<p>My son also wanted to go to UCLA last year as an out-of-stater (we're originally New Yorkers, now live in a suburb of Washington, DC.) My wife and I were not at all thrilled that he wanted to attend a college so far from home, but we visited the campus as a bribe for him to attend a family wedding in Newport Beach, instead of him staying home alone that weekend. I reassured my wife after the visit (which he loved) that he had no chance to get in, based on his SAT's and GPA compared to others. Long story short, of course, is that he got in (to the College of Arts and Architecture) and is now a member of the class of 2008! </p>
<p>In many ways UCLA has been better than we've expected. He's made lots of friends, many fellow out-of-staters and international students; gotten good grades, and thanks to the miracle of email and family cell phone plans, we hear from him on a fairly regular basis. And when he was smart enough to come home for Thanksgiving, which at UCLA is only a four-day holiday, we were very pleased. He says the dorms are, in fact, "pretty dead" on weekends (and kind of quiet during the week, too--lots of studying going on). He bought himself a bicycle, though, and he and (sometimes) his friends go exploring--to the beach, to Hollywood, to downtown. He plays indoor soccer, and joined the running club and a couple of other organizations. He loves it, and we're happy, too.</p>
<p>One of the things we did that I suggest to you for your son's visit is to take the bus from in front of the school to Santa Monica Pier. The dormitory tour guide said "you can take the bus to the beach for only a quarter" and on the post-acceptance visit (like most colleges, they have a visiting day for accepted students) my son and I decided to see what that was like. He wanted to see the beach: I wanted to help him come to the conclusion he didn't need a car to get around. The ride to Santa Monica takes about 20 minutes, and your son may draw that conclusion as well--which he will become disabused of within minutes of moving into the dorms by the other kids. However, the fact that parking permits are scarce, gas is expensive, and free parking non-existant has kept a car at bay, at least this year. You should also walk around Westwood--a great student area--and in the vicinity of the campus in Beverly Hills and Bel Air to get the sense for yourself of what a great location UCLA is in (we had no idea beforehand.) The other LA tourist stuff I leave to you, except for the Getty Museum, which is fabulous and highly recommended.</p>
<p>Class size in my son's program is small, but it's very specialized and probably not typical of the school. They do have special classes (called Fiat Lux) and make other accomodations for freshmen. We've had good luck on bargain airfares (especially on Jet Blue) from DC airports. And the price--while I wish we lived in state--is still about $7K less than major private universities now charge. Good luck!</p>