Don’t get me wrong. Not saying UCB is not a GREAT school, which it is. I am a CA resident now and visited UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, UCSB, UC Irvine etc. campuses. In addition, it appears that overall UCB is the most difficult UC school to get into. However, why is it that “most” people want to attend UC Berkeley rather than let’s say UCLA? I personally found UCLA physical campus a lot more appealing. Is the academic difference between UCB and UCLA that much different? This is an honest question I am asking in the event my kid happens to get into both UCB and UCLA. Responses from students who got into both UCLA and UCB would be appreciated.
Based on application numbers, UCLA is more popular the UCB: 119,000 vs 101,655
Many kids from my DD’s class who got into both, choose UCLA over UCB. It also depends on a major. For Chemical and CS (under school of Engineering, not under L&S) UCB is superior, but UCLA is not that far behind. I guess it is a personal choice. My D16 who got into both was very close selecting UCLA. She did not particularly like UCB campus and constant political demonstrations. At the end she choose to go somewhere else, but UCLA was on a final list .
I don’t know how exactly schools are ranked by agencies like US News, but perhaps that is what makes one school more sought after than another.
My DD got into both. She goes to UCB. Both campuses have their own beauty. One has a bell tower that overlooks SF Bay and the GG bridge. The other in Westwood, well it’s Westwood and beautiful with its own charm and good weather. UCB has had more nobel prize winners and considered a world class research university. It ranks higher than UCLA on many rankings including universities around the world.
But don’t think I am tauting one over the other. My H is an alumnus of UCLA. She chose UCB because she was offered the Regents scholarship which gives her priority registration for classes, guaranteed housing for 4 years, and a pretty good scholarship. Go Golden Bears! But honestly, if you get into one or the other, you can’t go wrong. We love them both.
Oh, UCB’s arch rival is Stanford, UCLA’s is USC. Some people consider the caliber based on the circle of competitors. Stanford believes its own top competitors for students include those who are also choosing between Berkeley and MIT.
If you’re a true blue northern Californian (Cal has the real blue & UCLA has pastel), you would die before going south to UCLA. I’m only half joking.
My daughter who attends UCLA (Regents scholar) did not even apply to UCB, though she had no doubt she could easily have been admitted there as well!
(Not that anything was wrong with UCB, but she wanted to stay local)
Prestige, both nationally and internationally, plays a big part. UCB also not only tops UCLA in almost every ranking, but many ivy leagues as well and is often in the top several of all schools worldwide on many lists. Its academic and research history is well documented, as are many of the professors currently and previously.
There’s a lot of reasons of why it’s such a great school … and there are drawbacks as well. And there are reasons why someone might choose UCLA over UCB, like one particular program at UCLA being better than UCB’s or UCB not offering it all. One school offering better financial aid. Or other factors like having family near UCLA versus UCB, etc etc etc.
At the end of the day, both are great schools and anyone choosing between the two will have to factor in much more than how pretty the campus is and quality of the academics alone.
Disclaimer: I got into UCB, didn’t apply to UCLA.
We have a long history with both schools. My grandparents graduated from Berkeley in the 1920’s. My aunt went to Berkeley, but my mom was a rebel and went to UCLA. In 1981, when I was choosing a college I could have gotten into Berkeley or UCLA, but chose UCSB because it was on the beach (not the greatest logic I admit). My older son went to UCLA (he got into both, but was a Spring Admit for Berkeley) and my younger son goes to Berkeley (he got into both, but was a Regents Scholar at Berkeley, which tipped the scales). I can honestly say that UCLA was a better fit for my older son and Berkeley was a better fit for my younger son. Some kids from Southern California (where we live) like to go to Berkeley because it is farther away and “different” than Southern California. Some like to stay closer to home. On a side note, we live in Orange County and sometimes it was harder to get my older son home from Westwood (because of the LA traffic) then to fly my younger son home from Berkeley.
They are both EXCELLENT schools. Both are beautiful campuses. I like that UCLA has all the dorms together. I like that Berkeley has the football stadium on campus, and I love the Campanile and view of San Francisco. I like the school spirit of Berkeley. EVERY time I wear my Berkeley hat when I am out and about someone will invariably yell “GO Bears”.
I do agree that generally speaking, UCB’s programs seem to be ranked higher, and it is located near Palo Alto area. I myself did not like the hilly UCB campus and the outskirts of UCB campus because it reminded me of NY city area.
Hope to get into one. If you get into both, wow, what a terrific choice you’ll have to make where you can’t go wrong.
Late reply. I went to UCB undergrad and UCLA for grad school. My son just applied to both for fall 2017. I’ll add that I’ve also had significant exposure to UCSB, UCI, UCSD, and UCSC. In my view, comparing all of these UC schools, I think the nature (and maybe quality) of the education you get as an undergrad is more dependent on your major and how you approach college, than it is on the campus. For all of them, you need to somehow take the large university and make it fit you personally. So for me, the choice now would come down to what atmosphere I want, what types of people do I want to be around, is one school better suited for my particular extracurricular interest, do I want to get away from home/stay near home, experience a different climate or stick with the one I know, political leanings, etc.
My son got into both and chose neither. UCB has a significantly higher track record of students who eventually go on to get PhDs. They are one of the top 50 schools in STEM where undergrads continue on to earn PhDs in their field and are also in the top 100 schools for all PhD’s (not just STEM), UCLA is not in either list.
http://www.swarthmore.edu/institutional-research/doctorates-awarded
Take a look at the PDFs on the page and be sure to look at the broad categories PDF that shows where UCB falls in the different areas and if UCLA has successs. Not everyone is going for a PhD but it does tell you something about quality.
When my son was making his final choice, he decided the UCB and UCLA would make great graduate schools but would be poor choices for undergrad.
@Gumbymom Do note that Berkeley’s yield rate is also significantly and consistently higher than UCLA’s despite a higher # of applications to UCLA - 38.3% for UCLA and 45.3% for Berkeley.
I got into UCLA, Berkeley, Claremont McKenna, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and more but still ended up chosing Berkeley. Both universities share the same problems that most public universities have, such as an abundance of community college transfers, a large student body, and an incompetent administration. Nevertheless, the qualifications of teaching faculty and overall opportunities (yes, even for undergrads) is still second to none at Berkeley.
I personally liked UCLA’s campus better at first but Berkeley really grew on me and I couldn’t see myself anywhere else anymore. For fields such as business, engineering, etc. Berkeley’s the clear winner, but if you’re premed then UCLA would probably be a better choice because of Geffen’s close proximity to campus compared to UCSF.
My D was accepted to both UCB and UCLA. Yes, both are very large, older (for the west coast) public schools, with the plusses (myriad things to do, classes to take, majors to pursue, a relative educational bargain vs. a private) and minuses (getting “lost” in a school XX,XXX undergrads, administrative hoo-haw, aging housing, etc.) We are Bay Area local, so we had visited Berkeley already but went to UCLA on admit day. After the UCLA tour, we were resigning ourselves to the fact that that is where D would wind up going. We are were wandering around in a bit of awe: beautiful buildings, beautiful day (read: not too hot, no smog hanging over the valley), amazing dining hall food. It would have been a great choice. Annnnddddd…she knew as soon as we hit the car for the ride home that she wanted to go to Berkeley. Here are the comparisons, based on what we know/observed:
Campus look and feel: UCB woodsier, funkier, less “planned”; UCLA a bit like “Disneyland” (the deceptively laid-out 45+ minute line for the housing tour is just one example - a nod to line control at the Magic Kingdom). It didn’t feel “real” to her.
Diversity: UCB felt more “diverse” - I don’t know if that means more groups represented or what - that was D’s impression - maybe “diverse” means more people protesting, doing spontaneous yoga on the lawn, or whatever. Please note that D is not radical in her politics, eating habits, or anything else. I think she’s just interested in and comfortable with people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. This is borne out by the many friends she’s made in her first semester.
Nightlife/surrounding area/activities: Westwood at 9:00 pm on a Saturday was DEAD. Being a SoCal transplant, I can tell you that Westwood was THE place to cruise on Friday and Saturday nights in the 80’s (aka ancient times). I actually found an article explaining the complete change in energy and activity in the area (double digit number of movie theaters drove people in - when they left, so did the fun, apparently - I’m sure it’s more complicated than that). Berkeley is full of restaurants of all stripes, has a regional theater a mile away from campus, THE GREEK THEATER, San Francisco a hop on BART. Oh, and you don’t have to get on a bus to get to the football stadium because it’s RIGHT THERE.
Transportation: H and I lived in SoCal for years - the L.A. traffic has truly gone insane. D seriously was not crazy about having to navigate around a very large urban area on what public transportation is available.
Proximity: UCB is less than 2 hours away via Bart and a ride from the station for us. UCLA is a good chunk of a day’s drive. There is Megabus as an option to get back and forth from SoCal to the Bay Area (and she would have availed herself of this had she wound up there). Or a plane ride. We would just have had to budget that into the COO (cost of ownership). We love that she’s close enough, but not too close.
Program: D is leaning towards environmental science - UCB is better for that than UCLA.
Prestige: yeah, that did carry some weight with D, I cannot lie. Even if she changes her major, she’s still at the #1 public university in the world.
My son thought UCLA was “fine,” and “nice,” and actually was jazzed by the local theaters in Westwood playing small, indie films. He was at the end of his run of revisits when he made the last trip, and had already fallen in love with other schools, including Berkeley.
After arriving on Berkeley’s campus, he toured as I strolled the huge administration building. Waiting for him outside of the building, I stood aghast at the throng of students,students everywhere: campaigning for the next year’s student government offices, and seeking to recruit students for this-and-that. I thought for certain that my kid, raised in a place with a bit to do, but which certainly required a drive to the larger city center in order to feel that one was out and about and having a night out, would balk at the … yes, similitude to New York City. He’d loved his visits to New York over the years, but simply was not cut from that cloth, I thought. I greatly misjudged his ability to reach for something new. He loved everything about Berkeley, including the activity on the campus at night. We stuck around a few days and went to cultural events, really got a feel for walking the campus and the catacombs, and he could really see himself there. It had been probably the fifth school on our college run, and the first one that made him deliriously happy.
He went to UCLA with his dad, and it turns out there was some low-simmer student-faculty and student-administration discontent which was expounded upon to the student group my son and husband were apart of, and it made my husband unsure about sending the kid.
But the kid’s heart had already been won, anyway. In the end, he ended up across the country, but the energy at Berkeley was nearly electric for him.
All of the above posts (favoring UCB) make legitimate points. I arrived at UCLA in 1989, and I think Westwood went to sleep after the LA riots in 1992. But there are a lot of other neighborhoods on the west side of LA. Basically, if you go to LA, you live your life around Westwood, West LA, Brentwood, Santa Monica–ride a bike, go to the beach, hike or mountain bike in the Santa Monica mountains (trailheads about five miles from campus), and it can be a great life. Santa Monica bus system is pretty good. Air quality is generally good at UCLA and to the west. If you’re a nightlife kind of person there’s the whole Hollywood/West Hollywood scene. Although LA as a whole seemed more shallow after 5 years in the East Bay, I felt freer in LA–people would judge you to see if you were cool, but then would leave you alone, whereas in Berkeley there was definitely more of a PC vibe. I still feel this (both good and bad) when I visit the East Bay now, though I think the overall background vibe in the central Bay Area is that of money sloshing around. Of course there’s big money sloshing around in Brentwood/Holmby Hills/Santa Monica as well.
I will say, if I had things to do all over again, and if I knew that I would go to graduate school and experience the “big research university” environment that way, then I would choose a smaller, more personal place than either Berkeley or UCLA for my undergrad education. However, for my son, who I think will not go to graduate school (and I would agree with this choice), then either Berkeley or UCLA could be a great overall experience–though honestly I worry about the factory/cattle car situation at both schools now, with the commitment to admit more in-state students. The freshman dorms are packed. I think Berkeley might be better just because it would get him out of SoCal and because his aunt lives nearby, so he’d probably have a place to live if he can’t find anywhere else.