UCLA or Berkeley for out of state kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley is surrounded by crappy area. Kids there are cutthroat, esp in engineering and pre-med. Not a happy place.

UCLA maybe a little less academic prestige, but everyone is so happy and having so much fun that no one cares.

This. I’m in CA and many students prefer UCLA because it’s less joyless and soul sucking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley is surrounded by crappy area. Kids there are cutthroat, esp in engineering and pre-med. Not a happy place.

UCLA maybe a little less academic prestige, but everyone is so happy and having so much fun that no one cares.

This. I’m in CA and many students prefer UCLA because it’s less joyless and soul sucking.

+1
Except the reputation of UCLA has improved a lot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley is surrounded by crappy area. Kids there are cutthroat, esp in engineering and pre-med. Not a happy place.

UCLA maybe a little less academic prestige, but everyone is so happy and having so much fun that no one cares.

This. I’m in CA and many students prefer UCLA because it’s less joyless and soul sucking.

+1. It completely depends on the personality of your child but the students at Berkeley tend to be extremely studious, serious, and not particularly social. It’s competitive and academically very rigorous. I have a close friend who attended and, while I don’t think she regrets going, she says it was a stressful learning environment and definitely not ‘fun’.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made this decision. Cal all the way. Brand recognition anywhere in the country is much better.

UCLA alum here. UCLA is known all over the world. Out of the country, brand name is higher than Cal. And in the country...is there anyone who has heard of Cal that has not heard of UCLA?
Cal is ranked higher (I believe for historical reasons) but UCLA is harder to get into.

Go where you can get in, but...a quote from some other DCUMer that is worth repeating:

"No one has ever regretted going to UCLA."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley is surrounded by crappy area. Kids there are cutthroat, esp in engineering and pre-med. Not a happy place.

UCLA maybe a little less academic prestige, but everyone is so happy and having so much fun that no one cares.

I don't know what you mean re: the area around Berkeley. Berkeley is weird, sure, but definitely not surrounded by crappy area.

There are bad parts of Berkeley, but the area right around campus is generally pretty good and the north side is quite nice.

For liberal arts, I'd choose Cal. STEM is more of a toss up, but that isn't you. UCLA is definitely more stereotypical Californian vibe.

Comparing the area right around UCLA to Cal, you are comparing Westwood to Berkeley.... yeah Westwood is nicer/fancier for sure, and some parts of Berkeley are more sketchy. The "bad" parts of Berkeley are pretty localized, and students can find a good place to live to attend either school. Berkeley has more trees/nature and is less superficial, but LA has more sunshine and palm trees and glitz.

In short, both would be pretty fantastic, assuming you don't have a better offer for a private school for similar price. The schools are both good, but struggle with normal (for Cali?) state school funding issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely Cal.

Definitely Not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I made this decision. Cal all the way. Brand recognition anywhere in the country is much better.

Better “brand recognition” than UCLA? No. They’re both equal in that department. UCLA is probably more recognizable.

By those in the know, absolutely Berkeley. Worldwide, Cal is recognized as the preeminent public university in this country. Only Harvard and Stanford can match its overall academic excellence.

UCLA has been number one rank public school in USNWR 5 years. Bottom line UCLA gets significantly more applicants and is harder to get into for a reason. UCLA is a better undergraduate experience. The people have spoken. Berkeley will be past up by UCSB in a few years in the rankings.


Berkeley has a longer history and more higher ranked Phd, but we are talking about current undergraduate and by the numbers UCLA wins.

The idea that Berkeley on the level of Harvard and Stanford at the undergraduate level is ridiculous. What do Stanford and Berkeley students have in common? They both applied to Stanford.

Berkeley reached it's peak when Benjamin was chasing Ellen Robinson around campus in the Graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I made this decision. Cal all the way. Brand recognition anywhere in the country is much better.

Better “brand recognition” than UCLA? No. They’re both equal in that department. UCLA is probably more recognizable.

By those in the know, absolutely Berkeley. Worldwide, Cal is recognized as the preeminent public university in this country. Only Harvard and Stanford can match its overall academic excellence.

Cal boosters are worse than UVA boosters. Enough said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley is surrounded by crappy area. Kids there are cutthroat, esp in engineering and pre-med. Not a happy place.

UCLA maybe a little less academic prestige, but everyone is so happy and having so much fun that no one cares.

This. I’m in CA and many students prefer UCLA because it’s less joyless and soul sucking.

Yup, UCLA is ranked better too.

[Anonymous]

Ucla also enrolls an academically stronger and more diverse student body. Students now pick ucla over the two when they have a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd chose ucla but neither are ideal. Uva is stronger at undergrad liberal art fields than both imo

Ain’t no way José.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd chose ucla but neither are ideal. Uva is stronger at undergrad liberal art fields than both imo

Ain’t no way José.

Yeah, I’m a UVA alumna who really liked it, and these days I’d choose UCLA every day of the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd chose ucla but neither are ideal. Uva is stronger at undergrad liberal art fields than both imo

Ain’t no way José.

Yeah, I’m a UVA alumna who really liked it, and these days I’d choose UCLA every day of the week.

And to clarify—a double-alumna with a double major and graduate degree in liberal arts fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not worth the price.

Why? At 45k it is cheaper than any of t20-t30 private school

For oos it's closer to 80k. Impacted majors and big classes.

My OOS kid received Regents scholarship and it covered about 95% of the expenses including transportation during thanksgiving and breaks. Of course it is very competitive and only about 20 are selected each year for OOS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I made this decision. Cal all the way. Brand recognition anywhere in the country is much better.

Better “brand recognition” than UCLA? No. They’re both equal in that department. UCLA is probably more recognizable.

Berkeley is definitely more respected academically and for research.