<p>USC has an excellent comunications department. Its admissions difficulty for you will probably be around UCSD/UCLA/UC Berkeley, maybe not quite as tough since you are applying to the UC's out of state. Remember USC computes its SAT scores a bit different than UC's. It takes your best score in each area from different sittings, while UC's only use your single best sitting, which deflates UC's SAT scores in relation to USC's. Also tuition usually is quite a bit more for USC than the UC's, but since you are applying to UC's out of state, the tuition difference will not be very large. Again, if you could give me your stats (GPA and SAT scores) i could give you an idea if your grades are good enough to get you into these schools. UCI/UCSB/UCD would likely be a bit easier, even out of state, than USC to get into. One thing about USC, you claim to like its location, i would have you visit there before making a decision. South Central is not exactly the nicest location. Although it is in the city, and I like you like city/urban locations, South Central is a bit tough. Its not exactly Westwood or La Jolla, which are both in the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, although not in the downtown areas. It is really one of the only negatives about USC though. On the positive side for USC, you will likely have smaller more personalized classes their than at UC schools, especially than at large UC's like UCSD and UCLA. If you could give me your stats (GPA and SAT scores) i could give you a better idea about your chances.</p>
<p>Here are stats for admits into UC's in state (remember that you are applying out of state, and will likely need significantly better scores for admission out of state):</p>