My D is really fortunate to have offers from these two super great schools. East coast/west coast. Boston is much closer to us. I don’t think there is a wrong decision but D friends are saying UCLA and my husband feels it’s too far. We are in the south. Hopefully D can visit both prior to decision. Advice on differences / pros /cons other than the obvious (weather/ size/etc)
Well one is large and public - and near the beach (a nice one).
One is smaller and Jesuit and near a beach - not nice ones 
That’s a big difference right there - public vs. Jesuit,
If food is a concern, UCLA rates real high.
Both have big time sports.
One has an undergrad b school, the other doesn’t - assuming that’s not an issue here.
Two different people could easily choose either one of these - and both would be right.
Is she off a wait list or is a transfer?
PS - if you’re in the South, both are a plane ride - so I’ll disagree with your husband in the sense - neither is accessible to you, etc. so I wouldn’t let distance factor in - but that’s me. Obviously each individual thinks as they do for themselves.
Forget your daughte’rs friends or husband, what does she think? If she visits both, you’ll know what she thinks!!! And everyone else won’t matter!!
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Definitely no bad choice here – congrats to your D!! I know students who have loved and been very successful at both schools. IMO it comes down to affordability (if that is a factor) and personal preference. There are definitely differences (size, location, public v Jesuit, etc.) so hopefully one will strike your D as being the better fit. This is a case where two reasonable people could make two different choices.
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I think the students who do best at UCLA are self-starters and socially outgoing. Nothing is handed to you, clubs are competitive, support is limited, but if you are prepared to pursue them, then the opportunities are great. You just have to remember that you are competing with many others who are like that too: UCLA likes to admit applicants who’ve had leadership roles in high school clubs, student government etc.
My S had a great time but it was a tough first year adjusting to the level of competition: for example there were 500 applicants for 10 tour guide spots. SAA (Student Alumni Association) is one of the most prestigious clubs (organizes Spring Sing etc) but is limited to 100 members total across all four years, so they take about 30 new members per year out of many hundreds of applicants.
The difference was illustrated pretty clearly when it came to his DC think tank internship. He was surprised to find his peers from top private colleges had received referrals from their professors, whereas he’d just been applying through the web portal.
But at the end of the day he had opportunities he probably wouldn’t have had elsewhere, like running a club with 400 members, winning an election to the neighborhood council and he ended up with an amazing resume and now has a well paid job he loves. If you have those sorts of achievements at UCLA then that gives you a lot of credibility because it’s clear you did it all yourself.
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Not a fan of paying OOS rates to attend a public. For a few dollars more, a private offers more value IMO. (smaller classes, better advising & housing, less bureaucracy…)
Intended Major? (many at UCLA are “impacted”.)
Jesuits do education well. But yeah, SoCal weather is hard to beat.
Re travel: can you get a nonstop flight from your local airport to Boston? To LAX?
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I’m guessing one of these was an acceptance off a waitlist. I think the student needs to do some things:
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Look at the first college they committed to and remember all the reasons why they chose to do so.
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Look at the waitlist acceptance and the reasons the student opted to stay on the waitlist.
Perhaps teasing these things out well will help make a final matriculation decision.
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I think that this is exactly right. Perhaps the availability of desired majors might also be a factor, but that might be part of “personal preference”.
Personally I would be concerned about the large size of UCLA, and might prefer something a bit smaller. However, someone else might have completely different preferences.
Also, I would not be concerned at all about which is higher ranked, and am not completely sure which one is. I am intentionally not looking this up right now – it does not matter when comparing two very good universities.
Budget matters, at least for most of us. Personal fit and wherever a student is more comfortable should matter for all of us.
And you are comparing very good with very good.
Congrats. No bad outcomes.
First, money. Is it a non-issue? As out of state, you would be paying full rate at UCLA. Are you full-pay either way? Otherwise, if BC is giving aid you would end up paying less for a private than a public.
Second, you didn’t mention your D’s preference. Does she really not have one? If she does, and if money is a non-factor here, I would think that should settle it. It should be her choice, particularly when there is not a bad one. I don’t think a parent should be weighing in because one is a thousand miles vs a few thousand – plane rides either way probably. If she is convinced to go against her first choice, every inevitable setback or challenge she has she will wonder why she was convinced to go against her first instinct. Let her have responsibility for the good and bad of this decision whatever it may be (and in all likelihood it will be almost all good whichever she decides).
Are you Catholic and does that weigh into the interest in BC?
Her friends probably are saying UCLA because it is a super hot school right now, long in the top mix but now often cited as the top public in the country, and with the increasingly low single-digit acceptance rate to to show for it. That doesn’t make it better or worse than BC, but just stating the obvious – it has a bigger national and global rep.
As others have said, as a public – despite being a top public – there will be less resources per student than at a private like BC. So you need to be more of a self-starter to thrive there. I know students who went to UCLA who said it was hard to get noticed and not feel anonymous. On the other hand, many absolutely love it and get to know all their professors and rise to the top of incredibly competitive extracurricular activities. Become editor of the student paper and you’re putting out the second largest daily in LA, with your staff getting invited to every movie premiere and junket, as but one example. The act of successfully competing at a place like UCLA is an amazing dress rehearsal for succeeding post college. On the other hand, getting undergraduate research opportunities would be incredibly hard and competitive. And if someone is not a self-starter, there are better places for them to thrive and succeed than in a hyper competitive place like UCLA.
Does your daughter have a strong sense of intended major or career yet? If not, no worries. If so, it should be a factor. If you go to BC you will have more opportunities in Boston. If you go to UCLA, you’ll have LA opportunities. So if the interest is finance, consider Boston. If it’s entertainment – no brainer, LA. Etc. To be clear, you could do anything from either school but most people end up in the workforce near where they went to school, at least initially. And as noted above, some majors exist at one school or the other and some may be hard to get into at UCLA (which did not admit by major but does not guarantee you access to any major).
Weather is obviously better in LA. It’s as great as they say it is (I lived there for many years).
Both colleges are located in what is considered nice areas of their cities. So I wouldn’t worry too much about the reputations of the larger urban environments (USC would have been a different story). Heck, UCLA literally borders Bel Air.
Good luck.
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Yes, you go to BC because it’s one of the good schools in Boston (but not the best). You go to UCLA because it’s become the school to choose in LA (sorry USC). The reputation seems to have changed meaningfully in the last 6 years even for instate kids: they used to aspire to Berkeley as the best UC, but now UCLA is seen as much more desirable. Some fellow parents questioned my S’s decision to choose UCLA over Berkeley in 2018, now they’d wonder why someone (even here in the Bay Area) would choose Berkeley over UCLA for anything other than EECS.
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Thanks so much for all these v helpful insights. A few replies. D is athletic recruit so has been offered spots at both and part athletic scholarships - similar aid. We are full pay otherwise and can afford either so just want best outcome. She needs to spend time meeting teams on both and visit LA as she hasn’t been. She might have some other options coming too. This is our first recruited athlete and it’s an interesting process but that’s a whole other thread :). These two schools have been v professional and straightforward for the record. At the end she will choose but I’m trying to figure out if I should be steering her one direction. Hubby catholic but I’m not. We re not all that religious though. They do seem like excellent choices so I do feel blessed !
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Thank you. So has she received firm admission offers from both of these colleges, or offers to be on the sports team IF she is admitted? I’m guessing this means she will be a HS senior this fall.
Both are firm offers no conditions and with a verbal she is “done”. sign the NLI etc. Yes rising senior. ( This process put ivies at such a disadvantage btw as there is risk to admission. Need an standardised test. Etc etc)
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PS I do know how lucky I am with this position. I went through total Regular admission uncertainty and mega stress with my other child two years ago!!
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That’s great. My free advice (and I’m sure you have heard it before). Take the sport out of the FINAL decision. Think about where she will be happiest if, for some reason, she can’t or decides not to continue with her sport.
If you want my vote…I’m a huge fan of Jesuit colleges (one of my kids graduated from a different Jesuit college on the opposite coast), and I have a second kid who went to BU…and loved everything Boston. So…I’d pick BC.
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recruited athletes raises additional issues. As you know, the Bruins just joined the BiG, so travel to conference games/tourneys will be extensive, and has to impact academics. OTOH, (for the time being), BC is in the ACC so travel will be to the south, i.e., closer to home, so the family might be able to take in a few more games.
Then it depends on the sport: women’s lax? BC is consistently chasing the natty. Or, water polo where UCLA is a constant top team. That said, how good an athlete? How much playing time might one get? How important is that vs just being on the team? (I knew a kid who chose to be a PWO at USC and ride the pine vs taking a lower level offer in which he would play every week.). Something only your family can decide.
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Is there a reason why your husband is concerned that UCLA is too far away? Because my thought is that barring something compelling such as family or medical issues, that’s not a valid reason. You can get anywhere in the country quickly from LAX. I also think she should ignore her friends. Kids notoriously choose colleges for superficial reasons and I personally think SoCal is very overrated. Smog is a thing and it’s impossible to get anywhere without a car. I am from SoCal and I am allowed to say that😁
UCLA is still a big state school and I am not convinced the academics will be as good as BC. BC has excellent academics. I also think BC is much better connected for jobs on the East Coast.
If she will be on a team, it’s very important that she like her team mates. So perhaps she should meet them first.
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May be more firm than the Ivies, but there is always risk. Always. Even after the NLI is signed (although the school would have to still honor the scholarship $.)
Some people have raised good issues on this thread about UCLA being in the Big10 now…won’t be much of an issue for football, but for women’s softball and some other sports? Yep. So, I would look into travel and how often the athletes will miss class, how strong the teams are, is she going to get playing time, will she struggle to make the team again sophomore year, will losing the scholarship affect affordability, etc. etc.
As for other considerations, I agree with all of this.
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Since your daughter is an athletic recruit, I will add my thoughts:
It sounds like you are full pay, so if the athletic $ go away with your daughter deciding not to continue her sport, you would be able to afford to keep her at the school.
We found a huge difference between private schools and the state schools that were in conversation with our daughter (crew). State schools by far had the most restrictions on majors and she would have several classes online during season and one school “required” online summer courses in order to graduate in 4 years. This was a deal breaker and she eliminated the State school options - even though they were the most advantageous financially and top ranked for her sport.
Team dynamics played a huge role along with the college - she declined a very highly regarded Ivy, as the team culture did not fit her at all plus the other students she met at the school didn’t seem like her people.
We barely got involved and she lead the process including making her college list with and without her sport (she had an excellent counselor at her hs). We remain proud of her for looking past prestige, not letting others influence her and really doing her homework on the school, the coaching history and the team dynamics. She scrubbed rosters looking at turn over, evaluated playing time and looked at the majors across the team. We are a full pay family, so we understand how fortunate it is to not have $ as part of the decision.
She ended up at an Ivy and she is a student first and an impact athlete too - She had strong opinions on fit and, imo - it sounds like your daughter has more research to do - as these are two very different schools, conferences and imagining team personality too.
One more thing, I would also advise her to look at the housing options for all 4 years. Where do the athletes typically live, will it involve a car, how far from the practice field or bus.
PS: A big congrats to your daughter - this is not an easy process and having 2 offers in hand already deserves a celebration
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Is this opinion based on a bias against large publics generally or something more specific to UCLA or BC?
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This opinion is based on my general knowledge that smaller private U’s typically have smaller class sizes and more money per student. I went to a large state U. My son went to a large state U, his choice. My husband attended a large public U. I am not biased against public u’s. My daughter attended a small private college and had a superior academic experience. I think most would agree that students, in general, have a better classroom experience when they are able to engage with profs and other students in a smaller setting. This is not the same thing as saying that the classroom experience at a public u will not be good.
Most people would, in general, agree that BC is academically a better school because it can afford to be. That does not mean the same thing as saying UCLA offers a garbage academic experience.
Edit: If you would like to discuss further, please message me so that we don’t take the thread off topic.
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