我们先了解下加州大学有哪十所分校(US News 排名情况)以及其英文简写:
(20)伯克利分校(UCB)
(24)洛杉矶分校(UCLA)
(38)圣巴巴拉分校(UCSB)
(44)戴维斯分校(UCD)
(40)圣地亚哥分校(UCSD)
(39)欧文分校(UCI)
(81)圣克鲁兹分校(UCSC)
(121)河滨分校(UCR)
(N/A) 旧金山分校(UCSF)
(140) 默塞德分校(UCM)
地理位置
各分校的地理位置各不相同,名字也是以地理位置命名的。
UCB位于Berkeley市区内,学校和城市的联系比较紧密,学校有部分设施位于硅谷内。
UC Davis周边是一篇乡村风光。
UCSC出门就是Santa Cruz的山区。
UCSB位于 Isla Vista,距离海滩很近。
UCSD其实并不在圣地亚哥(San Diego),而是在其北部的 La Jolla,距离圣地亚哥约20分钟的车程。
UCSB和UCLA的校园也并不在 Santa Barbara和LA的市中心。
UCLA和UCB的校园不大,受地理位置局限比较大,其他的UC校园大多位于人口不那么密集的地区,校园也比较“舒展”~
气候状况
LA的气候是比较干燥的,夏天会非常热,UCLA和UCI 就身处这样的环境中。
UCR位于内陆地区,冬天可能比LA还要冷。
Santa Barbara和San Diego的气候相对温和一些,也更加湿润一些,但夏天依然比较热。
Santa Cruz的温度和湿度可能是最平均的。
Berkeley要更冷一些。
申请情况
加州大学的申请人数也一直是很庞大的。根据US News的数据,申请人数最多的10所大学中,加州分校占据5席,可以看看竞争程度:
UCLA>UCSD>UCB>UCI>UCSB
如果根据各分校教职工里获得诺贝尔奖、菲尔兹奖、图灵奖的人数,以及美国国家科学院、工程学院的人数这个指标来看,各分校(除了UCSF)的排名如下:
UCB>UCLA>UCSD>UCSB>UCI>UCSC,UCD>UCR>UCM
注意:这个排名并非经过专业统计后的结果,尤其是排名在后半段的几所分校差别并不明显。
优势专业
【海洋生物学】专业,只在 UCLA、UCSD、UCSC开设。
【农业】类专业,只在 UCD、UCR开设。
【犯罪学】专业,只在UCI开设。
UCSD,UCD,UCLA、UCI 有自己的【医学院】。
UCB,UCLA,UCD,UCI 有自己的【法学院】。
UCB的【自然科学】、【数学】和【工程】是UC最强的,其中【工程】类专业稳居全美top3,另外两个学校是MIT和斯坦福。
UCB在【生命科学】领域相对比较弱,因为UCB并没有自己的医学院。
UCLA和UCSD在【生命科学】领域实力比较强,两所分校都拥有自己的医学院,校医院,在生命科学领域有全面而深入的研究,并与工程学院进行密切的合作。
UCLA和UCB的【教育】专业都比较强,但UCLA更胜一筹。
UCLA在【艺术】领域是比较强的,然而加州各分校只有UCSD进入到艺术类排名Top20。UCLA的【电影电视制作】专业是非常强的,这与它地处好莱坞附近有很大关系。
【商学院】:UCB的哈斯(Hass)商学院是美国top10的商学院,UCLA的Anderson商学院是美国Top15的商学院,两所分校的商学院是加州大学中前景最好的。
【法学院】:UCB的法学院是美国top10的法学院,UCLA的法学院是美国top20的法学院。
在【科学、数学、工程领域】:UCB、UCLA、UCSD、UCSB 四所分校是加州系统中最强的,其中UCSB的物理系教授中有三位【诺贝尔奖】获得者(根据wiki的数据)。
UCB中有18位计算机科学专业的教授曾获过【图灵奖】(ACM A.M. Turing Award),UCLA有3位。
UCSC的【天文】专业很牛,【物理】专业也不错。
UCSB的【物理】相当不错,由于建立时间不长,UCSB的物理系比其他学校更“悠哉”一点。UCSB的【化学工程】也很强。
UCD的【生态学】和【进化生物学】很强。
校园文化
因为加州各分校的历史和建校目标不同,所以校园文化相差很大。
UCB和UCLA的是体育强校,而UCSD甚至连橄榄球队都没有。
新近成立的UCM只有大约6000名学生,这与那些动辄一两万在校生的分校相比,校园氛围差距很大。
UCB:伯克利分校位于伯克利市内,校园不大,所有的宿舍都在校园外步行可到的范围内。学校里亚裔非常多。
UCLA:距离 Westood 和 比弗利山庄非常近。校园相对来说大一点。Westood地区房租非常贵!两人合租要800+美元。所以经常会出现6人以上合租公寓的情况。停车位有限。除非你住在Westood地区,不然的话你绝对需要买辆车,不然你就要把大半天的时间浪费在公交车上。UCLA校园里经常有演出和各种活动。校园报纸The Bruin办的有声有色。橄榄球方面,UCLA和USC是宿敌!
UCSB:被认为是一所 party school(当然学术还是很强的)。学生中以白人为主,亚裔比例可能是UC各分校中最低的。
UCD:校园很大,住宿便宜,学生经常抱怨在校园里能闻到“牛的气味”,因为校园就在农场旁边。有自行车很有必要。
UCI:据说印度学生比例比较高?(有待证实)很多当地学生是每天都回家的,所以下课后学校的校园气氛可能没那么浓。
来源:知乎
附:加州大学各分校优势专业汇总:
附:加州系统申请文书:
2016年以前加州的文书一直都是两篇文章(两篇加起来不超过1000字)。
Directions
You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 4 of the 8 questions. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.
Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you: But you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.
今年改革了,8篇里挑选4篇,每篇350字。学生可根据自身的特性选择题目,更全面地展现自己。
1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
试举一例来展现你的领导力。在例子中,你经过一段时间后给他人以正面影响,帮助解决了分歧或为集体活动做出了贡献。
Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?
Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family?
2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few.Describe how you express your creative side.
每人都有创造性的一面,这可以通过许多形式表现:解决问题、原创创新的想法或者艺术创作等等。描述你是怎样表现出创造性的一面的?
Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution?
What are the steps you took to solve the problem?How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career?
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
你认为什么是你最重要的才能或技能?你是怎样在一段时间里开发并显露出这种才能的?
Things to consider: If there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of, this is the time to share it. You don’t necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?
Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule?
4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
描述你是如何利用一个重要的教育机会或努力克服你所面对的教育壁垒的?
Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you — just to name a few.
If you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today?
5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
描述你曾面临的最大挑战,以及你克服它的步骤。这一挑战如何影响了你的学术成就?
Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?
If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, “How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?”
6. Describe your favorite academic subject and explain how it has influenced you.
描述你最喜爱的科目,解释它是如何影响你的。
Things to consider: Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom — such as volunteer work, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or activities — and what you have gained from your involvement.
Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)?
7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
你为把学校和社区变得更好而付出了哪些行动?
Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place – like your high school, hometown, or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?
Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community?
8. What is the one thing that you think sets you apart from other candidates applying to the University of California?
是哪一样东西让你从其他加州大学申请者中脱颖而出?
Things to consider: Don’t be afraid to brag a little. Even if you don’t think you’re unique, you are — remember, there’s only one of you in the world. From your point of view, what do you feel makes you belong on one of UC’s campuses? When looking at your life, what does a stranger need to understand in order to know you?
What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge, or opportunity that you think will help us know you better? We’re not necessarily looking for what makes you unique compared to others, but what makes you, YOU.