ucla vs ucsd

[gorbachev]

hi, i got into both schools for graduate school but am having a difficult time deciding. the research opportunities at both schools are comparable, I'm wondering more about style of living (I'm not from california). anyone from california, which do you prefer, both for the campus/department atmosphere and the city?

[Fun_Cookie]

LA is a terrible city.

[Tommy D]

Weather is about the same for both locales, with San Diego being slightly warmer on average. Both are located in expensive neighborhoods (UCLA - Westwood, Bel Air, UCSD - La Jolla), though UCSD is basically on the beach. 

 

Both suffer from the typical California transportation problem, i.e. you need a car to get anywhere efficiently. But there are buses if you really don't want to deal maintaining a car. LA is a much bigger city, so naturally there is a lot more to do, concerts, festivals, etc. But San Diego is far from boing (Sea World, Legoland, Comic Con). 

 

I was a UCLA undergrad in physics.  It's a very pretty campus, just google it and you'll get shots of Royce Hall and Powell Library. The Physics department has a new building that's pretty slick. There's a lot of Jazz/World Music concerts on campus if that's your scene. If not, you're still in LA, which always attracts big name artists. As to grad culture I can't say much other than they seemed pretty typical of most departments. Most of grad students were chill, with only a few bad apples. 

 

 I'm also looking at UCSD for PhD. I have yet to visit so I won't say anything about the campus or the department.

[Rantar]

UCSD is way nicer. Both are too close to each other to judge based on local events. San Diego is a much nicer place than LA.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Rantar