Stanford, UCLA, and Northridge?

Comparing these schools is like comparing apples to oranges; they're all in California...and that's about it.

If I were you I would avoid looking at official rankings. These rankings don't say very much.

Stanford is a private university. It is one of the best universities in the world, is extremely rich, and is very hard to get into. It has to some degree a reputation for being a bit stuffy and preppy kind of like the Ivy League schools, but at the same time it has a reputation for a laid-back mentality. This "laid-back" attitude is not always a good thing--it can amount to people not taking their studies seriously. It's considerably smaller than the other two universities you listed but it's not tiny. In my opinion, Stanford is not quite as good a school as the top ivy leagues like Harvard or Princeton, or as state schools like Berkeley.

UCLA is a huge state school. You can find everything there--good and bad. UCLA is an excellent school and is hard to get into, but it's probably not the best state school in California--in my opinion the best school is Berkeley, which is harder to get into and is one of the best schools in the world. But UCLA is a place of great opportunity though.

In my opinion, Northridge is not as good a school as UCLA or Stanford; it's not as widely recognized outside of California as. While it's one of the larger and better schools in the system, it will probably be the easiest to get into of the three schools you listed.

Short summary--UCLA and Northridge are huge schools...Northridge is easier to get into. Stanford is probably the hardest to get into, has much more money, and is medium-sized. It may be hard to get into Stanford as a transfer student, depending on where you transferred from--you will be more attractive as a transfer student to the state schools.

I would also recommend looking at Berkeley--it's one of the best schools in the world, in my opinion better than Stanford, although I don't know as much about the programs you're considering. Also--there are a number of other good schools in the University of California system (distinct from the Cal State system that North ridge is in)...you don't need to limit your search to these schools.

Good luck!

Those are three very different schools!

You don't mention your current grades or academic record, but that would be pretty important. Stanford is very hard to get into. I applied there for graduate school didn't get accepted despite having a 4.0, honors, and college valedictorian. It may not be quite as competitive for undergrad, but it is tough! UCLA is tough too -- I believe that the average GPA of an incoming freshman is a 4.0 -- and I don't know if they make it any easier for transfers from out of state. Northridge is not even in the same league, much easier to get into, but much less prestigious.

I can only speak with personal experience on UCLA, as I am a graduate student there now. The campus is beautiful and very large (like a city within a city) and it is in a wealthy part of LA. So, cost of living is pretty high in the immediate area. It is a big university, so as an undergrad you would be in big lecture classes as well as smaller seminars (more of the latter, I suspect, since you are not a first year). There are a lot of very good faculty, some busier than others, but you will find that at all three of the schools you are looking at. If you are really interested in close contact with faculty, small classes and the like, you should consider applying to a small liberal arts college instead of a university like Stanford, UCLA, or CSU Northridge. Look, for example, at some of the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Scripps, Harvey Mudd) in Claremont, CA.

Good luck!

First off, Stanford is in Northern California, UCLA and Northridge are both in LA. Are you sure you weren't thinking about USC?

Stanford is a private school and extraordinarily competitive. Stanford and UC Berkeley are the premiere west coast universities and equal Harvard or Yale in every way. UC Berkeley is a public school in the UC system; Stanford is private and quite expensive.

UCLA is THE most applied to school in the US, more than any other, because it's the only top 20 nationally ranked public school in the LA area. It is an excellent school, but the reputation is not quite at the same level as UC Berkeley or Stanford; however, the sheer number of applicants makes UCLA one of, if not the, hardest university to get in to. Also, because of this massive influx, UCLA is becoming more exclusive. It's gaining in both prestige, reputation, and student excellence. USC is private, also a top 20 school, not at the same level as Stanford, and again, quite expensive.

Northridge is in the SF Valley. It is also an excellent school, but it is part of the Cal State system, not the UC system. The Cal State system is not as prestigious as the UC system - however, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Where the UCs, (especially Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD and UCSB) are primarily research institutions, the Cal State schools are primarily teaching institutions. They have excellent teachers and resources. Cal State Northridge is very competitive with respect to other Cal State schools, but it is not in the same league as UCLA or Stanford.

All three campuses are huge. Private schools (USC, Stanford) have a reputation of being elitist, which may or may not be justified (probably depends on if you get in or not). UCLA, Berkeley, and Cal State Northridge are just humongous. There is a very eclectic student body at all three.