usdenick

Hey there, I was admitted to both UCLA and Berkeley. I have submitted my SIR to Berkeley and decided to go... however with this horrible budget scenario, I am having doubts. Whenever I have visited or contacted UCLA they seem to be less affected by the budget cuts, whereas I hear about it all the time at Berkeley. Should I switch to UCLA? What are you guys' thoughts on budget cuts at both schools... I also have the regent's at UCLA which I think might help me in case they decided to cut financial aid for needy students. I would be in a bad place if they decided to cut aid for needy students!

kc_sunshine101

No one knows at this point. All we know is that CA is not in a good place and that education will definitely be affected. People that presume to know are full of it. The bottom line is this: Berkeley and UCLA have many resources available to them that other schools do not. If UCs are going to be affected, I (personally) think that UCLA and Cal will suffer the least. Also, where are you hearing that Cal is being affected? Please do not base your decision on hearsay.

It's ALWAYS smart to have a plan B, so think about what you will do if your financial aid is severely cut next year or tuition is raised. Are you willing to take out more in student loans to attend these schools? If this is something that REALLY worries you, I would take Regents @ UCLA b/c that scholarship is not funded by the state. I'm not freaking out over it though. I would be MORE freaked out if I were planning on attending college 3-5+ years from now.

Fasttrack

UCLA is not going to be affected that much because of the nearby property taxes. The property values in L.A. area is high, and so UCLA gets a lot of its money from there. Furthermore, I read somewhere that of all of the UC campuses, UCLA gets the most donations (mostly from the celebrities that graduated or did work there before).
Meanwhile, for Berkeley, the property value isn't as high as L.A. Here is a recent Budget message from the Chancellor: 06.16.2009 - Budget Message from Chancellor and Provost

therealist

if you look at articles online, most say that courses won't be affected, but we won't see the overall effect of the economic problem in california until maybe later in the year. it might be worse next year if legislators don't find a way to provide the schools with the funds they need