University of California - Los Angeles vs California Institute of Technology

University of California is a public research institution based in Los Angeles while California Institute of Technology is a private university primarily focused on science and education research and is located in Pasadena. 

Overview Comparison
University of CaliforniaCalifornia Institute of Technology
Collegedunia Score7.8 Out of 108.3 Out of 10
ranking (overall)# 15 US News 2024
# 18 Times Higher Education 2024
# 29 QS World University 2024
# 7 Times Higher Education 2024
# 7 US News 2024
# 15 QS World University 2024
Subject Strength# 16 for Engineering by US News 2024
# 18 for Medicine by US News 2024
# 14 for Law by US News 2024
# 7 for Engineering by US News 2024
# 185 for Medicine by QS World University 2023
ProgramsUG Programs -23
PG Programs -42
Doctorate Programs -7
UG Programs -27
PG Programs -13
Doctorate Programs -16
Acceptance Rate10.8 %8.8 %
Exam ScoreGMAT - 680
IELTS - 7
SAT - 1330
TOEFL - 87
SAT - 1530
Cost to StudyAverage Tuition Fees   42993
[For UG Program]
Average Tuition Fees  26544
[For PG Program]
Hostel + Meal - 34584 Per Year
Average Tuition Fees   56364
[For UG Program]
Average Tuition Fees  56364
[For PG Program]
Hostel + Meal - 32373 Per Year
placement (average package)

Graduate Employability rank: QS-#3

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the top public universities in Los Angeles, United States. It is ranked #44 in QS World University Rankings 2023.

Degree                                Average Salary

Masters in Finance                 $180,000 

MBA                                        $150,000 

Executive Masters                  $146,000 

Doctorate                                $136,000 

Executive MBA                        $135,000 

Masters in Science                  $101,000 


Annual salary offered is 111,000 USD per annum and ROI is 7.9%. Top recruiters are Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Apple Computer Inc, etc. Graduate Employability Rankings (2020): #74. Doctorate students were the highest-paid ($138,000-154,000). 


Campuses and B-SchoolsAnderson School of Management
NA
CollegeDunia Reviews8.3/10 Read 6 reviews7.8/10 Read 2 reviews
General Facts Comparison
General FactsUniversity of CaliforniaCalifornia Institute of Technology
Type of UniversityUniversity
University
Established1919
1920
Student:Faculty Ratio18:1
3:1
Male:Female47% Male, 53% Female54% Male, 46% Female
Location Facts

Five mile from Pacific Ocean, Located in West-wood neighborhood of LA
Bordered by Beverly hill and Bel-Air


124-acre campus located in Pasadena, California. The campus lies on the northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is at a walking distance from Pasadena Playhouse District and Old Town Pasadena.  


Library

12 million print and electronic volumes
700 subscription database
100,00 current serial titles
950,000 e-books
Largest on-campus student employer


Has Sherman Fairchild Library; Includes print collections on Applied Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, etc. These six libraries together offer 412,217 records and collections to explore from. As per the library catalogs, you can access up to 412,271 resources. 


Campus Life

Over 100 Student organizations
220 student groups
Around 60 sororities and fraternities
118 NCA Titles and 261 Olympic Medals
Theatre and Film School
Midnight Yells during finals week (break to study)
 


It is Pasadena’s largest employer; Has Caltech Today and Caltech Matters to update students about events of the university; Has Diversity Centre, Wellness Centre, Performing and Visual Arts Centre etc. You can enjoy or indulge in 20 varsity sports and various theatre, music, art groups. 80% of students (UG) are a part of athletic teams and 65% play a musical instrument.  


Hostel#Room and Board - $17148
#Room & Board - $17436
#Off campus (not with family) - $13293
#On campus - $14796
#Off campus (with family) - $4284
Famous Alumni

14 Nobel laureates, 15 Mac Authors
Taylor Wang (astronaut), Randy Schekman (Nobel laureate-Physiology/medicine), Richard Heck (Nobel laureate-chemistry), Kay Ryan (US Poet laureate), Tom Bradley (1st African-American mayor of LA), Ralph Bunche (Nobel Peace Prize), Kareem Abdul (NBA superstar)


Over 22 Nobel Laureattes, 6 Turing Award winners; Edwin McMillan (synthesized first transuranium element), Donald Knuth (father of the analysis of algorithms), Harrison Schmitt (Astronaut), Arnold Beckman (invented the pH meter), William Shockley (father of Silicon Valley), etc.


City Life

Los Angeles (LA) is the second most populous city of USA; Hollywood is located here; 841 Museums and art galleries, California Beaches, Disneyland park, Los Angeles offers various concert halls, regular festivals, and bustling nightlife; Ranked 7th on Global City Index and 9th on Global Economic Power Index; Unemployment rate in December 2019 was 4%; Industries employing maximum number of people are healthcare, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing


Pasadena is located 15 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Some of the top companies in Pasadena are Jacob’s Engineering Group, Green dot corporation, Tetra Tech, Wesco Financial, etc. It has a wide variety of comedy clubs, outdoor cafes, night clubs, etc.  You can shop around Rose Bowl Flea market. Unemployment rate of Pasadena for July 2020 is 16.80%


Weather
Comparison Notes

Following are the points of comparison between the University of California Los Angeles and California Institute of Technology:

  • World ranking of 2020 given by QS News and THE to Caltech is better than UCLA.
  • As per QS News, Caltech ranks at 5th position while UCLA at 35th place.
  • THE placed Caltech at 2nd place and UCLA at 17th place.
  • Caltech’s engineering and technology courses are best in the world and constantly rank within top 5.
  • Most of the programs at UCLA rank within top 50 in the world including arts and humanities, life sciences, physical sciences, etc. 
  • UCLA’s World Reputation Ranking of 2020 is 9th while California Institute of Technology was placed at 12th position.
  • University of California Los Angeles is more lenient in admission decision with the acceptance rate of 16% while Caltech has an acceptance rate of only 8%.
  • Cost of living at UCLA is slightly costlier than Caltech.
  • Graduate Employability Ranking 2020 of UCLA is 3rd and Caltech’s is 74th
  • Salary offered to Caltech graduates is 35% higher than what is offered to UCLA graduates. 
  • However, UCLA’s ROI is 1.4% higher than Caltech.

California Institute of Technology is best in the world for pursuing engineering and technology programs. Research opportunities are immense in this institute for applied science students. If a student is interested to get a job after graduation in US, then the University of California Los Angeles will be a better choice.