<p>Westow,</p>
<p>i was in the same boat as you. i was set on UCLA but then i went to Cal Day and i was amazed. Then i proceded to switch back and forth between the two schools for about two weeks and today i finally sent my SIR to the school of my choice: UCLA!</p>
<p>it was a super-de-duper hard decision for me. Ive lived in San Jose, CA (nor cal, about 1.5 hours from Cal) for pretty much all my life and i felt that the experience i could gain from being in a huge (and new) city like LA would really help to push me along down that road of independence. sure, i would have been independent at Cal as well but i think the newness factor makes it just that more exciting.</p>
<p>Im planning to major in MCB or microbial bio and immunology and i also intend to go to medical school. When i looked at the Cal rates of med school addmission, their rates are very close to the national average. I guess the "name" doesnt really carry that much weight to med school admission officers. with that said, i think i can get an equally good eduaction at UCLA and have an equally good chance of being admitted to the med school of my choice. that also helped narrow down my decision so that it was basically soley based on the atmosphere.</p>
<p>from what ive read, UCLA students tend to manage their time between studying and liesure a bit better than Cal students. I also hear that the night life ant UCLA is tremendously better than at Cals. </p>
<p>so basically, both schools will offer you both great educations and a great experience; it is just up to you to choose which experience you want to experience (ha!)</p>