UCLA vs Berkeley

[Anonymous]

For those in the know, which is the better school? They both have good reputations, solid academics, but different attitudes as much as I can tell on paper.

[Anonymous]

Cal (Berkeley) baby! It's the flagship UC school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cal (Berkeley) baby! It's the flagship UC school.

[Anonymous]

Apply to both and ask this question if you are accepted to both.

[Anonymous]

Some might argue that Cal is on par or even better than UCLA academically, but UCLA is plainly better when all factors are taken into account:https://colleges.niche.com/rankings/best-overall/methodology/

[Anonymous]

UCLA. The other place for law school.

[Anonymous]

You must be joking. Berkeley, hands down. Remember Berkeley is an international brand - well known for excellence EVERYWHERE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You must be joking. Berkeley, hands down. Remember Berkeley is an international brand - well known for excellence EVERYWHERE!

It's not good for anyone to be obsessed with brands. But since you brought it up, UCLA's is better--these days, at least.

[Anonymous]

UCLA alum here.

Berkeley has the historically higher position, just like Harvard does even if Stanford or Yale scores better on something.

If you search The LA Times archives from 6 months ago or less, there was a big article on how UCLA is the hardest CA college to get into right now, harder than Berkeley.

UCLA has great resources--it's a big school, has lots of alums, lots of $.

Personally, although both schools are pretty left-wing, I think Berkeley is so left (and historically so left) it would be hard for me to send my kids there. I'm not anti-left; I just think it's long-gone to the place where there is no room for discussion/debate/differing views. It's more of the place to nail down and hone those views.

Does post-school geography matter? If you want to be in Southern California, UCLA will give you the networks, and in Northern California, UCB will be the better school.

UCLA also has strong ties to Asia (I don't know re Berkeley but assume so--maybe someone on here knows) I *think* UCLA has greater presence world-wide, probably due to the football team and the marketing with the cartoon Bruin.

Now, just saying, not comparing to UCB here: OMG I loved going to school at UCLA. It was super-hard, but what an incredible experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apply to both and ask this question if you are accepted to both.

Anybody can ask any question, any time. Not your call though you are entitled to an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCLA alum here.

Berkeley has the historically higher position, just like Harvard does even if Stanford or Yale scores better on something.

If you search The LA Times archives from 6 months ago or less, there was a big article on how UCLA is the hardest CA college to get into right now, harder than Berkeley.

UCLA has great resources--it's a big school, has lots of alums, lots of $.

Personally, although both schools are pretty left-wing, I think Berkeley is so left (and historically so left) it would be hard for me to send my kids there. I'm not anti-left; I just think it's long-gone to the place where there is no room for discussion/debate/differing views. It's more of the place to nail down and hone those views.

Does post-school geography matter? If you want to be in Southern California, UCLA will give you the networks, and in Northern California, UCB will be the better school.

UCLA also has strong ties to Asia (I don't know re Berkeley but assume so--maybe someone on here knows) I *think* UCLA has greater presence world-wide, probably due to the football team and the marketing with the cartoon Bruin.

Now, just saying, not comparing to UCB here: OMG I loved going to school at UCLA. It was super-hard, but what an incredible experience.

I agree but you can't take away the power house minds and discoveries that came/come out of Cal. Two great choices if someone is fortunate to be accepted to both!

[Anonymous]

It's a no lose proposition, OP. But keep in mind that UCLA runs on the quarter system while Berkeley does semesters. You'll work your buns off in quarters but you can take a larger variety of classes where you might not get that option with semesters.

[Anonymous]

Yes, when I was applying, you could only apply to one UC. So there was a huge stress factor in which one to apply to (for instance, if you applied to UCLA your chances were slim, then you were out of luck for any UC). Also, the general ed requirements were different so if you were like me at took the GE for UCSB and to into UCLA, you had to take a whole other year of UCLA-specific coursework.

Two great schools!

[Anonymous]

Doesn't it depend on the area of study?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply to both and ask this question if you are accepted to both.

Anybody can ask any question, any time. Not your call though you are entitled to an opinion.

You can apply to both at once with no additional effort or expense, so it only matter once you get into both. It is not possible that someone is choosing between the two now.