<p>Comments Please....</p>
<p>SoCalBum</p>
<p>Bump.......</p>
<p>We all know USC is ranked 30 and Brandeis is ranked 34. Also USC is in LA and Brandeis is in Boston. I am from Orange County, California. USC is alomst 5 times bigger than Brandeis and also has huge greek life and a gnarly football team. But I believe the transfer rates are better at Brandeis for Ivy League or other top schools for Graduate or Professional degrees. Any comments on academics or really anything. I would like to here peoples opinions about the two universities. Thanks</p>
<p>SoCalBum</p>
<p>I can't imagine someone applying to both of these schools...</p>
<p>I can't even begin to pronounce it. Brandeis? Hmm, USC is much easier to pronounce. I think you should go there for this reason alone.</p>
<p>Very different schools! Read some of he old posts about Brandeis social life and type of student that it appeals to. Brandeis is not in Boston! One must commute via mass transit from Waltham. Brandeis has a fairly high percentage of observant Jewish students. Brandeis has an excellent academic reputation.</p>
<p>SoCalBum: Check out comments about Brandeis on the Various (randomish) questions thread</p>
<p>Sirwatson1,</p>
<p>Brandeis = "bran-dice"</p>
<p>If frats and “gnarly” football teams are important to you, definitely do not go to Brandeis!</p>
<p>The two schools are extremely different even though both are ranked by USNWR in approximately the top 30 national universities. To begin with USC is a very large university, with around 34,000 students located in downtown LA. In contrast, Brandeis, combines a nurturing, small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest undergraduate student body I believe—approx 3000 students–of any top tier national research university. The total student body is around 5000, a small fraction of USC’s size. And that small student body is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes (this recent Newsweek article featuring a Brandeis professor, William Flesch is an example of a great professor who can positively change the lives of undergrads is one example: [Four</a> Great College Professors | Newsweek Kaplan College Guide | Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/210908]Four”>Four Great College Professors - Newsweek)). As you can imagine, given this size advantage, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus Brandeis is quite close to Boston, which is the world’s best college town, but on its own suburban campus.</p>
<p>Of course, USC is an excellent university. But, as I’ve mentioned to others on CC, for undergraduate students, Brandeis is truly amazing. Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. In a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked among the top 15 research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC’s–a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. It is more usual to compare Brandeis to Tufts, Johns Hopkins, CMU or other smaller research universities than it is to contrast it with USC.</p>
<p>Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis’ alumni are very distinguished–to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor), the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). Also, if you’re into social justice or theater/music/art, it’s a very exciting place to be (FYI Angela Davis and Abbie Hoffman are alumni as well).</p>
<p>Further, the school is very diverse undergraduate and graduate, with a strong international flavor (in fact the majority of its International Business School is international students). Brandeis is and always has been a secular school, although founded in the tradition of Harvard, Princeton etc by a religious-affiliated group. Currently its Jewish population is around 40% if you fairly count grad students who are integrated into the campus. And around 25% of the student body is minority and international students. So, it is quite diverse and continues to seek increasing diversity. Although Brandeis’ secular culture is not “white bread,” it strives to be accommodating of all cultures and has been very successful at that given its relatively short, yet illustrious, history.</p>
<p>Don’t go to Brandeis- I visited and and, lets just say
don’t go to Brandeis</p>
<p>care to elaborate? please.</p>
<p>If your idea of a perfect Saturday night is to cozy up with a few close friends and watch a movie, then Brandeis might be the place for you; however, if you’re more interested in partying or attending a sporting event, then Brandeis isn’t for you.</p>