University of California-Los Angeles Top Questions

Because the university was so large, it was difficult to have an intimate classroom setting and have the opportunity to get to know the professors.

UCLA can feel impersonal at times. Due to its large student population, it was at first difficult to feel like a part of the UCLA community. Also, finding out information about events at the school is a somewhat difficult process.

The worst thing is that the student population is large, so sometimes it feels a bit crowded in the dining halls or in the library.

I honestly couldn't name a bad thing about this college. Some people don't like the large class sizes (many are upwards of 200 students), but I think that offers students a chance to meet more people and be exposed to more ideas from their classmates. Some would also complain that the counselors aren't extremely helpful at this public school, however to that I would say that it forces you to be proactive. The counselors don't hold your hand, so you have to take your education and future into your own hands, which can be rewarding.

My classmates, who are predominantly white and Asian and the rest are from different parts of the U.S. or World, provide a variety of perspectives and ideas.

So many stairs and hills.

UCLA seems to expect its students to fall into the mob mentality when it comes to school spirit and many students, myself included, are only happy to comply. Rather than self inspecting and identifying the aspects of the university that the Bruin community can work to improve upon, the administration seems bent on taking the easier way out and focusing on the achievements Bruins have already accomplished and are expected to maintain. While it's important to work against a lapse in current excellence, a myopic focus on celebrating it prevents progress.

The worse thing about UCLA for me was the fact that I lived an hour away via bus and since I worked a full-time job while attending school I never had the chance to develop any long lasting frienships with professors or students. Like I mentioned before, it's a big public school with lots of students and sometimes you feel just like one of thousands. Never really getting any personal guidance or treamtment.

My school is very large; I come from a high school of fifteen hundred students, and now I attend a university with tens of thousands of undergraduates and all of the feelings of a large school. I was told that involvement in student organizations can make the school seem smaller and more personal; I am now a member of one organization and an officer of two others, but the school still feels incomprehensibly big. There is an impersonality to any group of people of such magnitude, but for some reason, it is accentuated at my school.

The difficulty and grading system like the gpa system

The only bad thing I can say about this school, is that although there is so much diversity, it is not spread out evenly. Sometimes I feel left out, but it is rare. Also, there are many Christian groups, but not many Catholic, or Jewish, or other groups of other religions. When I do choose to go home, although UCLA is very close to the freeway and only about 15 miles away from the airport, traffic is horrendious!! It can take up to an hour just to reach the airport!

It should offer more chance for internship and better financial aid pertaining to your major.

Presently I'm unable to say there is anything terribly wrong with UCLA. People do tell me the parking is horrible. I have never experienced this so far.

The worst thing about UCLA is a very difficult question to answer, because UCLA has many great qualities. Although the population of students that attend UCLA is a difficult aspect to get used to. Major lecture halls can consists of up to 200 students and this inconvenience limits the amount of one-on-one interaction students can have with the professors. The struggle does not stop in the lecture halls, but continues onto the disscussion sections where classes are also made up large sum of 30. It is a struggle to establish personal relationships with both professors and T.As.

The only thing I could think of that is the worst, is the hills you need to walk up because it can get tiring.

The worst thing about my school is its inability to win in big-name sports. The teams are built up to be so great, and they are always a let down.

There isn't much about UCLA that is bad, but if I have to pick something I would say that sometimes the processes to deal with academic holds or issues can be frustrating and longer than necessary. It can be a hassel especially if you have to go to multiple offices to get different signatures and such when not everyone is in their office at the same time. Other than that, I feel like UCLA has a wonderful system.

I think the overpopulated campus is the biggest problem in UCLA. I have heard that although UCLA is the smallest campus among the UCs, it has the largest population. It creates chaos during enrollment because us students rarely get the classes we want and need to prepare multiple alternatives. From my personal experience, studying for a class I did not want became a burden throughout the quarter and, frankly, it showed in my grades.

The worst thing about my school is the lack of ethnic and racial diversity. The majority of the student population is comprise of Caucasians and Asians, which often tend to stick to the their own ethnic group in both social and academic settings. As a Hispanic of lower socioeconomic status, I find it a challenge to engage with these students becase we come from very different communities and culture. Because of the majority of the student population being Caucasian or Asian, I can rarely find people of my own ethnicity to relate to.

I think the worse thing about UCLA is the professors. I have found a few professors that I really like and enjoy learning from, but many more that do not communicate the material well or plain do not care about the students' success. It is typical to be tested for a Final on material you never talked about in class. It is also typical for students to forgo taking a necessary class because there is a horrible professor teaching it, instead taking it the next year or even changing their majors to avoid taking the class.