mygmat.2009 wrote:Thanks Brian.
On the other thread, you explain some of the reasons you found UT a better fit for you, but is there a reason why you withdrew from the UCLA wait-list before knowing whether you got admitted or not? i.e. didn't curiosity itch at all?
Oh yeah curiosity was keeping me in the race for a while. I'll try to explain this clearly but I have a feeling it won't come out quite right, so I expect some clarifying questions later
In the past week or so since I got dinged by Berkeley, I thought a lot about my decision and knew UCLA vs. UT would be tough. I was admitted to UT in mid-March and in February had visited the campus and gotten a feel for the culture by talking to a few different current and former students. Although I've spoken to about the same number of UCLA students, I unfortunately didn't get a chance to visit UCLA at all (my interview invite came at a bad time when I had to stick around Chicago for work), so I had less personal experience with the campus.
I continued to learn more about both schools while I was waitlisted at UCLA, and as I approached the May 19 decision date for my UCLA waitlist, I realized waiting it out would only provide marginal to neutral benefit.
Basically what it boiled down to was "do I wait for UCLA, and if I get in, cram a lot more learning about the school/visiting campus to go to a school that provides many similar benefits as UT?" or "do I stick with the school who outright admitted me early on, the community that has been very helpful to me, and a place I know that I feel comfortable?" If I were to get admitted on May 19, I realistically wouldn't be able to make a final decision about UT vs. UCLA until early June, which had implications on when I leave work (and when my girlfriend could leave her job), when I sign an apartment lease, etc.
I was really waiting on Haas, so once I heard from them, my decision became easier. I was just ready to be done with the process and get excited to know where I was going.
Ultimately I chose UT over waiting for UCLA because of a lot of different factors (in no particular order):
-Similar rankings (according to US News, Businessweek is a joke imo (Stanford #6? lol))
-Strong and similarly ranked programs in areas I'm interested in (high-tech, marketing, and entrepreneurship)
-Lower cost of living in Austin
-More tight knit community feel and involvement in Austin vs. the spread out nature of LA student living
-I'm a bigger fan of the semester system (UT) vs. quarters (UCLA)
-Overall Austin lifestyle appeals to me more than LA
-Something about the central time zone that makes me feel a little closer to my midwest home
Hope that helps and makes some sense. If not feel free to ask more questions.
