absurd.</p>
<p>UCSB is just like UCLA, guys. A big, cold, unfeeling research university. You think the faculty has more members of the academies and Nobels than UCLA's because they have more interaction with undergrads?</p>
<p>having actually attended both schools, let me chime in and say that the feeling at the 2 schools is very different. ucsb has more of a "I'm living away at college" feel where friends are going to be a stroll away and you'll likely live within walking/biking distance of campus. ucla tends to have more of a commuter feel since a lot of students live out in the LA or santa monica area, but there are big-time sports that draw people together. that's just a part of it, of course.</p>
<p>Frankly UCLAri has it right; both are large research schools and are not especially student friendly. It takes initiative to get to know faculty, get involved in research, get advising, etc. So the honors opportunities are really golden. For grad school ucla has a better rep in many areas, but for undergrad the school rep is far less significant. And lets not ignore the ability to graduate without taking on tens of thousands in loans.</p>
<p>Its a tough call; I really see it as both are good choices and the OP should visit and see which one is a better fit. Talk to current students, explore the campus, etc.</p>
<p>thank you so much everyone. i'm visiting ucla tomorrow for honors day and i scheduled some appointments with counselors and biology teachers at ucsb for the next day. hopefully all of this will give me enough info to make the final decision. you all made good points...
a lot of my friends that got into ucla are just going to go there because of the name, they didn't research it at all.
ucla has amazing research and classes, i know. my dad went there. but sb is definitely rising.
and i got that "campus feel" gut feeling at both schools. so we'll see.
thanks again!</p>