The History department is relatively large at UCLA. For the North Campus majors, outside of Psychology, Sociology, and Poli-Sci it is perhaps the fourth largest student-body. Perhaps, I may know what the cause is. From my understanding, until a few years back, students would apply as pre-history majors and when they would enroll, they would switch it to psychology, since getting into psychology’s acceptance was difficult and immensely rigorous. Sure, they would lose a couple quarters but for some, this was worth it. I believe they’ve cut this out and switching majors is extremely difficult to do so.
UCLA has one of the finest history department’s in the nation, I believe it is always ranked in the top 10. All you have to look at somebody like Professor Mary Corey who fills up a 300 students in her lectures. History is still a fairly popular subject at UCLA.
If your friend is serious about history, then he/she should be aware that UCLA has one of the finest department’s in the nation. It outranks Ivy League schools such as Cornell and Univ Of Penn, it is also ahead of Duke. Not to mention, the professors are simply amazing at UCLA and their doors are always open to you. They truly care about their students, or at least the ones who actually put in an effort. Sure, there are a few duds but every university has them. There is also a large section of courses you can choose from, so you won’t be bored, you will always find something that will interest you. Perhaps what was the most profound aspect, at least for me, was that the student body is always looking out for one another. There was always study groups going during midterms and finals. Nobody was trying outdo the other, there was always a helping hand. UCLA students are extremely extroverted.