UC admissions policies

[ckBejug]

Originally posted by Seapahn Unless you want to spend 10 times as much money on the "other" school in town

Yeah, ahem, Hi Welcome to the forum. Last time I cut myself, wow it was the strangest thing, I bled cardinal and gold. Trojan family and all that stuff. Let me tell you a leedle secret. It's called scholarships! Being a nerd finally paid off, literally, woohoo.

I think even though I am not so into the whole rivalry stuff ucla will always just be yech to me. I'm applying there for grad school anyway, but I'll still always be a University of Spoiled Children Trojan Family brat. What can I say, the first time I went there was when I was 14, to a football game, then again I started school there when I was 17 and I am now 21, it was a part of my growing up in every sense of the word....

Yes, fUCLA sucks.



(I HAD to say it, you know)

Welcome to our little forum mr. Seapahn! Kick up your feet, stay a while, and enjoy...

[Darorinag]

Originally posted by anileve I wonder why...

Wondering is a great thing. I wonder "why" too, sometimes.

[anileve]

Originally posted by Darorinag because they didn't seem receptive or friendly at all, just seemed to want to get what they wanted from me, and leave.

I wonder why...

[Darorinag]

The fact that it seems so trivial to many of us (including myself I might add) just shows how spoiled we have become to not appreciate what we have and what billions in the world don't have.

Well, learning doesn't seem trivial to me. But the whole show of going to classes and the trend of doing group work bla bla bla is very displeasing, and it doesn't appeal to me at all... And I really don't see the need for friends in the class. Frankly, if you're going to need a friend's help in a certain situation, you're better off dropping the course altogether. I really don't know what the big deal is about study groups, etc. Am I missing something? I've been in university for 3 years now, and not even once did I do a study group thing. The only time I've talked to people in my class about lessons and such is when they asked me a question, and I was really angry because they didn't seem receptive or friendly at all, just seemed to want to get what they wanted from me, and leave. And in almost all classes, especially in racially diverse cities, people of different racial groups interact only with their own. An example of that would be the Chinese. When I was in Computer Science, there were few non-Chinese people in my class, and the Chinese only interacted with the Chinese, partly because none of them knew English well enough to talk to me or any of the non-Chinese people, and perhaps because they are a rather closed race. But that's not the point. The point is, lectures / classes annoy me because people make such a ruckus about it, and it's really not that big a deal. I understand the whole "appreciate what you have" thing, but .. really now, the only reason I hate going to classes when a new school day starts is that I hate seeing all those people chit-chatting. It seriously gets on my nerves. And all those clubs and student groups. Oh God.. It seems like the whole idea of university is being altered. I guess I am mourning for the loss of true education - of what Oxford was like, when people actually went to libraries and did research, instead of putting on airs and pretending to be studying in a group... Eh, maybe we should blame feminists and immigration for the lowering of standards..

Perhaps I'm contradicting myself here, by saying that people take things too seriously and that they are here only to find girlfriends/boyfriends.. I don't know.. I guess both are two extremes, and I really hate extremes. I don't see why anyone who attends university needs to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Like it's such an embarassing thing to be at university and not have a gf/bf... "What, you don't have a girlfriend??!?!?!?!" eh.. not my type..

[Sip]

Thanks for the welcome Anonymouse! I fully understand what you mean about that circus "bruin walk" ... if it weren't for Taco Bell, I'd never venture in that direction and just pretty much stay in south campus and kerchoff (i.e. rubios and panda express)

God I miss the bad Cooperage food! Last time I was on campus was around November I think but everything was closed (weekend).

[Anonymouse]

Yaaay me! I'm at UCLA. I'm a bruin, which means bear!

By the way, that campus is the most politicized campus I've ever seen. Bruinwalk is literally no mans land for a free thinker, but rather is a place for political fringe groups.

By the way Seapahn, welcome to the Flamer forum.

[Sip]

What's up Dan! Thanks for the welcome Anileve thank you too

It is very true that to a lot of people getting a chance to pursue ANY higher education beyond basic schooling is a huge priviledge. The fact that it seems so trivial to many of us (including myself I might add) just shows how spoiled we have become to not appreciate what we have and what billions in the world don't have.

On the other hand, there is another fact where as time goes on, a "BS" or a "BA" is becoming more of a norm as the majority of the work force in the "developed" countries shifts from factories and manual labor into white collar and more "higher end" positions. Global economy is also playing a major role with US factory and manual jobs going outside it's borders.

But just wait! Even a lot of "white collar" jobs are starting to leave the US for much cheaper destinations. As an example, almost all programming jobs are leaving for India. So what's going to happen? I don't know... but in the end, you can bet your ass that there will always be a demand for educated, intelligent, individuals that are able to think. Now where or how they developed and fine tuned their skills will varry but a 4-year university seems to be the standard starting place accepted by the norms.

[anileve]

Originally posted by Seapahn It is completely natural to feel that way.

I know what you mean, I go try to tell myself that every night at 3am in the morning. Welcome to the forum by the way, and hope we can all be friends.

[Darorinag]

Welcome to the forum, Seapahn.

OK, point taken about Armenian department and all that, but that still doesn't mean that it's not overrated.. Here in Toronto, U of Toronto is overrated. And now the university I attend is getting overrated. I can say that the university I attend is a joke. 90% of the students come here dressed as if they're going to c0cktail (great, now swear word filter won't even let me write that word cos it has that 4 letter word in it... ) parties or something. But I'm actually not surprised, the majority of Toronto being immigrants who haven't had anyone in their household attending university, so they have to show off and pride themselves on it.. I still don't understand what's the big deal about attending university and getting a bachelor's.. Everyone is so like "excited" and in a frenzy over it... oh well, never mind. I don't understand the majority of people..

Dan

[Sip]

Originally posted by ckBejug Admissions policies aside, can I take a moment to say how much I dislike UCLA? I THOUGHT I wanted to go there for grad school, but this school is terrible. ... I've felt out of place and lost and completely uncomfortable all day. ... The school is too big and impersonal and there are too many people around and the bookstore is like a freaking mall and I happen to hate the campus right now. Everything is piled up on top of eachother and maze-like. I'm lost and I feel like crap. ...

It is completely natural to feel that way. I felt the same way at first when I set foot in the place. It just seemed like a jungle. But trust me, as someone who has spent the last 9 years there, it will feel like a second home to you in NO time. The campus is actually not that big compared to other comparable universities. That is why it seems very crammed and maze like ... after a while, "crammed and maze-like" will feel "cozey and inviting" to you!!! It is like anything unfamiliar ... at first it is intimidating but then, you won't even feel like you are somewhere "else". It'll be YOUR turf!

Sure parking and driving to and from it are a major pain at times (heck I did it every day for about a decade from Woodland Hills) ... but when you become a grad student, you can shift your schedule such that you avoid all traffic. Then it's like a dream commute.

As far as the studentstore/bookstore, well, what can I say ... I went there maybe a few times to buy a gatorade and a bar after playing basketball in Wooden center. That's about it. You should order your books online anyway. As far as the class books, that is a separate store upstairs and it's really not that bad (well, assuming the price tag on the books doesn't give you a heart attack).

Originally posted by Dan
hahaha. UCLA sucks ***. I was considering applying to grad school there, but f*** no.. it's not even worth paying the application fee.. Geez... who do these people think they are? UCLA is f*ing overrated. Seriously. One of my neighbours' son went to UCLA and they put stickers all over their car, like it's some f*ing big deal.. chedes martig... oh well..

This is absolutely NOT true. For one thing, where else are you going to find an Armenian department at such a university? Even if you are an engineering major, you can still take advantage of the great classes they offer for all levels ... if not to brush up on your skills, then at least get exposed to the language and hear it! The Armenian collections at the UCLA library is one of the finest in the world outside of Armenia ... I hear they have some kick ass hand written scrolls in Armenian from the middle ages! Now that, I would imagine is like heaven for a linguistics major type of person.

Other than that, you have one of the best medical schools, great engineering school, not to mention the fine arts and tv and drama and all the other majors ... so now if you are an undecided person like I was, what better place to go and explore and see what you want to do? I had a friend who was a bio major, switched to engineering, who finished physics with good GPA I might add! It took him a while since he went to community college for a few years and then switched to UCLA ... but hey, what's the rush? As long as you get it done, and do it right, then you are set!

Anyway, all I am saying is if right now UCLA seems impersonal, intimidating, and scary, don't worry. If you live in the LA area, want to live at home and commute to school, there is no better choice. Unless you want to spend 10 times as much money on the "other" school in town