I got accepted into grad school at UCLA, and a few other schools. They have not sent me anything yet so I am not sure if they are going to offer to fly me out there for a visit. I was wondering who can tell me what the area around there is like(cost of living, thefts, etc). They are giving me a 1900 stipend so hopefully that is enough to cover apt, bills, car payment, etc. Any info would be cool.

Stephen

 

^^ Im wondering this too, I am planning to go there as well.

 

I go to UCLA but I do not want to offer any information from me considering it might be bias : X

 

well I am not looking for info about the school itself. The chemical engineering dept is pretty good. But I am wondering about the area. Like weather(seasons, etc.), housing prices, traffic(just how bad is it?), etc. Any info would be cool.

Stephen

 

housing is expensive...cuz of course its LA, traffic is always ****ty lol, the 405 is like the worst freeway made to man. Weather..., its LA, its great. DragonLancer goes there, i hope he can give you more detailed info.

 

anywhere in UCLA is packed Parking is hell if you gotta park somewhere. 405 is always packed and the 10 and 110 usually too. Weather is crazy but great it's CA. living in westwood is rather expensive. but it's a great place to be. just my 2

 

EVERYTHING IS F*CKING EXPENSIVE IN THAT FRICKING AREA!
food, movies, apartments,
Young asian b*tches driving nice german cars all over.

pretty streets, nice buildings, lousy roads and crappy traffic...

and very close to Hollywood (wuteva that means to u...)

 

Playboy Mansion is like literally 2 minutes from UCLA... if that means anything to you *wink wink*

Also from the backyard of the Mansion you can see the whole city of Beverly Hills and Westwood and you can see the whole campus of UCLA.

 

sup. I am 3rd year there right now. Yes, housing and parking is very expensive. Parking in westwood is a headache, although parking at UCLA isnt too bad, except the price (daily permit = $7). I am living in the university apt which i think is the besdt way to go. Unless u have time to shop around for a good , cheap apt, the university apt is pretty good. 500-600 for 2 bedroom 4 person. CLose to campus too. But i dunno if they offer that to grad students. Traffic wise, 405 sucks my *****. But then the altrernate isnt any better. The 10 goes through downtown area so go figure. I KNoe cuz i tried commuting for a few weeks. All i can say is UCLA food is the BEST!!!!

PS there are lotsa porsche boxsters, 911, and turbos. Fewer ferraris though. None of them ever wanna race

 

omg... wut tha hell? i didn't kno anyone else on the forums went to UCLA... jeez... well ye... UCLA is awesome, a lot of people are nice, but a lot of people are kinda fake and stuck up too... everything around here is expensive, but i try my best not to spend money unless i hafta... traffic duz suck, so if u go here, live here, unless if u wanna deal with a long annoying bumper to bumper commute every day but the classes are as good as it gits, really hard tho but u learn a lot. and thas awesome ur in chemical engineering, i am too! And the food is definitely the best, but thas kinda biased becuz rite now, anything is better than the rice, fish, and noodles i used to live on every day before i moved here. Anyone else here who goes to UCLA wanna meet up sometime? i'd be thrilled to meet yall

 

one of my favorite places in the world. I spend the last four years there in undergrad, and its really a good place to be. The parking and traffic is like anywhere else in LA, but aside from that, its great. Cute women, hot cars, good food...

 

Was that 500-600 a month per person for 4 ppl living in a 2 bdrm? Holy christ, I was thinking I would be able to live by myself until I met someone that I could stand living with. But if apts are 2000/month for a 2 bdrm, man am I screwed. DragonLancer, I know I will sound geeky for asking this, but what books do you use for undergrad(just transport and separations are fine)? I find that you can really tell a lot about a department from what texts they use. Also, are there like yearly parking passes for campus, or is it basically you walk all the time? I am sure I have more questions but this is all I can think of now. BTW is the traffic there bad all day, or are there just like rush hour up here in Seattle where it is bad for a few hours in the morning and the evening?

 

I didn't go to UCLA but my little brother did.

- You can find cheaper housing outside the Westwood area, just have to drive to school.
- Annual parking permits are done by lottery system, where you have greater chances depending on mostly where you live. If you live far away, then you have a better chance at getting a spot.
- Textbook do tell a bit about the program, but I think the professors are the driving forces. I visited UCLA EE deparment when I was doing my grad at Cornell, and got a good impression of them.
- Traffic is bad when you need it the most. Take the local streets. This might take you a while to get used to the area.

 

I think what I am going to do is try to juggle my schedule to take mid-morning classes and stay in lab until like 7-8-9pm. I am not sure how well that will work, but yeah the professors do tell a lot about the program, so when I go visit them in a few weeks I hopefully will like the professors. As for on-campus housing how good is the parking there? and is there a lot of theft in that area, from what I understand that area is a really ritzy(for lack of a better word) area, but I am not completely sure.

Stephen

 

You guys all have way too much money..or your parents atleast.....LOL

Who cares if your car gets broken into, just get it fixed