Sorority Girls in UCLA- Legally Blonde Question

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 10:56pm

In Legally Blonde Elle is originally at UCLA with the other sorority girls. Now UCLA is a pretty tough school to get into, and the Sorority Girls don't seem all that smart so my question, is how did they get into UCLA?

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 10:59pm

They got in for fashion mechandising. That would make sense to me.

[supportivemom]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 11:01pm

I have known a lot of girls through the years who appear as air heads but they are actually much smarter than you think. Some girls think it's cute to act dumb and actually it takes a smart girl to act dumb. I was knew a sales rep who came across as an air head but she actually spoke 3 languages fluently. I have also known "stupid" girls who for some reason, do extremely well on standardized tests. I was in a sorority in college and it amazed me how some of the more flighty girls made excellent grades.

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 11:53pm

Well Elle Woods has trouble with standardized testing so I don't know how that could have got her in.

Theaterkid- I don't know if you know UCLA but nobody just gets in for fashion merchandising it is pretty tough, especially these days (and I believe it is set in 2004 so it would still be tough to get into).

Updated On: 7/6/07 at 11:53 PM

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 11:54pm

I don't know UCLA at all. But, just offering what little thoughts I had.

[fnyboi88]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:16am

Well one good reason that they state in the movie and the musical as well, $$...paying your way into college.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:19am

Are we sure it's UCLA? In the movie, it's CULA, which is obviously a play on UCLA but doesn't exist in real life. Perhaps this fictional school is easier to get into?

Granted, I refuse to see/listen to/have anything to do with the musical, so I don't know if it's been changed, but that's just my two cents.

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:20am

That is what I thought, but I don't remember them saying that in the movie or musical. When do they say that?

[justagirl2]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:26am

Oh, I don't know the exact time they say that. But if you look up quotes on IMDB, it says "CULA Advisor." Wikipedia claims it, too. It's in there somewhere!

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:29am

Yeah it's a fake school in the movie, but the musical is peppered throughout with telling us that they're at UCLA- Bend and Snap: "Serena is a UCLA cheer team leader," Serious (Reprise): "I still can't believe you're here, back at UCLA I never would have guessed..."

[justagirl2]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:31am

Never mind, then!

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 12:33am

ok now that I'm looking at it the Bend and Snap line looks off to me- I hate quoting from memory!- but I know the Serious (Reprise) def says UCLA.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 1:59am

Money. Extra-currics probably helped, too.

In the novel, they go to USC, if it helps. The movie claims that they wanted to use USC or UCLA, but neither let them.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 2:08am

God, I have dated some seriously air-headed UCLA girls. And I've dated a few real ditzes from USC. There's smart girls and not-so-smart on both campuses. It's a blend, but they DO exist.

Now, as to a whole sorority of airheads? Maybe Delta Who Nu?

[OnMyWay]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 2:32am

I know UCLA is terribly hard to get in if you are out-of-state, but I think it is MUCH easier if you are from California. I may be wrong, but I am fairly certain their in-state acceptance rate is high.

[Jellylorum]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 2:34am

Their parents probably donated a lot of money or have connections. Or, like supportivemom said, maybe they really do have good grades. I knew a girl in high school who's an airhead. Her hobbies are shopping and partying, and she avoids more intellectual activities (reading, writing, art, etc.) as much as possible. But she does whatever schoolwork that needs to be done, and now goes to an Ivy. Just because people have ditzy personalities doesn't mean they can't be booksmart. Also, intelligent people aren't necessarily booksmart.

Updated On: 7/6/07 at 02:34 AM

[Boq101]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 3:46am

That's true about a lot of colleges OnMyWay, even if your paying for room and board, it costs double to go Michigan U if your from out of state.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 3:51am

These are the people who wrote the line: "gay or just exotic," I don't think they really analyzed it as much as you have.
I go to a college that is very much known for its frat/sorority lifestyle, oddly enough it is probably the hardest public school to get into in Florida. Sometimes I wonder how some of the sorority girls in my school got in...

[mygfdontliveincanada]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 3:58am

I graduated from UCLA a year a go. Yes, its a tough school to get into, and yes, there were brilliant people there, and yes, I'm proud to be a Bruin, but still dumb@$$es abounded.

[JumpJumpJumpSoHigh]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 8:01am

Who says Elle has trouble with standardized testing? I kind of assumed that in order to get into UCLA, she just had to take the SAT's like the rest of the world -- i.e. STANDARD standardized tests. The ones she had trouble with were the LSAT's -- i.e. more specialized tests, for which she wouldn't have gained the knowledge either in high school or as a fashion major in college. I'd be surprised if she didn't have trouble with those. I'm sticking with my theory that she had the brains already -- she just needed to learn how to apply 'em in the right way.

~JJJ

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 8:11am

Magic of theatre.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 10:41am

UCLA is probably a recognizable California school, which is why they used the name in the musical in order to tie into the whole California vibe. For the sake of the musical, they used UCLA for its name.

[TimeSuckage]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 1:35pm

Can anyone confirm for absolute certain that they use the name "UCLA" in the musical?

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 1:38pm

Can anyone confirm for absolute certain that they use the name "UCLA" in the musical?

scroll up- i made a post in this thread with some song lyrics. They say UCLA.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 1:54pm

In the movie, they couldn't get permission from USC or UCLA to be the name of Elle's school. So they made up the name.

I guess UCLA liked the musical more than the movie to lead their name to it.