<p>Is it true that you can visit the beach for sun, AND the mountains for skiing at UCLA?
Also, I know you can obviously visit LA, but what else is around the campus?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>When I was in school at UCLA I surfed (Santa Monica) and snowboarded (Big Bear) in the same day. It’s not easy (a few hours of driving), but it’s do-able.</p>
<p>Your dorm mates and friends will have cars so you are not confined to just around UCLA and Westwood.</p>
<p>In addition to the above posts, there are also places like Sawtelle, Koreatown, WeHo that are easily accessible by car, and you can take the Blue Bus down to Santa Monica/3rd Street Promenade, etc. The Getty Center is minutes away. The Hammer Museum is in Westwood. The Grove and LACMA are nearby and hiking trails are in Culver City/Pacific Palisades/Griffith Park if you venture farther. Obviously all of this is much more doable with a car, but public transportation will get you where you need to go (even more so once they extend some routes/build a subway through the Westside).</p>
<p>Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland, and Knott’s Berry Farm are also fun places to go.</p>
<p>There is also Westwood which is nestled right next to the campus. You can walk there and find shops, restaurants and movie theatres. Oftentimes, movie premieres are held at these theatres, so that is kind of cool. There is so much to do around UCLA! Some things you can walk to and some things will require a quick bus or car ride, but seriously, if you get bored while at UCLA, then you are just boring period!!</p>
<p>Ackerman Union, eat and video games…</p>
<p>Right by campus, there use to be a News Stand by a Fat burger (15 yrs ago). I’d get a paper and chow down at FB. The problem was that there was also a little frech pasty shop on the corner. Anyway 25pounds later I decided to stay away from that corner. The little shops near campus are a great way to spend the evening walking up and down the street doing a little window shopping. If you want the real thing, Rodeo Drive is about 15 minutes away.</p>
<p>Yeah, in most parts of CA you can ski/surf in the same day. I’m in the Bay Area, and I’ve done it!</p>
<p>What can you do in UCLA? If I were your parents, I would tell you this: “study!” If you are admitted to UCLA, you should know that you will be competing with the best of the best. Unless you simply want an UCLA diploma with a 2.0 GPA, I think you best readjust your priorities.</p>
<p>Yeah of course you want to keep up with your studies but you definitely want to strike a balance with your social life. Make new friends, have fun, work out/play some ball at the gym, go to some athletic events, attend a performance or a seminar, join clubs/organizations, go explore LA, cause that is what college is all about. There’s no way you can stay in your dorm room all day studying. You’d be missing out on way too much. Good grades come first and you want to make sure you can feasibly achieve them without overworking yourself, but there is plenty of time to destress, relax, and get away from academics.</p>