What Is UCLA Known For? | CollegeVine Blog

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What’s Covered:

• Overview of UCLA
• Unique Aspects of UCLA
• What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

 

The University of California, Los Angeles is among the most highly ranked public schools in the nation each year– and for good reason. UCLA’s incredible opportunities span across its academic offerings, extracurriculars, and rich campus life. Its prime location in Southern California and the sheer size of the Bruin alumni network afford UCLA students a wealth of resources both on and off-campus. So whether you’re already drafting your supplemental essays or just embarking on your college search, read on to find out all about UCLA’s perks and quirks!

 

Overview of UCLA

 

Location: Los Angeles, California (Westwood area)

Undergrad Enrollment: 31,500

Acceptance Rate: Please get the rest of this data from the school website or Common Data Set

Middle 50% SAT: 1360-1550

Middle 50% ACT: 29-32

 

UCLA is a part of the University of California system, along with eight other public undergraduate colleges spread out across the state, stretching from the Bay Area down to San Diego. Admission to the UCs, as they are collectively known, is unique in that the UCs have their own application, separate from the Common or Coalition apps. 

 

The UC application consists of four essays, in which applicants have the opportunity to showcase their perspective and establish themselves as prime candidates for admission. Notably, the application does not include a “Why School” prompt, and selecting specific campuses in the app is a matter of merely checking boxes. This means applicants must write strong supplements that convey their values and interests through thoughtful stories. 

 

The UCs also have very specific academic prerequisites: the A-G requirements. While the majority of students who attend US public high schools should meet these prereqs by way of their high school curriculum, students who attend private schools or are homeschooled may need to plan for those requirements more carefully. 

Unique Aspects of UCLA

Academics

 

UCLA offers 125 undergraduate majors spread across 109 academic departments, and over 90 minors. The most popular undergraduate majors are Biology, Business Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Psychobiology. The school places a strong emphasis on student research, awarding nearly $1 billion in competitive research grants and contracts annually. The campus’s proximity to Ronald Reagan Medical Center accentuates its vibrant research community. 

 

UCLA boasts a stellar School of Theater, Film, and Television (known as TFT), with its performing arts programs consistently ranked highly by U.S. News and The Hollywood Reporter. Its famous alumni include actor and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, Star Trek actor and activist George Takei, and actor James Franco, who even returned to campus for a brief teaching stint. 

 

Sports

 

UCLA has a lively athletic department, with 118 NCAA team championship titles, second only to Stanford. The university is home to 25 NCAA Division I sports, divided into 14 for women and 11 for men. Both the men’s and the women’s basketball teams are accomplished, winning 11 and 4 championships, respectively. And with an equally accomplished football team, it’s no wonder you’ll find students lining up outside Pauley Pavilion for hours before basketball games or gearing up for the annual rivalry game with USC. 

 

The school also has plenty of club sports, with varying levels of commitment. Over 8,000 students participate in the competitive Intramural Sports program, which consists of 30 leagues, tournaments, meets, and other special events. Most notably, there is a wide range of intramural sports, such as rugby, table tennis, and even Quidditch!

 

Clubs

 

UCLA has a vibrant extracurricular scene with over 1,000 clubs, presented to students during an annual Enormous Activities Fair that sprawls across Royce Quad. One of its most notable clubs is the Student Alumni Association, which hosts Dinner for 12 Strangers, a tradition that’s gone on for over 50 years. Over 3,700 students, alumni, and faculty come together to host over 500 global dinners through this community tradition. 

 

Additionally, UCLA hosts the largest student-run hackathon in Southern California, recruiting over a thousand hackers each year to create technology-oriented solutions around a rotating theme. The hackathon is a multi-day event open to students of all majors and culminates in the completion of over 150 multi-faceted creative projects.

 

Furthermore, UCLA is well-known for its flourishing startup culture, boasting numerous clubs and accelerator programs that help students ideate and execute for their own companies. The valuations for startups built using UCLA’s technology since 2000 have totaled over $30 billion. Notable startups that have blossomed out of UCLA’s startup community include AWAK Technologies and Sike Insights which provide medical devices and AI-powered productivity tools respectively.