<p>What? I’m asking why you would have to choose Berkeley over LA. The prestige between the two is so ****ing negligible, and you sound like you’d MUCH prefer to go to LA.</p>
<p>“Some UCs are definitely better for certain majors” and even certain disciplines within a major. </p>
<p>This is true. For example, among all of the UC’s, imo, UCLA has the best psychology program because they treat it as a science with lots of research emphasis.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s psych program is not too far behind, their strengths lie in social psych.</p>
<p>^That is true. However, for most majors, you’ll be taking pretty much the same classes at any UC campus and the teaching itself is not going to automatically be better because the professor is a OMG!!@1!!-Award-winning cheeseball.</p>
<p>@jg2290</p>
<p>you can get to San Francisco from Berkeley using BART, a train system that goes around the bay area. You can also drive, but traffic on the I-80 and bay bridge can be horrible sometimes.</p>
<p>Anyway if Prestige weren’t a factor, I’d still go to UCSD. To me I just like the campus more than the other UC’s I’ve seen.</p>
<p>minilily: Of course. When did I say anything about that? o_O</p>
<p>Actually I’d have to choose it for personal reasons. My mom has parkinson’s (I’m her caretaker right now) so I would love to be able to come home and help whenever I could. If I went to LA other family members would help out but proximity to home would be a huge plus in favor of Cal. If there was nothing else I had to consider, I would choose LA.</p>
<p>Sent from my PC36100 using CC App</p>
<p>Hmm I think I misunderstood on that last comment. But won’t there be less opportunities at SC/D (depending on your major, of course)? </p>
<p>Sent from my PC36100 using CC App</p>
<p>Ah, I see why you’d have to choose Cal then. I thought you were only choosing over it LA due to the (barely existent) difference in prestige. Mea culpa.</p>
<p>And as for less opportunities at SC/D, it probably depends on one’s field and what opportunities they are specifically seeking out, yes. I’m an American Studies/English double major, so my “research” opportunities are limited in general. However, UCLA for example does not even have an American Studies major, so that obviously limits me in that regard. As for English, I’m going to try to get on the school paper and work my way up. So I could either face fierce competition at UCLA and UCB for even an entry-level SPOT on the paper, or I could easily get a job at the SC/D papers and possibly conquer them completely. Then again, none of that is set in stone AT ALL and I’m not going to make any grand assumptions. It’s just something to consider.</p>
<p>I see it as a weakness of character to have the desire to stand out. Dreaming is one thing (which is perfectly fine), but purposely picking your school so that you seem like a brighter kid is sad.</p>
<p>Whichever one gave me the most financial aid.</p>
<p>/thread</p>
<p>goingmeta: Weakness of character to stand out? Lawl. Then everyone is weak. You can’t possibly say you don’t wish to stand out. No matter where someone goes to college, OF COURSE they want to stand out. Standing out is kinda, ya know, the nature of landing a career.</p>
<p>And besides, I never ONCE said that I would choose SC or D over Berkeley solely due to a desire to stand out. What I said is that I personally like SC and D better than Berkeley overall, and one possible pro is that I could gain access to more resources due to the slightly less competitive environments.</p>
<p>You See Es Bee</p>
<p>UC Irvine.</p>
<p>My list is pretty similar to the OP’s. UCD/UCB/UCSC are all about tied for me right now in first place. 
But I’d have to visit UCD and UCSC before saying that for sure. UCSD would be fourth. The rest I wouldn’t consider. :p</p>
<p>Well yeah. When you’re pursuing a career, obviously you want to stand out as an applicant to your employer. That’s a time when it’s to your advantage to make yourself appear head and shoulders above everyone else.</p>
<p>Going to school is a different game. Based on your original statement, it didn’t seem as though you were doing it for some higher goal (what can possibly come of this?). It seemed like you were doing it for its own sake. As if you just want to indulge your ego by getting praise. </p>
<p>When you do it for its own sake, then it’s a weakness of character.</p>
<p>“LAWL”</p>
<p>Berkeley UCLA UCSC UCSD UCI UCSB UC Davis UCR/Merced</p>
<p>goingmeta: ***? Have you ever heard of going to college to prepare for a career? I mean, seriously. The two are as cojoined as Siamese twins. Like all my posts CLEARLY stated, standing out at college in terms of getting connections, internships, jobs, and resources is what I was talking about. Standing head and shoulders above others at college is a pretty damn good way of actually getting those connections and the like. And I never once said ANYTHING about getting praise or indulging my ego. If I wanted praise or to indulge my ego, I’d do the opposite and attend the school with the most prestige regardless of how I felt about it. </p>
<p>And by the way, someone is ALWAYS trying to stand out “for their own sake”. There is no other way around it.</p>
<p>Why do you need to stand out to get connections or resources?</p>
<p>You realize we’re talking about people right? Do you really believe people will confront you based on the fact that you appear smarter than everyone else?</p>
<p>I’m sorry to say, and you should probably get familiar with this idea, but diligence is in higher demand than intellect. Nobody in academia (or in the private sector) gives the slightest amount of a **** if you’re able to ace easy classes. You either apply yourself and do research or you apply for internships which prepare you and thus distinguish you among other applicants when you actually have to find work.</p>
<p>How exactly is Westwood not an urban area?</p>
<p>poserbruin- Westwood is in los angeles. LA is an urban area.</p>