<p>I think I know what goldenboy is trying to say. He was trying to view UCLA as how it is perceived in America; He wasn’t comparing it directly to Imperial as how the people around the world view them. </p>
<p>goldenboy, I think UCLA is viewed more as a U of Manchester kind of university in the UK, not Leeds. Remember that there are only about 110 chartered universities in the UK as opposed to more than 2 thousand in America. Manchester, like UCLA, is huge, but is still selective, heavy in research and has many departments that are ranked top 10. It also has a global appeal, or more so than Leeds has. Leeds can be viewed as how UIUC or Texas-Austin is viewed in America.</p>