liyana179

1. quarter system = less material per quarter, but more quarters, so it evens out. i LOVE quarters because you change things up 3 times a year, not twice, so it allows for better experimentation and variety.
2. changing majors in letters and science isn't a problem unless it's a competitive major (bizecon, communications studies, etc).
3. no idea about this one...
4. some majors allow you to graduate in 3 years with good planning, so yes, you have time for studying abroad. relaxing is subjective
5. i've heard 5 fiat luxes is a limit... but don't know for sure. you won't really be taking as many as you think you will, but DO try for 1 per quarter. i only took 1 all first year and regretted it.
6. yes, you can choose based on professors. sometimes there are multiple professors for a certain class in one quarter, sometimes there's one per quarter which changes. and yes some professors DO fill up quickly because they're better- check out the math classes for an example

poloplayer111

ditto on question #9 (supery00n).

Also, say you register for a class, but it gets filled.
I heard that if you go to the first day of class anyways, and stay after to talk to the professor, you can usually get in. Is this true?

namaste

oh man you all have fun (emmeline, liyana). i am not answering any of these newbies questions. if there is a question only i can answer let me know but this is insane. plus i figure i'll be answering plenty of questions in the fall *sigh*

alansda

liyana179, since psych is such a popular major, can you tell us a little about it?
Is it science-oriented? How many hours do you study per day? How are the professors? How are the career prospects with a psych degree from UCLA? What's good and bad about the major? etc

FireEmblem

problem with quarter system = you have to deal with finals/midterms 3 times a year as opposed to do, and you dont have time to procrastinate

on the bright side, you have more opportunities to do better (or fail) if you screw up.

as for the "dead guy at the pool," i heard he hit his head because it was dark, and thats why he died

BoelterHall

Hahaha .. you can check it out yourself, but it's about as good (or bad) as the gym equipment at exercise room of hotels. Wooden is the better choice here.

You come in with 2nd or 3rd year standing, but this is only in terms of units. (By logic), if units were the factor of graduating, then people would take 20-25 AP courses and graduate with a college degree without taking any courses.

AP Credits only take care of a few elementary courses if you wish to opt out, and maybe some electives.

You make college sound so easy. Yes, you can take whatever courses you want, but you will need to finish the courses required for your major (IF you want to graduate).

I have never heard of anyone getting a B.A or B.S in 2 years. 3 years is possible for L&S majors (psych, history, sociology). If you want to get out in 3 years (for any majors and especially engineering), you have to be motivated.

As for studying abroad, it really depends on your major and when you want to graduate. Some people graduate a quarter later for that reason - but you can easily use summer school to get you back on track. Just plan - very important in your undergraduate years .. and in life.

It's BS - never base your decision on the difficulty of professor. People are very subjective on those rating websites.

Depends on the class, major. Also depends on how badly you need the class (Are you close to graduating? Is this course offered next quarter?)

BoelterHall

This question gets asked by ~7/10 prospective students. It is difficult to give an appropriate response. First, this depends on your major. Some majors you don't have to study all quarter until the day before exams (I will not state which ones - to prevent myself from disparaging any programs)

Second, how much you study depends on your aptitude. My roomate studied 8 weeks of life science in one night, and got an A. Other students in the class studied everyday all quarter for ~2-3 hours per day for the class, and got Bs or As. The more you learn in class, the less you have to study. Knowledge isn't about how much you study - it's about knowing all you need to know. The variables are speed and retention.

On a brighter side, you don't have to remember material from 15 weeks ago (Do you even remember what you did during Winter Break? )

BoelterHall

Yes, for example in math, I believe it's one semester of multivariable, and one semester of linear algebra/differential equations. Or something similar to that. It's the same material covered since the UCs have the same accredidation under ABET for applied sciences. For UCLA, it's just split in half.
32A: Multivariable
32B: Multivariable
33A: Linear Algebra
33B: 1st/2nd Order Differential Equations

The point of seminars is to either develop an interest in a field, or learn more about a specific topic interest. Taking 3 or more is too many in my opinion. You would be wasting time (Well technically not, but you want to take other courses at this stage.) You you can get in if you sign up early.

You are assigned - you don't get to request. You can only submit a request for which type of dorm you want - plaza, suite, residential hall.

Yes, the plazas are more expensive than the residential halls. If you come to Open House, there will be housing tours, so you can see for yourself and make a selection. There are perks for each, depending on your character.


There is a sign up time for each student based on class standing and misc. priority accommodations. You can check this on URSA when you have access. If there were no system, then enrollment will be chaotic (it already is a bit). Don't worry about this until you finish high school. Enjoy your time .. and Prom.

grark

namaste, are you going to be an RA next year?

duckedtape

can you tell me more about clusters?

MR. Tubbz

What's the honors program?

ihasamilk

I am currently in a cluster.

Warning: Many people will present clusters to you as a great way to knock out a bunch of GE requirements and as a cool way to get to know a bunch of people since you stay in the same class for an entire year...BUT...

While the topics are pretty interesting and the professors are very knowledgeable, please know that clusters are A LOT of work. For the cluster I am in, there are roughly 50 - 150 pages to be read each week, 3 to 4 semi-big papers in each quarter (7-10 pages) plus midterms and finals.

I would definitely not recommend a cluster to anyone who does not enjoy reading. But if you feel really interested in a subject and like a little bit of pain, a cluster just might be for you.

akorch16

Honors program (posted in another thread):


For the record, if you end up getting into the honors program ACCEPT IT. I was really confused as to what this was when I got accepted to UCLA. I'll try and break it down:

Honors doesn't really have any additional prestige, or the weight that the name "honors" has in high school (departmental honors is a different story, however). Really, the only DIRECT correlation is that you get priority enrollment for classes, for at least three quarters. Priority enrollment means that you get to enroll for your first set of classes before anyone else, which is extremely helpful, especially as a freshman. I haven't done any honors classes, and don't plan to, which means I'll be dropped after spring quarter. But, I got three FREE quarters of priority enrollment.

If you get something more out of it, great. But understand that there is NO DOWNSIDE whatsoever to enrolling. You don't have to take the classes if you don't want to, and you can just milk it for the priority enrollment until your class standing is higher and you can enroll sooner.

In conclusion, I have absolutely no idea what it is, but know that I'm only benefiting from it.


Clusters:

I'm not in a cluster. A lot of my friends are. Some like it, some don't, and they have varying levels of difficultly. The one thing you should understand is that you get five classes for the price of three -- three GE's, your Writing II, and your Seminar requirement. I almost wish I did it just for that.

kick53rv3

also for clusters if you are engineering major you don't want to do it... we have a little bit more stricter GE requirements and you don't really take many GEs until 3rd or 4th year... most of the first year is major related field like CS, Math, Chem, Physics

but what I really have to say it don't worry about it too much, they'll tell you everything you really need to know at orientation(YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO SKIP ORIENTATION) but until then just relax and show off to your friends your acceptance letters

yahooo

Agreed. I'm in one of the science clusters and every week we have a reading assignment (usually 2-3 chapters from this book), lab homework, and then lecture material. There is also a research paper each quarter.