Being a research university has nothing whatsoever to do with how strong a university is in the humanities as opposed to the sciences. Most of the best universities are strong in both areas.
UCLA is exceptionally strong in the humanities and social sciences. Philosophy is good, as was already mentioned, but classics, English, history, geography, and linguistics are also all top 10 programs. UCLA also has very strong offerings in women’s/gender studies and LGBT studies, and most of its language offerings are quite strong. Several of its interdisciplinary programs, such as Indo-European studies and Iranian Studies, are arguably the best in the country, and some others (e.g. Chicano Studies, World Arts & Cultures, Scandinavian Studies) are relatively unique. In the arts, the ethnomusicology, dance, and film programs are all very good.
Want to take classes in Chicana Feminism, North American Indian Music, Islamic Archaeology, Nordic Cinema, or the Anthropology of Food? UCLA offers them (and many more). Want to take language classes in Old Norse, Polish, ancient Egyptian, Quechua, Indonesian, Yoruba, Armenian, Sanskrit, Dutch, or Sumerian? UCLA offers them (and many more). Almost all of these will have fewer than 30 students, and many will have 10-20 students.
GE classes at UCLA will be big, but most classes in the arts and humanities are (intentionally) small with a lot of emphasis on writing and do NOT reach their enrollment capacity.
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx
If you want to form close mentoring relationships at UCLA, you can. I know one UCLA student who did impressively well during her time at UCLA, did research that would’ve been very difficult to do at a LAC, and got several great PhD program offers (one of which only admits about 5 people out of 250+ applicants).
That’s definitely not to say UCLA is for everyone. A few thoughts:
[ul][]Setting – Huge city vs. small town. Though UCLA has a fairly pretty campus, Vassar is very beautiful and is located in a much quieter setting.
[]Community feel – As a smaller, more geographically diverse, and far more residential college (virtually all undergrads live on campus), Vassar offers a more tight-knit and cohesive community than UCLA, where students are dispersed across the west side. There is also a significant amount of self-segregation at UCLA, much more noticeably than at some smaller private colleges.
[]Undergraduate focus – Because Vassar lacks graduate programs, professors are necessarily more focused on undergraduates. While many professors at UCLA are excellent teachers, teaching and advising undergraduates (or even grad students) falls rather low on the list of priorities for many others – so one really has to be proactive to take advantage of the superb faculty at UCLA.
[]Athletic/school spirit – DI sports are big at UCLA and completely absent at Vassar. This matters to some people more than others.[/ul]