University of California-Los Angeles Top Questions

UCLA has a couple different kind of dorm arrangements. In the standard dorms, the students very often form very close associations with their hall mates. In some of the more secluded dorms, with a little more space for each room, the comradery doesn't really develop to the same extent. There is always some kind of event going on on campus, including orchestra performances, dance recitals, theater, celebrity concerts, comedy shows - the list could go on and on. Very often there are also free sneak previews of movies for the students. One of the events that happens every quarter around finals time is the undie run where people run through campus with nothing but their underwear on - this is a time-honored tradition :p Every year, UCLA is host to the Festival of Books where hundreds of book publishers come with their wares and thousands of people show up. Frats and sororities aren't really that big a deal here. But they are the ones who pretty much have the parties. If that's your kind of thing, then it's here for you. If you're not interested in drinking, there's the movie theaters down in Westwood and the Santa Monica pier and promenade to explore. Also, if you are interested in video games, lots of people seem interested in them here. At the moment, there is actually a worry about World of Warcraft and the amount of students actively participating in the game.

My main involvment is with Theta Chi Fraternity, where I serve as the Executive Secretary. I feel that if you are coming in to UCLA not knowing anyone, the greek system is the best way to meet friends and build ever lasting commradary. There are always events going on on campus with the athletic events being the most popular because our teams excell. There are also campus traditions such as Spring Sing and undie Run which have been going on for years and are some of the most fun activities. The party scene seems to be prominent, especially at the fraternities. On any given Thursday or Friday, there are open parties there where people can dance and socialize and possibly meet people of the opposite sex. As long as you are with a group of friends, someone is bound to hear about an event going on.

Activities and social life are what you make them here. You will have the opportunity to make 450 facebook friends in first quarter (I know someone who did!), go out and party, go to all your floor events, and never eat alone. On the other hand, if that's not your style, you don't have to go out, and you won't be disturbed. I find myself somewhere in the middle. I'm a pretty outgoing, social guy, but I do enjoy being alone sometimes. My main method of being social is becoming involved in activities. In fact, I fulfilled the goal I set for myself in high school (enterring college and getting involved in EVERYTHING) by joining chorale, Hillel, Kesher, Bruin Democrats, Scattertones A Cappella, floor government, ballroom dance, performing arts association, campus tours, and I forget what else. It all proved a bit much, especially with 18 units of classes, so I scaled it back the next quarter, but the point is, I COULD have done all that stuff if I had been able to handle it in some other universe. Frat life doesn't disturb, but it's pretty active and easily accessible. You don't have to drink to have fun with or in a frat. You also don't have to drink to be cool. I definitely didn't drink all of first quarter, and I still made friends and got involved in various communities easily. It's easy to make connections and join clubs and groups. There's an "enormous club fair" during the 1st week of the quarter where virtually every club/group gets a table on the field and students go around getting to know each other and signing up. The best thing about UCLA activities and social life is the fact that it's not as hard as you think to distinguish yourself in such a big place; you just have to be you.

Undie run is spectacular!

The greek life looks to be fairly predominant here, but it's not the only way to be involved on campus. There are so many student groups - its crazy!!!

There are a lot of religious organizations, and a lot of frats and sororities, and they seemed to be fairly important. But if you're not into either of those, like me, you just have to find your people. Athetics are also really important, but you don't have to be a fanatic to enjoy your time at UCLA (also, like me). My advice to a freshman would be to join an organization that has to do with something you really like, and make friends in that organization, so that you have similar interests to your friends. A lot of people make the mistake of just partying as soon as they get to college, and they don't form solid friendships, because party people tend to be flaky. If you make solid friends first, partying will be way more fun.

I met my closest friends through the theater department freshman year. I came here as a theater student and had all my classes with the same 57 people for the entire first quarter, and for most of the other quarters for the rest of that year before I dropped the major. There are a lot of different theater opportunities on campus that actually put up shows a lot more often than one would expect. People party a lot. I think everyone thinks of any possible excuse to drink, even if its on a Wednesday at 11am. I don't really hang out with people on campus, most of the time I'm with friends that either graduated or didn't even go to UCLA.

I would love to talk about all this but I don't have the time to write about it right now. Im the president of a fraternity so I have a lot to say. If you liked what I wrote above and found it useful and would really like to hear my opinion on this please feel free to e-mail me and ill write about it soon.

Students in the dorms did leave their doors open and athletic events were very popular. Important speakers were also popular, but theater not so much. I met my closest friends in the dorms. If I was awake on a Tuesday at 2AM, I was either putting together a paper I put off until the last minute, or hanging out with my friends doing all sorts of stupid stuff. People 'party' pretty often. But people don't just 'party' at school though, because since UCLA is in LA, people often go out to Hollywood and go to popular clubs in the area.

As far as social life is concernced, UCLA has nearly everything covered. The dorm life for students is generally extremely close and many good friendships are developed early in the university career. Parties abound on Thursday nights, the unofficial party night for fraternities, and generally die off towards the weekend as many students from Southern California make their way home to do laundry or simply get home-cooked food. Outside of the drinking scene, UCLA is ideally located to take advantage of LA's sporting events, Hollywood clubs and any other productions apparent in the city. For those that cannot get around to everything in UCLA, the university also holds movie nights, theater screenings and a variety of other activities students can embrace if looking for activities to do. The campus generates a great sense of community by students identifying themselves both as UCLA students and USC-haters. The rivalry between USC and UCLA adds a unique element to interactions between groups in LA as almost everyone in LA following sports can be divided into one camp or the other. Overall, the unity on campus is extremely high and just being from UCLA is enough to bring two students together. Displays of campus unity are often seen and the campus generates a life of its own. One such example is the "undie run" which occurs every wednesday of finals week (three times a year) where students dressed only in their underwear run through campus at midnight for what amounts to massive party in the middle of UCLA's campus.