<p>My son was lucky enough to get into UCLA Honors and also Berkeley, but only for Spring 2009. What would you do? He plans to go on to grad school, so what do you think would be a better choice considering that? He doesn't know what he wants to major in yet, but is leaning toward science journalism (he's interested in both journalism and biology).</p>
<p>I am going to post this also on the Berkeley forum, as I might get a different set of answers there. Thanks everyone, for your insight.</p>
<p>ucla honors is overrated. . . i mean the difficulty to get into the program. it's not insanely selective. anyone can do it if they're in college of letters and science and have a 3.5. </p>
<p>i'd say go wherever he feels more comfortable and if he likes berkeley more - have him decide if it's worth it to wait a semester to attend. although ucla doesn't have a journalism major (does berkeley...?), daily bruin is strong. . .</p>
<p>yeah, i don't think the "honors" part should carry weight in the decision process. it's not exactly a lofty program - it's not that difficult to get in, and most people do some joke "honors content" add-on to a class to fulfill the requirements. as for how it looks to grad school, probably not much if at all. it's just a notation on your transcript. keep in mind thata lot of people drop out of the honors program after the first year. </p>
<p>the important thing in his decision is just where he feels more comfortable.</p>
<p>honors is what you make of it...</p>
<p>he should base his decision on opportunities for his major, and then honors is just a nice perk.</p>
<p>not trying to knock the honors program - it just doesnt compare to say, UW's honors college or some of the other honors colleges (like Schreyer</a> @ PSU). it's not as selective or exclusive and i think if you had regents or something limited to very few, it would be more reasonable to use it as criteria. it's the best we have here though . . . in terms of overachieving just a little bit. if you compare the perks at Schreyer to UCLA's CHP - the former is much more comprehensive, strong, and integrated by far . . . and the students are more 'qualified' overall.</p>
<p>mme-ln: I thought it was insanely hard to get over a 3.5 in college. Is it really that easy?</p>
<p>She means that to stay in the program, you need to maintain a 3.5 and that many people are in the program because the initial requirements aren't hard at all. A certain SAT score and/or top 2(?)% of your school.</p>
<p>sleepwalker >> it depends on your major and if you play to your strengths. i personally dont think it's "insanely hard" to get over a 3.5 in most of the non-science/math major classes in the college of letters and science.</p>
<p>actually, once you get into the program, you need only like a 3.2 or something to stay in the program.</p>
<p>I'm majoring in Biology and I come from a stupid school so I'm screwed GPA-wise.</p>
<p>you aren't screwed.
it's not about what you learned in high school, it's about what you're moticated (motivated) to learn now. ignote my typios, i can't hit backspace.</p>
<p>i found that if i stared (started) a class already knowing the intro material, i would get complacent about it and actually do worse than if everything had been knew. ARG. new! stupid ackerman computers. just hope your classmates get complacent while you study your butt off to suprass gerrrr i mean surpass them! :)</p>
<p>Sleepwalker, I came from a crappy high school as well. (Something like 20 students out of my graduating class of about ~200 went to a four-year university; and then, they ended up going to the flagship school which wasn't very difficult to get into anyway.) As long as you keep on top of your work and get help when you need it, you should be OK. In the worst case, I've known a couple of people who have taken trigonometry and/or remedial chemistry during their first quarter in order to get them up to speed. It's OK. In any case, you have your TA, Covel and/or AAP Tutoring, your peers/friends, other TAs, and lastly, your professor to help you out.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I'm totally inspired now! :)</p>
<p>Choose whichever school he likes best. They are both very good.</p>
<p>If you mean UCLA "fall" admit or Berkeley "spring" admit, I say UCLA, 100%. Why wait?</p>
<p>Sergio, I would have to go with UCLA. Fall is some important for meeting friends and making connections, a spring start would put him behind a bit and he should have as "normal" of an experience as possible. The honors program is great because some classes are smaller, you get more choices AND if you are in a big lecture, your section is run by the professor NOT the T.A. That is the advantage of UCLA honors. Oh yeah and priority enrollment, which is huge on such a big campus. He will get first pick every quarter with the athletes.</p>