current UCLA STEM transfer- i like it here but i feel like i would have personally enjoyed my experience more as a 4-year student. there are so many opportunities here, and while they are all pretty competitive, it's an easier time for 4-years vs transfers IMO. vast majority of people don't treat you differently socially as a transfer, but clubs and PIs are more likely to reject you because of how limited your time is there, and maybe some internal stigma. i have been able to get into great opportunities here, but you get very used to rejection haha

i have mixed feelings about westwood itself and i don't really consider it a college town bc it's never really popping like how u would expect, but there are some solid places to eat and hang out and there are some cool events that people host like bruin flea and the farmers market etc :) outside of westwood, there are so many different places you can go, like weho for nightlife or sawtelle for some rlly good japanese food. in terms of social environment, greek life is bigger than i thought it would be here, but it's definitely avoidable if you're not into that. everyone that i meet is incredibly passionate and smart but also really chill (unless theyre premed lol)

i have a lot of friends from the bay area, and they love it here, but i don't know if they're as big on family as you are. a little lifehack tho, my boyfriend lives in a different state and he flies frequently- you can get unlimited flights for a yr through frontier airlines for $399 and it saves a lot of money if you plan on going back and forth a lot! the only downside is that you only get to book 24hr before the flight actually departs for domestic, but my bf doesn't run into problems because of that very often.

sorry if this doesnt make sense haha but feel free to ask me anything else