<p>The most compelling reason to pick UCLA over Berkeley is for Art and Film students.</p>
<p>I do agree that UCLA isn’t ranked as highly ranked as Berkeley for most majors; but, as Bephy said, I would strongly argue the differences in UC undergrad education are non-existent and imagined. The reality is that choosing Berkeley because it has better academics/prestige is just as superficial as picking UCLA for its better location. </p>
<p>The way the undergrad environments are run, all the UCs are roughly the same. Also, if you’ve been observant, many elite grad institutions do take 1 or 2 students from each CalState every year and that would be roughly equal to their share of qualified students.</p>
<p>I think a student can be successful anywhere and the university of origin has little or no influence upon future success. The only universities that I deem better than the others are universities such as Reed or CalTech offer some strange amenities and environments. Universities such as Harvard or Yale or Berkeley are all the same for undergrad. (Maybe at Harvard, you’ll find more professors to write your recs.) -.-</p>