<p>myothersn,</p>
<p>The top medical school, law school, and PhD programs, as well as the fact that it’s ranked amongst the top 1% of American universities is nothing, huh?</p>
<p>“its not that selective.” <have you gotten in?</p>
<p>UCLA also has, according to USNWR, the third best hospital in the nation and the best on the West Coast. Now that’s something all UCLA students can be proud of.</p>
<p>Sure, ucla is a good graduate school…they cap the class sizes to a minimum of 20-50 students; their medical school is known, etc. Shoot, i would even attend there for graduate school; however, for an undergraduate education? ucla is not a wow university. UCLA is stuck in the california bubble, or more accurately, the los angeles bubble. The undergraduate division of the school is of poor quality and professors dont even care. I dont know how that could be a “wow” university anywhere; the reputation of the school itself stems from their graduate programs, definately not undegrad.</p>
<p>and to answer vc08, yes i got in.</p>
<p>From a closer look, you could probably say UCLA isn’t a wow school. I don’t know. I’ve had my share of bad teachers and good teachers. The same for CC and the same for HS.</p>
<p>But the majority of people who think that UCLA is a wow school are viewing it from a view that it is hard to get into and prestigious.</p>
<p>And UCLA is a wow university. It just depends where you are asking. You’ll find places where it isnt, people who don’t think it is, etc. </p>
<p>I don’t believe that UCLA is simply stuck in the LA bubble. I don’t live in LA and whenever anyone finds out I go to UCLA, they reply with a “wow” or “REALLY?!” My Mom’s family reply in the same way, but they are in Thailand.</p>
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<p>Is that really too shocking? Tell me how you would measure the quality of an undergraduate division at any major university. The professors are there primarily for research rather than for teaching. Look at our faculty and notice the all-stars. (Google: UCLA Faculty Notable). For a more extreme example, look at the all-star faculty at Harvard. Look at what they teach and what they’re in charge of. Do the same for UCLA. Extend that logic to an entire division and then department and then to the College of Letters and Science or Engineering school or Arts school. Note how many grants they secure any given year for research. Its almost like a trickling down process. Look at the top 10-15 universities on the USNWR (choosing this list since everyone knows about it and its listing the most prestigious universities). How many of these schools are research universities? Lecture hall classrooms for introductory classes? Weeding out process for math and science majors? How many of these schools state that their undergrads are of the utmost importance? U of Chicago and Columbia because of their core curriculum? If you must do a comparison, where do you form a basis? This is different from judging LACs to a school like UCLA. Its unfair to make a broad, wide-ranging judgment based on something as ill-defined as “undergraduate education” or “undergraduate experience” when there are so many factors… plus, tell me how you would measure the capability of a professor in educating his students and preparing them for higher courses or even professional/graduate school? It’s silly, isn’t? </p>
<p>– This doesn’t even account for the different types of measures! Engineering! Fine Arts! English! History! Philosophy! Chemistry! Biology! These departments are of course going to depend on their coexisting graduate departments! Even though when studying “biology” one isn’t limited to THE bio department - they work with the math, chem, physics, … departments as well… further complicating any basis for judgment amongst disciplines internally and then externally in regards to other research universities. It’s silly.</p>
<p>myothersn,</p>
<p>These are the same complaints my buddy who attended Penn had. One of my friends who went to Columbia said the same thing.</p>
<p>Are those not “wow” schools? Besides, have you been outside of California much? I’ve gotten mostly good reactions even on the East Coast.</p>
<p>actually, i rather like the profs here. my accounting prof is actually very nice.</p>
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<p>Actually, the majority of the schools in the top 15 arent really research universities compared to public schools; this understanding is based on what people have told me.</p>
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of course they are, but penn is way smaller than ucla is, and therefore, the undergraduate program is much better in the sense that personal attention is most likely to be given than at ucla.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Duke, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, and Northwestern aren’t research universities?</p>
<p>They are, but to a certain extent. Professors there are not going to stop caring about their students like at ucla. All of those schools are smaller, and personal attention is better; they care about their students because they have spoken to them. The faculty per student ratio is MUCH better than ucla. UCLA is not a wow university because ucla professors do not teach their students, in fact, all they do is make their students read books. Students teach themselves. How is that even an education? Isnt the job of a teacher to teach? If the professors are so good, you wouldnt even need to read the textbook because they would have done such a good job, that reading wouldnt be necessary-- it would be optional.</p>
<p>Just because Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc are “research universities” the same itself does not stem from their solid undergraduate program, although to a certain extent, it may, but the majority of the research is done at the graduate level. Professors at UCLA would much rather be doing their research than caring for their students, thats why they dont teach and rely on books to do all the teaching. Also, due to the campus size, how can they even teach? they dont care since its too big to have any form of individual contact with each student.</p>
<p>myothersn,</p>
<p>First off, UCLA’s campus is quite small. Stanford’s campus is much larger.</p>
<p>But I’ve heard these SAME complaints at Columbia, Harvard, Penn, etc. Go ask Harvard students if all their professors cared. </p>
<p>And “wow” university actually has very little to do with education. One could argue, quite successfully I believe, that Pomona or Williams provide a superior education to Stanford or Harvard. Those are certainly not “wow” universities. “Wow” university is a term that largely has to do with perception of the school rather than the actual education.</p>
<p>by campus size, i meant student body, not the actual campus by acres! lol</p>
<p>And yeah, i do agree that pomona and williams probably offer a way better education than some of the ivies.</p>
<p>Also, education is part of the perception, but in the end, i gotta be honest, i just dont see ucla as a wow university, thats just a personal opinion. And when i ask people about ucla, they are always “whatever” about it.</p>
<p>myothersn,</p>
<p>Most people are going to be “whatever” about any school. It really doesn’t matter much in the broader scope of life. But if it came down to whether or not UCLA is a school that elicits a reaction, then yes, UCLA is clearly a wow university.</p>
<p>Remember something: I have the experience of having lived OUTSIDE of the university. I’ve had a job, I’ve lived in other places, and I’ve discussed this with a lot of people outside of the UCLA community. Of course you’re not going to get much of a reaction! You’re surrounded by UCLA students and grads! It’s just a fact of life in Westwood!</p>
<p>UCLA always does well abroad.</p>
<p>But really (and no offense to you ultra cali), who cares what the guy on the street in the Philippines has to say about UCLA? Well, if you’re ultra cali you care, but why should I care? I’ll never work there.</p>
<p>All this concern about international prestige baffles me. Why does anyone care whether their alma mater is known in Croatia? I mean, most Americans don’t know UP very well, but I doubt that ultra cali cares! He’s gonna get a great job!</p>
<p>University of the Phillipines? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>All this concern about international prestige stems from one’s insecurity, so they need other people to tell them how great UCLA is.</p>
<p>well, it doesnt take a genius to know that the US is a global country. Let alone, your future employer might be from another country, and he may even be asian! That is why many people desire international prestige, it no longer matters what the US thinks.</p>
<p>myothersn,</p>
<p>The vast vast majority of people on this site will end up with jobs in the US from US-based employers.</p>
<p>Besides, I’ve now interviewed with employers both inside and outside of the country. Only one asked about my alma mater. I don’t think many people on this site understand just how little most jobs care about where you did your bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>Nu uh! it always helps to have a degree from harvard, it opens doors!</p>