@boolaHI unless you have visited UA how can you compare the beauty etc of comparing UCLA vs UA campuses? @mom2collegekids has been to both, and she may be a bit biased towards UA with kids having successfully taken advantage of scholarships and wonderful education opportunities, but she has physically been on both campuses to talk intelligently about both.
@KaRU I would like you to explain how the $38k/year for UCLA is ‘worth it’ - you will need to say if you are a student, parent, and how this student will benefit from the additional costs - specific programs/opportunities this student would get at UCLA that they would not get at UA. It also doesn’t sound like the parents have the extra money ‘lying around’. OP also mentioned personal debt taken on.
OP you absolutely underestimate how good a school UA is, and totally over-inflate the ‘prestige and value’ of UCLA with the OOS price tag. What you should be looking at is business college to business college comparison, and the honors college advantages you would have at UA. Also that you may not get into the degree plan you want at UCLA.
I am from WI and have live in TX and AL. I absolutely do not have a sense that a UCLA UG business degree is worth $38K/year ‘more’ than UA (so more than $160,000 for UG price difference accounting for inflation of OOS tuition costs) for ‘prestige’ - and who knows if OP will get into the program they want, as they are only accepted into pre-business economics. You parents may be kindly wanting you to see and understand that a 4 year degree will not cost much out of pocket if you go to UA.
The reason people do pay exorbitant amounts for their undergrad is for a variety of reasons, including that they have the money and choose to do so.
It sounds like UCLA also didn’t admit you into business program (as you state pre-business economics) - that is a huge flag. No problem at UA with business and honors college admission. There is an eminent scholars program through honors college for students interested in research - very well defined program where freshman accepted to the program get lined up with research in their field - few UG colleges have UG research, let alone a sizable program.
I will give you an example of the wonderful things UA students are doing. For example within the last week, 4 students nominated were all named award winners with The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, which was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue research careers in these fields.
In addition to the athletic teams you hear about OOS (like football), there are events for students to see for free (gymnastics team puts on a great home show) etc. The only athletic tickets students pay for are football, and it is inexpensive ticket package (supply and demand so students have to electronically purchase as soon as their allotted time is). What UA makes with their football program, they help fund other sports and academics too.
More and more UA alum and families are from the 50 states - internship opportunities can be found via the school and personal networking. My UA DD interned in civil eng the summer before coming to UA through personal networking. My DD is one of the 300 freshmen in the STEM MBA program - and that program has been around 4/5/6 years, so pretty well developed program.
If you apply yourself fully at UA, do well academically, and pursue opportunities available, you will not be disappointed. I would hope you do so and then you can ‘sing the praises’ on CC.