Which to choose? UCLA or Boston College?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am accepted by both UCLA and Boston college but I need help to choose. </p>

<p>Overall UCLA has a better reputation and ranks higher. </p>

<p>Both schools are far away from my home because I want to go to a school in a big city or at least close to a big city. I think LA is larger than Boston but I am not familiar with either. </p>

<p>I prefer lower cost of living. </p>

<p>I prefer classes of smaller sizes so that I can participate more. </p>

<p>I will learn economics and I don't know which one is better in this field. </p>

<p>I don't want many international students especially Asians or Chinese.</p>

2

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<p>UCLA for sure lacks all of these three:</p>

<p>1) LA is an expensive city, so the cost of living here, especially in westwood/the westside is high.</p>

<p>2) Most of the UD classes i had weren’t small, and i’m pretty sure you’ll find the same in other majors as well</p>

<p>3) UCLA has a large Asian-American/Asian population. Although, that isn’t uncommon at any elite prestigious university like UCLA.</p>

<p>I believe UCLA does have an excellent economics program though.</p>

3

<p>Newton (notwithstanding the Boston in its name, most of BC is in Newton, not Boston) is also an expensive place to live but most BC undergraduates live on campus so I’m not sure how relevant a factor this is. </p>

<p>UCLA is quite a bit larger than BC and it feels more urban although the campus itself if quite nice. In general, I’m not a big fan of LA but UCLA is in a relatively nice part of town. BC is in more of a suburban area, although it is easy to get into the city because it is right on the Green Line. Its campus is also very nice. BC looks and feels like the Catholic school that it is although it is Jesuit and therefore is less “Catholic” than, say, a Notre Dame or Catholic University. Obviously, as a public university, UCLA has no religious affilation.</p>

<p>I suspect that class sizes are smaller at BC although BC is also pretty large so I’m not sure the difference with UCLA will be hugely significant.</p>

<p>The demographics of the two schools will be quite different. It is in California so, of course, there will be more Asian Americans at UCLA than BC. Most UCLA students are from California. Most BC students are from the Northeast. About half of BC students are Catholic–although their level of observance will vary considerably.</p>

<p>As far as rankings go, if you are looking at rankings for undergraduate education (such as USNWR), the differences are minor and shouldn’t be a factor. If you throw in graduate and professional education, and research, than clearly UCLA is a higher ranked university. But those things will play little role in your undergraduate education. And as far a prestige, at least from the vantage point of someone who lives in New England, I don’t see much difference between having a BA from BC or UCLA. I will say that UCLA is certainly more recognized internationally than BC if that is important to you.</p>

4

<p>If research, professional and graduate education have little bearing on the undergraduate experience, thereby favoring BC (by how much, who can say?), then why does ‘perceived’ greater international recognition (favoring UCLA, by your reckoning) have any bearing on it?</p>

5

<p>Yeah, if you don’t like Asians, UCLA is probably not right for you.</p>

<p>I would like to note most Asians are California residents, though. Most would not describe UCLA as a school with many international students. BC probably has more international and OOS students than UCLA.</p>

6

<p>UCLA undergraduates are 7.4% international; BC undergraduates are 3.6% international. In other words, the overwhelming majority of undergraduates at each school are domestic. Why does it matter?</p>