Life in the city of Angels University of California, Los Angeles
- JapjiUnited States
- University of California, Los Angeles, USA
- Electrical Engineering
- Undergraduate Degree
- 2009
UCLA's a top notch academic institution with an extremely challenging curriculum so my most critical advice will be that whatever major you pick, make sure its what you really want to do or at least are passionate about because otherwise life could become rough. I love the fact that the system of academics in the US (at least at the undergraduate level) gives you lots of flexibility and the style of teaching is such that it gives students an extremely practical learning experience as compared to the obsolete, rigid and purely theoretical education system in India.
I'm a natural US citizen so for me there were no Visa issues whatsoever.UCLA's a little stringent for my field of study so getting in mainly required high grades in my junior college as I transferred in.
Again, being a US citizen my opportunities for scholarships and financial aid are alot different from international students. International students can look at spending roughly $25000/ year at a place like UCLA although some financial aid may be available in forms of subsidized loans. Most international students can also take up part time jobs on campus.
The engineering curriculum in general is very demanding and since UCLA's engineering school is amongst the best in the country, it really grills and challenges you. The average student can look at 16-20 hours of lecture peer week + discussion sections. The good part about US is that your professors and TAs are always available to help out w/ advice related to academics and professional endeavors. My advice to the students would be to make sure they pick a major that will interest them and not take up the sciences or business because of that cliched indian mentality about academics.A student has alot of resources at their disposal in big schools here in the US and one should go out and exploit all those (academic honor societies, student groups, professor relations) etc etc..
UCLA is housed in a very interesting part of town. Its flanked by Beverly Hills/Bel Air,the Sunset Strip, Hollywood and about 2 very popular beaches so life is very exciting and interesting here. Accomodation in LA is relatively expensive because of its prime location and the average cost for an apartment (one bedroom shared by 2 people) will cost anywhere from $550-800/month. UCLA has a student population of about 40000 so naturally there are a large number of student groups on campus and a student is highly likely to find a few that will spark their interests.
Yes, my job prospects have definitely improved because of my curriculum and the school I attend. There is a very well structured alumni association at UCLA that lets you can keep in touch with although personally I've never really joined it.
Located in California.
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Ranking for this institution
- SHJT: 12
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