I know this decision between these two school may sound ridiculous, however, i would like third opinions.
I am currently enrolled in the Architecture program in both schools, i notice that Pomona is a “Cal State” which lowers its value. But i have read by ranking of best Architecture Programs USC is 6 while Pomona is 7. The plus side to Pomona would be my parents would save a quarter million dollors for maybe the same education. However, USC is USC, there is not much to say except it is really expensive and offers a good education. My plan was to work for for undergradute degree than earn my master’s at some other college (hopefully Harvard). Well basically my question is, which school should i go to.
<p>i would have to say USC also. there are exceptions, but the jump from cal poly pomona to harvard (or the like) for a master's is quite difficult.</p>
<p>ONLY EIGHT PER CENT!!!
so before you start trashing a school you know almost nothing about check out your facts.
cal poly pomona has been called a nobody school even though it usually is ranked second or third among 23 schools in the entire CSU.</p>
<p>it is nationally ranked in many majors, such as arch and hospitality management, where it is ranked second only to cornell of the ivy league.</p>
<p>save the quarter mill...go to poly and then you'll have enough for USC for grad school!</p>
<p>drj, i believe you mean cal poly SAN LUIS OBISPO is ranked 2nd or 3rd in architecture. </p>
<p>cal poly pomona itself is not much different from some of the other cal states. however, the OP mentions that it does have a 7th ranked architecture program. im unfamiliar with this, but i still think that USC would better prepare you for a master's. cal states in general are career-oriented, that is, they prepare you to get a job when you graduate, rather than go on to graduate or professional school.</p>
<p>what i said was that CPP is usually the second or third ranked university in the CSU, typically right behind SLO.
there is a HUGE difference among the CSUs.
a recent study of literacy rates among college seniors within the system had CSUDH seniors 63 percentage points below CPSLO and 54 below CPP. if CPP only admits two students for every 25 applicants in arch, for example, any fool can tell that this is a highly selective university in some majors. this is one of them.</p>
<p>True, but do keep selectivity in context. 2 out of every 25 applicants, but think about the quality of students of which you are competing against. USC you have been selected from students who have test scores and GPAs far beyond what you will find at the CSUs. You will be surrounded by students of a much higher caliber, if that's an issue. I would go to USC because of the environment I would be in. That's my two cents.</p>
<p>"what i said was that CPP is usually the second or third ranked university in the CSU, typically right behind SLO."</p>
<p>my mistake. but the OP is looking for architecture, so it doesnt matter. the architecture ranking is what matters more. if rankings were so important, then USC would beat out cal poly pomona simply because it is ranked higher in terms of architecture. </p>
<p>"there is a HUGE difference among the CSUs."</p>
<p>there is a huge difference between cal poly san luis obispo and cal poly pomona. though im not an expert at this, i can point out that from the 20-30 kids from my high school that went to cal poly pomona, they were no better or worse than the 20-30 kids that went to cal state fullerton. </p>
<p>but the main point is, which school will better prepare the OP for a masters, since that is his/her goal?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>there is a very wide difference among schools within the CSU system. this can be verified via virtually any measurement you choose. CPSLO is unquestionably first via almost every scheme. then there is a small group nearby, notably Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State and Long Beach State.
the aforementioned group is light years ahead of other CSUs in almost every possible category. try comparing these four schools against CSUDH, CSULA, CSUB, CSUSB and CSUS and you will see what i mean. </p></li>
<li><p>of course there is no comparison between any CSU and USC. that was not my point. had i the bucks i too would have selected trojan land. but on a tight budget i would pick a place like pomona for its relative quality and then take the money saved and get a master's at a place like SC.</p></li>
<li><p>every university, not just CSUs, have stronger and weaker programs. the better CSUs as outlined above obviously are likely to have more good ones than bad.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Let's not also forget the people who've come out of USC architecture... Frank Gehry, whom many consider to be the greatest living architect (a Pritzker Prize winner, essentially the "nobel" for architecture), as well as the most recent Pritzker prize winner.</p>
<p>man what sucks about USC and schools like say slo or pomona is that theyre never in the same ranking..does anyone have like some sort of a reliable ranking like the usnews that actually compares national universityies to like masters universities or whatever...sorry if im getting off subject on this post</p>
<p>most ratings do not compare doctoral granting schools from those that do not. that is why USC is not ranked against the two cal poly campuses.</p>
<p>what is common among the doctoral granting schools is that grad assistants do a lot of the teaching. at the cal polys by comparison you have full professors with doctorates from great universities teaching you rather than some grad student.</p>
<p>but no way you can compare campus resources between the two types of schools. i would take USC given no financial restraints. that said, both cal poly campuses are the best bargain in the state if not the entire west.</p>
<p>the grad students arent necesarily a hindrance though and i have never been fully tought by one. They are considered more of a resource or a second opinion.</p>
<p>Granted, there is the occasional discussion session run by them in larger lecture classes, but honestly, it's nice to hear a second viewpoint of the materials, and it can help even more when it is from someone like a grad or a PHD student......they give the students perspective.</p>
<p>just one way of looking at it, but a bulk of the time i do spend with my professor and at least at USC, they also come from very good backrounds (i have been tought by professors with backround involving stanford, caltech, harvard, MIT ect...)</p>
<p>I think the kid's confusing Cal poly Pomona with Pomona College. There's a BIG difference between those two schools. CP Pomona has got nothing on USC, but Pomona college is very prestigeous and is considered by some to be better than USC</p>
<p>i dont think the kid's confusing it with pomona college. the primary reason why cal poly pomona being compared to usc is because their architecture programs are closely ranked near each other.</p>