UCLA and UCB are the most affordable in state schools for many CA families and both are outstanding schools ranked in top 15 world universities for a reason. Saying that my own D16 turned down Regents at both for a private school in a top two. Here what she sees so far: resources that absolutely would not be available to her at our state schools from free tickets to a world class conferences and events with $300 stickers price to a funding the product her team is working on, from free patent and business consulting to a large alumni network. And of course no problem with class registration and communication with professors.