<p>Both are really great schools! Congrats on being accepted!
I’m entering as a freshman next year at UCLA, but I have some really good friends who are going to Berkeley.
I think UCLA’s location offers a bunch after opportunities in the post-graduation phase for any major. Los Angeles is a major metropolis, so and UCLA’s right in the middle of it all. That makes it easier to do awesome internships while in school, without having to communte very far. With Berkeley, I think you’re just outside of San Fransisco, so you have to drive into the city.
Also Berkeley and LA both have co-ed floors, but Berkeley has co-ed bathrooms that are shared by guys and girls on the entire floor. I dunno how liberal your parents are, but if they’re conservative, that might be a detterent.
Plus, UCLA is bordered by the three B’s (Bel air, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood), on the north campus so it’s a beautiful area to go jogging and stuff. The south campus is bordered by westwood, and has lots of stuff to do in a cool college town.
Academically, LA and Berkely arent that different. Students of top-tier caliber are accepted and attend both. Besides, even though each UC is unique, they’re all governed by the same system; all have some type of blue/gold as their colors, and all have a type of bear as a mascot. The rivalry between Stanford and Berkely/ UCLA and USC is way greater than the rivalry between LA and Berkely.
As far as notoriety goes, UCLA’s emblem is one of the most recognized logos in the world. My friend’s Mom grew up in a Norwegian Country, and when she was a teenager, the most popular “designer” clothing was a UCLA sweatshirt! They called it “Oocla,” and it was a really popular clothing line. Presently, it’s really trendy to wear UCLA gear in Asian countries, and the school is ranked the in the top ten world’s best public universities.
Finally, it sounds like you like UCLA better, so I have to agree with FireEmblem. Go where you’re happier.
Anyway, best of luck convincing your parents! I hope it all works out so you’re happiest at whichever school you choose.
: )</p>
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<p>lol I don’t think Irvine’s Anteater or Santa Cruz’s banana slug is a type of a bear.</p>
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Wrong. Only UCLA shares a bear as a mascot with Cal…UCLA isn’t being original.</p>
<p>Davis = Aggies
Irvine = Anteaters
Santa Barbara = Gauchos
San Diego = Tritons
Santa Cruz = Banana Slugs
Riverside = Highlanders
Merced = Bobcats</p>
<p>I meant to say both, not all.
geez peeps, relax!</p>
<p>And I’d like to add that the intelligence of the student body is A) difficult to measure, and B) independent of your own performance. Both schools have great reps, and diverse student bodies. You’ll find brilliant minds, and complete idiots. Which category you fall into is your own choice.</p>
<p>To all of you who really want to go to UCLA but just can’t get over the ranking thing. What WILL you do if, one day, you wake up and, <em>gasp</em> Cal drops below UCLA in the rankings? Oh, the horror of it all. </p>
<p>I don’t know how some of us older people actually survived without the rankings! Maybe we just chose a college because we loved it.</p>
<p>Finally, if you can’t appreciate UCLA for everything it has to offer, just go to Berkeley. That will at least free up some space for the people who really want to go to UCLA.</p>
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<p>That will not happen, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Riverside is a bear too…A kilt wearing bear…</p>
<p>Berkeley food gets old quick, ucla is supposedly better. Because food matters.</p>
<p>Berkeley has one all male and one all female dorm. All other dorms have both coed and single sex floors. Also it is a 20 min BART ride to SF, so it is actually very easy to get there. Also, the Berkeley/Oakland border is pretty much nonexistent. We are immediately north of Oakland. You can take a 51 bus south on College and get to Oakland in like three minutes.</p>
<p>berkeley has organic food… idk i just like that</p>
<p><em>Walks 5 minutes outside dorm</em> Oh, I’m in Westwood.</p>
<p>^ucla’s got some organic food too.</p>
<p>btw, there’s no such thing as 100% organic…</p>
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<p>That’s awesome! Oakland is a beautiful city. Did you know that if you go to SC you don’t even have to take a bus to enjoy all the benefits of south central LA? It’s seriously ALL RIGHT THERE!</p>
<p>UCLA has laxattack, Berkeley doesn’t. That alone should be sufficient.</p>
<p>oakland… bleh. but hey, san fran is right there. i really miss it T_T</p>
<p>If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there…</p>
<p>whata lame-o</p>
<p>Though you also need to account for the fact that UCLA is the nation’s most populous university and also the smallest UC in acreage. The smallness of the campus explains why it would only take five minutes to get to Westwood, but would also translate to the campus being far more dense.</p>
<p>That would be only fitting for the nation’s most densely populated urban area… I don’t think UCLA <em>feels</em> any more dense than Cal, though. In fact, I think Cal in some ways feels more dense than UCLA. I guess it’s just in the eye of the beholder, no matter what the numbers say.</p>
<p>By the way, UCLA isn’t the nation’s largest university; that honor currently belongs to Ohio State (Columbus). UCLA isn’t even in the top 10. It is, however, the largest in California.</p>
<p>I was speaking about the denseness of the buildings. I remember when visiting LA and Cal, Cal was a lot greener (as in more plant life) and a lot more spread out. LA had everything compacted closely together, no random grasslands or forest-y areas.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ucla.edu/map/map-feb08.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucla.edu/map/map-feb08.pdf</a>
[UC</a> Berkeley - Large Campus Map](<a href=“http://berkeley.edu/map/maps/large_map.html]UC”>http://berkeley.edu/map/maps/large_map.html)</p>
<p>to me, cal seemed a lot denser when i went up there. maybe it’s cuz the trees are bigger and closer to buildings. ucla is a very open, sunny, green campus IMO, although no, we don’t have forests.
we’ll leave the forests to the people who camp out in trees ;)</p>