CC to University: Deciding Between UCLA & UCI

[Jboeding]

Hey everyone,

Just to start off, I love this board! I love the family vibe the site gives off. You are all so very rational, so I couldn't have picked a better group of people to ask, haha. Sorry in advance for the wall of text.

I am a Bio major (General/ecology) with a spanish minor, currently at a community college in orange county. The only schools i am considering are UCLA and UCI. I am having a hard time picking between the two. UCI is guaranteed, UCLA is 99% guaranteed due to TAP Certification.

UCI:
Pros:
- Convenient, can commute
- No rent
- Cooked dinners, ha!
- Do not need to take Calc 3 (ha, no hate to any of you).
- Automatically enrolled in their honor's program (not a big deal).
- Close to my dogs

Cons:
- Not the best ecology program, so I would probably do general biology
- Not very diverse
- No very prestigious
- I don't find the campus to be totally appealing, although it does have it's pretty places.

UCLA:
Pros:
- Prestige
- Really cool Ecology program (a quarter abroad to do research).
- Very diverse (which I love)
- Beautiful campus (New bio building :O)

Cons:
- Requires Calc 3
- Requires rent
- So **** big
- Probably have to leave my three dogs with my parents, :(

From an academic stand point, UCLA would probably be the best, but from a financial perspective, UCI would definitely be cheaper. I plan on going to Graduate School for at least a masters (UC Davis). Does this play a role in deciding which school to choose? If so, why?

What do you all suggest doing? I am taking Calc 2 this summer, so jumping straight into Calc 3 in the Fall would be a wise decision. I have to decide within the next two weeks to either take a bio class, or Calc 3. I am signed up for both at the moment. I could always take Calc 3 later on, if things change, but it's better now since I am fresh.

Thanks everyone,
- Jacob

 

[Ackbach]

Hey everyone,

Just to start off, I love this board! I love the family vibe the site gives off. You are all so very rational, so I couldn't have picked a better group of people to ask, haha. Sorry in advance for the wall of text.

I am a Bio major (General/ecology) with a spanish minor, currently at a community college in orange county. The only schools i am considering are UCLA and UCI. I am having a hard time picking between the two. UCI is guaranteed, UCLA is 99% guaranteed due to TAP Certification.

UCI:
Pros:
- Convenient, can commute
- No rent
- Cooked dinners, ha!
- Do not need to take Calc 3 (ha, no hate to any of you).
- Automatically enrolled in their honor's program (not a big deal).
- Close to my dogs

Cons:
- Not the best ecology program, so I would probably do general biology
- Not very diverse
- No very prestigious
- I don't find the campus to be totally appealing, although it does have it's pretty places.

UCLA:
Pros:
- Prestige
- Really cool Ecology program (a quarter abroad to do research).
- Very diverse (which I love)
- Beautiful campus (New bio building :O)

Cons:
- Requires Calc 3
- Requires rent
- So **** big
- Probably have to leave my three dogs with my parents, :(

From an academic stand point, UCLA would probably be the best, but from a financial perspective, UCI would definitely be cheaper. I plan on going to Graduate School for at least a masters (UC Davis). Does this play a role in deciding which school to choose? If so, why?

What do you all suggest doing? I am taking Calc 2 this summer, so jumping straight into Calc 3 in the Fall would be a wise decision. I have to decide within the next two weeks to either take a bio class, or Calc 3. I am signed up for both at the moment. I could always take Calc 3 later on, if things change, but it's better now since I am fresh.

Thanks everyone,
- Jacob

If these are your two options, I'd recommend UCLA. Academics should be top priority in choosing a school. As for Calc 3, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Calc 2 is definitely the toughest (unless you have a particularly hard time visualizing in 3D, in which case Calc 3 can be a bit tougher; on the other hand, the graphing utilities these days are amazing, and can really help you out). Particularly if you want to go to grad school, the better undergrad program you do, the better your chances are for getting into a grad program.