Applying to UCLA
What does a Nobel Peace Prize awardee, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, the med school professor who first diagnosed AIDS, and Maroon 5 have in common? The University of California, Los Angeles, or UCLA.
Starting out as a normal school in the 1880’s, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) became the second campus of one of the prominent state universities in the US. The first campus is located in Berkeley, California. Regent Edward Dickson and Director Ernest Caroll Moore led the transition of UCLA from being a school for teachers into a full-fledged university. UCLA was formerly known as the Los Angeles State Normal School, then became the Southern Branch of the University of California before becoming the University of California at Los Angeles in 1927. The “at” in UCLA’s name was dropped and replaced by a comma in 1958. The change was made to be consistent with the name of other UC campuses.
UCLA is among the most prestigious universities in the world. Newsweek ranked UCLA 12th in its list of the Top 500 Global Universities, while the U.S News and World Report listed UCLA as the 25th best national university in America. As for China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University, UCLA ranked 13th in the world when it comes to scientific research that leads to a Nobel Prize.
To prove UCLA’s excellence, take the UCLA Medical Center. The UCLA Medical Center is ranked as one of the top hospitals in the US, up there with the likes of John Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1981, assistant professor Michael Gottlieb diagnosed a then unknown disease now known as AIDS.
But UCLA’s prestige does not begin nor end with medicine or the sciences. It will not be prudent to think of a stereotypical UCLA student as a geeky bookworm. In a country where college basketball is covered by the media almost as vigorously as the NBA, the UCLA Bruins boasts of 11 championships, the most for any US university. And yes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—him of the sky-hook and the NBA’s most number of career points and MVP awards—hails from UCLA, as do with sweet-shooting Reggie Miller.
As for the arts, UCLA also distinguishes itself. If you enjoyed watching the films Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter, then you have UCLA alumnus and Oscar Award winner John Williams to thank for the brilliant musical scoring. Also, Maroon 5, The Doors, and Linkin Park—all internationally successful bands—trace their roots to UCLA.
Application to UCLA can be done online, starting with the filling out of the online application form that can be found at the University of California’s website. The application form is the same for all of the UC system’s nine campuses.
If you do get into UCLA, watch out during finals week. Students simultaneously scream at midnight and ride bikes in their underwear, to take off some of the pressure of the exams. These may seem a little crazy to others, but for the Bruins of UCLA, it’s tradition. And so is academic, athletic, and artistic excellence.
Photo Credit: Slack12
