Student Profile
Rebecca
- Class: Junior
- Major: English
- Gender: F
- High School: Walter Payton
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
UCLA has so much to offer simply because of its sheer size, and there are endless oppurtunities no matter what your interests are. Of course, classes are also huge, which can also be a disadvantage, and oftentimes professors seem only interested in their research, and not in teaching. UCLA has a big name- both in the US and across the world. Los Angeles is a great city, and Westwood offers a nice area of movies, restaurants and of course, Diddy! UCLA has an amazing athletic program, and students are more than proud to be able to say that they are a Bruin. Support at football and games are amazing, and students show their pride by wearing school colors and sporting "BEAT SC" tattoos, among other things. UCLA has tons of traditions and I'm proud to participate in them each year. The rally and bonfire for the USC game, undie run, and Blue and Gold week are just a few of my favorite memories and things I look forward to every time they come around. Something interesting about UCLA's campus is its layout: north campus is almost entirely devoted to humanities (and the FIlm/TV school as well as the Theatre school). South campus houses the science labs and engineering buildings.
Academic Life
Classes are often huge, so big, in fact, that sometimes it's impossible to get a seat. Professors rarely know names in big lecture halls, but going to office hours certainly helps. Professors teaching smaller classes tend to be more concerned with student learning and getting to know the people they are teaching. Office hours are a great way to increase your chance of getting to know the professor, and many professors are more than willing to make time to help with paper writing and other concerns. Student studying often depends on the intensity of the major. South campus majors tend to study more, while north campusers wind up spending their time writing papers. Students tend to be very vocal regarding academics, and intellectual discussion, especially political, are extremely common. My major, English, is relatively broad, as the requirements are quite flexible and they offer several different concentrations (Creative Writing, World LIterature, etc). Of course, I was also required to take general education requirements, which give insight into fields of study I might not otherwise pursue. UCLA gives a liberal arts education- most people will wind up needing a masters in order to move up in the workforce. UCLA seems concentrated on making students well rounded and interested in learning, but not necassarily preparing for the most technicaly jobs, as it is expected most will go to grad school.
Student Body
UCLA is a very accepting community. There is every type of person here, and while many groups tend to be homogenous, this does not mean that interaction between these groups is absent. Economically, UCLA has everything, and there is a large LGBT community as well. Race-wise, UCLA essentially has two groups: white and asian. These two groups are not necassarily separated, however, as in my own group of friends it's about half white half asian. However, the few number of black students we do have tend to stick to themselves, while the somewhat larger hispanic populations tends to spread themselves out more among the white and asian populations. There is definitly some segregation, but overall students are willing to interact with just about any type of person. The way people dress can often be seen as a group dress code, but in general students tend to be very trendy, as the Los Angeles influence can be felt throughout campus. Students are very involved both politically and religiously, though most students are liberal, and the religious groups are a very specific portion of the student body.
The Best Things
Great dorm food. Beautiful campus/weather. Great education and social scene .
The Worst Things
Class sizes are huge. Housing is expensive
