Anonymous
01/19/2022 08:45
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
OP, your kid should also consider UCSD.
Anonymous
01/19/2022 08:41
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
You don’t need a car at either and it would be expensive to park. But you might want a friend with a car for an occasional day or weekend trip.
Anonymous
01/19/2022 06:27
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Anonymous wrote:When admission decisions come out?
Not until March. The UCs don’t have EA.
Anonymous
01/19/2022 03:48
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
When admission decisions come out?
Anonymous
01/18/2022 20:43
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Anonymous wrote:Do you need a car at UCLA? What about Berkeley?
No, you don’t need a car at UCLA unless you live off campus. Westwood is just outside the gates and has everything. The Big Blue Bus is a ten minute ride to the beach in Santa Monica or five minutes to Century City and Beverly Hills. They are just about done with the Metro which has a big station in Westwood and is brand new so it will be easy to get downtown to Staples Center, art museums, and music center.
We live near Westwood and the traffic horror stories you hear about Los Angeles are gross understatements especially around Westwood. Traffic here is unbelievably bad and the only bad thing about living here.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 20:35
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I have two kids at UCLA and neither has voiced issues with getting classes. Both love it there and oldest has applied to grad school at UCLA as well. Wonderful neighborhood and a beautiful campus along with as perfect weather as you can get.
Thank you! What are their majors? Are you from the DC area?
My kids are majoring in neuroscience and sociology. We’re from NYC.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 20:19
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Just met someone who was raving about their kid's experience at UCLA. The mom did note that you have to be an effective self-advocate but overall the kid is apparently getting a great education and having the time of their life, with no concerns about graduating on time. Just be aware it's a high bar for admission even for in-state applicants and the UC system has its own admissions model with some specific requirements.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 19:36
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
A friend’s DC graduated from CS at Berkeley in 3.5 years. This was within the last four years.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 16:31
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Do you need a car at UCLA? What about Berkeley?
Anonymous
01/18/2022 15:52
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Anonymous wrote:We are from the DC area and have a sophomre at UCLA. Our DC also loves UCLA and is having a great experience. I echo PP in that it is a beautiful part of LA and a stunning campus. DC is majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in a creative field. DC says there are sometimes waitlists for popular classes but always manages to get in. There is a lot of movement the first week of classes as students drop and add classes and that is when students get in off waitlists. You can also petition the professor to let you into a class that is necessary for your major.
Oh - and a lot of kids take classes over the summer. Mine did last summer. They just want to be in LA! DC had a large group of friends all taking a summer session and they did things together every weekend - camping at Joshua Tree National Park, hiking in the mountains, hanging out on the beach. DC had a blast.
With a major and a minor, my DC will graduate in four years.
Good luck to your DC!
There are lots of strategies to get classes you need. Especially, if it is one that is required for major. Students just need to be proactive. There is lots of waitlist movement, etc. You can also petition professor to get in. There are always waitlist for STEM courses but they usually open up and let all the people in that want to take it. They don't want you not to graduate because you can't take a course.
If the student wants to take the popular courses that many athletes take, probably going to be out of luck since they get priority registration. That's always been the case and probably true of any similar school. All those "Varsity Blues" students also got priority registration.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 15:34
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
I have a daughter at UCLA now and I am also an alumni.
The most recent stat that I say was over 80% of undergrads graduate within 4 years. This is higher than USC which is at 78%. The theme on this forum that everyone is talking 5+ years to graduate is not true.
https://www.scholarships.com/colleges/university-of-california-los-angeles/graduation-rates/
https://www.scholarships.com/colleges/university-of-southern-california/graduation-rates/
Back in my day, it seems more students took longer to graduate but the reason was we were all in-state (including myself) and cost was a lot lower even adjusting for inflation and we were all having a good time and in no rush to graduate. So we took fewer classes per quarter to be honest.
As with any large university, you have to learn how to play the system. If you want take the all your classes on Tuesday and Thursday between 10 and 2, you are going to be out of luck. You may have to take a 8AM class or maybe not your first choice.
The most recent stat that I say was over 80% of undergrads graduate within 4 years. This is higher than USC which is at 78%. The theme on this forum that everyone is talking 5+ years to graduate is not true.
https://www.scholarships.com/colleges/university-of-california-los-angeles/graduation-rates/
https://www.scholarships.com/colleges/university-of-southern-california/graduation-rates/
Back in my day, it seems more students took longer to graduate but the reason was we were all in-state (including myself) and cost was a lot lower even adjusting for inflation and we were all having a good time and in no rush to graduate. So we took fewer classes per quarter to be honest.
As with any large university, you have to learn how to play the system. If you want take the all your classes on Tuesday and Thursday between 10 and 2, you are going to be out of luck. You may have to take a 8AM class or maybe not your first choice.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 15:31
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
We are from the DC area and have a sophomre at UCLA. Our DC also loves UCLA and is having a great experience. I echo PP in that it is a beautiful part of LA and a stunning campus. DC is majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in a creative field. DC says there are sometimes waitlists for popular classes but always manages to get in. There is a lot of movement the first week of classes as students drop and add classes and that is when students get in off waitlists. You can also petition the professor to let you into a class that is necessary for your major.
Oh - and a lot of kids take classes over the summer. Mine did last summer. They just want to be in LA! DC had a large group of friends all taking a summer session and they did things together every weekend - camping at Joshua Tree National Park, hiking in the mountains, hanging out on the beach. DC had a blast.
With a major and a minor, my DC will graduate in four years.
Good luck to your DC!
Oh - and a lot of kids take classes over the summer. Mine did last summer. They just want to be in LA! DC had a large group of friends all taking a summer session and they did things together every weekend - camping at Joshua Tree National Park, hiking in the mountains, hanging out on the beach. DC had a blast.
With a major and a minor, my DC will graduate in four years.
Good luck to your DC!
Anonymous
01/18/2022 15:11
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
Anonymous wrote:I have two kids at UCLA and neither has voiced issues with getting classes. Both love it there and oldest has applied to grad school at UCLA as well. Wonderful neighborhood and a beautiful campus along with as perfect weather as you can get.
Thank you! What are their majors? Are you from the DC area?
Anonymous
01/18/2022 14:29
Subject: Re:Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
I have two kids at UCLA and neither has voiced issues with getting classes. Both love it there and oldest has applied to grad school at UCLA as well. Wonderful neighborhood and a beautiful campus along with as perfect weather as you can get.
Anonymous
01/18/2022 09:00
Subject: Question for parents with current or recent undergrads at UCLA or Berkeley
How has the experience been? Are your kids able to get the classes they want? Will they be able to graduate in four years?
Have a kid who is potentially interested in these schools, and we are supportive, in part because we have family and friends in CA and enjoy visiting, and in part because we live in DC and get the DCTAG benefit, which makes public schools appealing.
But I keep hearing that because they are so big students have trouble getting classes and graduating on time. Big classes and lower-level classes being taught by TAs don’t really bother me, having attended a public university and had that experience, as long as higher-level classes are smaller and taught by professors.
So before we go too far down the road of considering these schools, I’m curious to hear from parents of current/recent undergraduates.
Thanks!
Have a kid who is potentially interested in these schools, and we are supportive, in part because we have family and friends in CA and enjoy visiting, and in part because we live in DC and get the DCTAG benefit, which makes public schools appealing.
But I keep hearing that because they are so big students have trouble getting classes and graduating on time. Big classes and lower-level classes being taught by TAs don’t really bother me, having attended a public university and had that experience, as long as higher-level classes are smaller and taught by professors.
So before we go too far down the road of considering these schools, I’m curious to hear from parents of current/recent undergraduates.
Thanks!