Tell me about UCLA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

UCLA is an excellent school highly respected by employers and grad schools alike. I am a proud alum. The problem is the terrible fiscal condition of California/the system makes for difficulties in class selection, graduating on time, getting into a chosen major, etc. It is the very reason that I did not allow my children to apply to any UC school.

Also, the very mission of the UCs is NOT undergraduate education, it is graduate education and research. So keep that in mind.

This could be said of all of the better state flagships-- Michigan, Wisconsin, UMD, etc.

Way to work UMD in there.

I TA'ed one of the UC campuses. UC grad school is different from undergrad. I don't mind UC grad school - smaller classes with access and personal attention of profs (because you are working for them). But I'd not send my D there for undergraduate.

[Anonymous]

UCLA is the dream...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure your student try to get all the required courses out of the way. UC is famous forP not offering enough courses for students to graduate on time. Extra semester or year can be costly. I sent my D out of state. Otherwise, it's a beautiful campus in a beautiful area of Los Angeles.

This. Take a lot of AP courses and do well on the exams so you get the needed credits.

[Anonymous]

Eh, just another big state school.

[Anonymous]

Good school, but $63K for out of state? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good school, but $63K for out of state? Nope.

Deal breaker right there. For that price, you can find private schools.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We're Maryland residents so DC will be OOS. We know we could have paid for a private school for the same cost but DC (who goes to a private school) wants a completely different experience for college and is looking for a big school with lots of school spirit. Maybe if DC had gone to Whitman and BCC it would have been a different story and a private college would be more appealing after a large high school.

FWIW, Michigan and UVA are also in the running but UCLA just seems to be popular with graduates these days. And to a certain extent we can see the appeal of living in California for a few years without having to worry about traffic and long commutes. UMich/UVA/UCLA cost the same for us as OOS so financially there is not much of a difference. Like any other parent we want to make sure that DC is happy at college but is also productively employed after 4 years (fingers crossed!).

[Anonymous]

Can I ask, what's wrong with U of MD, College Park, with instate price?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're Maryland residents so DC will be OOS. We know we could have paid for a private school for the same cost but DC (who goes to a private school) wants a completely different experience for college and is looking for a big school with lots of school spirit. Maybe if DC had gone to Whitman and BCC it would have been a different story and a private college would be more appealing after a large high school.

FWIW, Michigan and UVA are also in the running but UCLA just seems to be popular with graduates these days. And to a certain extent we can see the appeal of living in California for a few years without having to worry about traffic and long commutes. UMich/UVA/UCLA cost the same for us as OOS so financially there is not much of a difference. Like any other parent we want to make sure that DC is happy at college but is also productively employed after 4 years (fingers crossed!).

Your DC will never want to move back east once they graduate......can't say I would blame them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're Maryland residents so DC will be OOS. We know we could have paid for a private school for the same cost but DC (who goes to a private school) wants a completely different experience for college and is looking for a big school with lots of school spirit. Maybe if DC had gone to Whitman and BCC it would have been a different story and a private college would be more appealing after a large high school.

FWIW, Michigan and UVA are also in the running but UCLA just seems to be popular with graduates these days. And to a certain extent we can see the appeal of living in California for a few years without having to worry about traffic and long commutes. UMich/UVA/UCLA cost the same for us as OOS so financially there is not much of a difference. Like any other parent we want to make sure that DC is happy at college but is also productively employed after 4 years (fingers crossed!).

Your DC will never want to move back east once they graduate......can't say I would blame them.

With emails, texts, face talks, it will be just as if he or she moved to next town.
Even if DC goes local to UVA, mom and dad's gonna see DC as much as if he or she moved to Cali, i.e., rarely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask, what's wrong with U of MD, College Park, with instate price?

Too close to home is my guess. Something about “college experience “ or whatnot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're Maryland residents so DC will be OOS. We know we could have paid for a private school for the same cost but DC (who goes to a private school) wants a completely different experience for college and is looking for a big school with lots of school spirit. Maybe if DC had gone to Whitman and BCC it would have been a different story and a private college would be more appealing after a large high school.

FWIW, Michigan and UVA are also in the running but UCLA just seems to be popular with graduates these days. And to a certain extent we can see the appeal of living in California for a few years without having to worry about traffic and long commutes. UMich/UVA/UCLA cost the same for us as OOS so financially there is not much of a difference. Like any other parent we want to make sure that DC is happy at college but is also productively employed after 4 years (fingers crossed!).

Your DC will never want to move back east once they graduate......can't say I would blame them.

+1 UCLA is in such a great section of LA and maybe two miles from the beach. The student scene is vibrant and nothing like he/she had in a small DC private school. Obviously, 90% of the students he will be friends with will be Californians.

Not sure what you mean by not having to worry about traffic. If he needs to go off campus and out of Westwood he is going to have brutal traffic.

[Anonymous]

Side note: When you visit your kid at UCLA, avoid the Westwood and near campus hotels. For the same price you could get a great room on the beach in Santa Monica just a couple of miles from campus and an easy drive.

[Anonymous]

UMD is a great school. DC applied there and got in but its hard for UMD -CP to compete (from a location and national ranking perspective) with UCLA or even Michigan/UVA. Of course, DC knows that going OOS is a luxury that is not to be taken lightly. We've saved diligently since DC was born so we do have enough saved up that DC can graduate without loans.

While traffic is definitely an issue getting out of Westwood, it's not like commuting for a job where you have to face traffic jams twice a day.

We're aware that DC may not want to move back to the East Coast after graduating - at least not immediately - but we're trying not to think about that too much. No use stressing about that now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD is a great school. DC applied there and got in but its hard for UMD -CP to compete (from a location and national ranking perspective) with UCLA or even Michigan/UVA. Of course, DC knows that going OOS is a luxury that is not to be taken lightly. We've saved diligently since DC was born so we do have enough saved up that DC can graduate without loans.

While traffic is definitely an issue getting out of Westwood, it's not like commuting for a job where you have to face traffic jams twice a day.

We're aware that DC may not want to move back to the East Coast after graduating - at least not immediately - but we're trying not to think about that too much. No use stressing about that now.

Your DC is going to have a great college experience at UCLA. Congrats!