University of California-Los Angeles Top Questions

The most important thing that one should do is visit the school and sit in on some classes. You need to know if the school fits you; otherwise, you might end up being unhappy with your decision at it'll already be too late.

Advice to find the right college: Consider reputation, size, and quality. My college had a great reputation but I underestimated the impact of its large size and less than expected quality. I advise that parents and students visit the college before choosing which college is the right one. I did not pre-visit my college and I am disappointed in the conditions of the surrounding area, Westwood and traffic. Be sure to consider all aspects of the college, class size, dorm room, food quality, staff quality, and availability of job, research, and intership opportunities. Regarding making the most of college experience, that is completely up to the student. College is whatever you want to make it. This is the best opportunity to become any person you dreamed of. Your history is cleared and opportunities are everywhere. There really is no succeed or fail, just as long as you carried out your college life the way you wanted to have it.

Parents and students should keep in mind that choosing the right college is a vital and enrichening step in shaping the rest of a student's life. Students should look for a college that offers opportunities for the growth and development of their interests and hobbies, and that will encourage the student to expand their horizons to experiment with new persuits. It is also vital to keep an open mind and realize that while some things may not occur as one may have originally planned, new windows of opportunity will open to the persistent and ambitious. You may have come in pursuit of one thing, but new developments may inspire you elsewhere. Don't be shy about trying new things, because you might end up depriving yourself of novel experiences. At the same time, establish goals for yourself to aim for and achieve. Remember the reasons that you are applying to college in the first place, and stick to supporting those reasons, be they academic, artistic, athletic, or explorational. College is full of choices to structure your life ahead of you; only you can make college life what you want it to be.

It is important to be willing to understand oneself. It is also important to understand the extent to which oneself can handle the perspective of oneself being challenged. The culture of college is largely centered on challenging one's persective; this is often percieved as threatening while getting to know the campus, and getting to know yourself. Rather than allowing this to be a depressor, utilize the surrounding culture as an excitor. Get involved in activities that do and don't challenge your knowledge. Be willing to stand up for your own views or even change them. Take college as a challenge. It's challenging your habits, your perspectives, and your personality. Make sure to challenge yourself to make yourself better in every aspect of your life. Take advantage of all the opportunites college has to offer you to establish who you are. It's tough to let go of what you grew up with, but it's time for you to understand for yourself who you are, who you want to be, and to make youself that person! Good luck!

RIGHT NOW, relinquish all hope of honing in on the right school or right program based on criteria you think you already have all figured out. Not only is it impossible to find the "right" school or right fit based on your dispositions of what you (as students AND parents) think you want, it would also be detrimental to the experience. This point relates well to making the best out of the college experience once you are there... You got 4 years. Or 2. Or, if you're lucky, 5. This is (assumably) a one-time experience. Do you, Mr. Well-Rounded, Ms. Driven-til-the-End, want to devote this time to the strong influence of a future cause? Well...yes, if you want to make an investment, which you do, but in the end, you will MAXIMIZE your ability to do what you love and make a positive impact by studying and experiencing what interests you and makes you twitch with excitement, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS. This is especially true at UCLA, because in a school with so many resources to offer, it would be a crime not to make full use of them.

Do what you love. Don't settle for second. Don't leave home unless if you struggle with constantly making bad choices. Don't rush into anything.

You will enjoy yourself anywhere. Good luck and don't stress too much about it.

Students and their families should work together and do research on every college they apply or are interested in. Definitely make a point to visit the college, check out the facilities, the dorms, the food, and the surroundings of the campus. Make sure to attend welcome events or open houses and talk to the students who live there now. Shadow friends who go to the school and make sure to find out about class sizes, teachers, walking/parking issues, and campus life. You should feel secure and happy wherever you go, and the best way to do that is to visit the campus.

College is the experience that people always say is the 'best years of your life'. Honestly, picking the right campus is important but it's really what you make of it. People who graduate from the most prestigious schools sometimes don't even find the right jobs. If happiness is what you seek, in which case most people do seek, I suggest you find purpose in your life first. If you do not have purpose, I suggest you go to a college where it will best help you find your purpose in life. So in terms of the 'best years of your life', heck why stop at college? Life is what you make of it. It is not simply the American dream that if you try hard you'll be sucessful, it's simply what makes you happy, what pushes you to keep going, and the ansewr to that is purpose. Find purpose equals finding the right college, equals finding life meaningful and full of surprises.

I would tell parents and students that it's very important for students to not only visit every campus that they are considering going to, but that they should also talk to multiple people that personally attend those schools and that are from different years. Also I can not stress enough the importance of going to a school that has the major you want. That part is crucial because not only is each major vastly different, but the testing styles are as well. For example, do you prefer to write timed in-class essays, write long take home research papers, or take multiple choice tests? Because certain majors at my school have majority of classes prefering one of those testing styles, while another has a completely different type. And that can play a major role in how well your grades are and how successful the study techniques you have now will be. Finally, I would suggest you take serious consideration before going to a large school with large class sizes, especially if you prefer a more passive role in class and don't take it upon yourself to get to know your teachers in office hours.