<p>
[quote]
if you're paying you're buying something "getting in" where at public schools it must be impartial because it's public
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think that applies to Stanford though, at least not without being extremely qualified academically at the same.</p>
<p>One thing to realize, is that for at least where I went to school (california public), the guidance counselors are very pro-UC. Their job priorities are, in order:</p>
<ol>
<li>Graduate you from HS</li>
<li>Get you into a UC</li>
<li>If you can't get into a UC, get you into a CSU or community college.</li>
<li>If you're a top student, they'll also try and get you into an Ivy.</li>
</ol>
<p>Period. I pretty much never heard a single thing, positive or negative, about USC (or frankly, any other non-Ivy private except Stanford, or any non-Ivy out of state school) from my GC; the only time USC was ever mentioned was when a financial aid expert came from USC and talked to everyone about how to handle fin aid. </p>
<p>So I don't think it's unexpected to think that kids form their own misguided opinions, really.</p>
<p>
[quote]
One thing to realize, is that for at least where I went to school (california public), the guidance counselors are very pro-UC. Their job priorities are, in order:</p>
<ol>
<li>Graduate you from HS</li>
<li>Get you into a UC</li>
<li>If you can't get into a UC, get you into a CSU or community college.</li>
<li>If you're a top student, they'll also try and get you into an Ivy.</li>
</ol>
<p>Period. I pretty much never heard a single thing, positive or negative, about USC (or frankly, any other non-Ivy private except Stanford, or any non-Ivy out of state school) from my GC; the only time USC was ever mentioned was when a financial aid expert came from USC and talked to everyone about how to handle fin aid.</p>
<p>So I don't think it's unexpected to think that kids form their own misguided opinions, really.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I second this. I also graduated from a California public. Most of the material is Guidance Counselors' offices are about U.C's. There are U.C posters everywhere. Everyone talks about who can get into Berkeley or UCLA. The atmosphere is very UC-centric.</p>
<p>As to some of the other comments in the thread, I have an illuminating anecdote that confirms some of the posts in this thread.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine (I've known her since I was 10) who is a recent Berkeley graduate randomly instant messaged me to tell her she didn't like USC very much. I asked why, buy she couldn't really cite a reason. After pressing her further, she said that the U.C's are for the "common man" while USC and other privates are not. After pointing out that UCLA families have a higher family income, she fell silent, other than saying "I still don't like USC." </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Edit: Forgot to to mention that I'm a USC Freshman and very happy here.</p>
<p>'tis true. CA public schools are very much little UC-feeding factories.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A good friend of mine (I've known her since I was 10) who is a recent Berkeley graduate randomly instant messaged me to tell her she didn't like USC very much. I asked why, buy she couldn't really cite a reason. After pressing her further, she said that the U.C's are for the "common man" while USC and other privates are not. After pointing out that UCLA families have a higher family income, she fell silent, other than saying "I still don't like USC."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>lol. I hope you two are still good friends. :) It's fun to back-and-forth with UC students...especially when we "win" :)</p>
<p>I agree with wecando. Dook-Carolina I get. UCLA-USC is meaningless to me. USC was chosen over UNC (that sort of broke my heart) and UVA for a very specific reason. As an out of state resident UCLA was irrelevant.</p>
<p>I do think these rivalries are silly. When I went to Antioch College back in the '70's, a lot of us thought Goddard was cooler and we should probably transfer there. When I finally met some Goddard students, I found out that a lot of them thought the same thing about Antioch. The truth? They were both really cool.</p>
<p>tsdad, it broke my heart that my son chose another school over USC! Eh, I long ago got over it and actually he made a good choice. I lived there during another era when it was considered South Central and I worked on renovating several properties near campus in between going to classes. SC is an exciting school. LA is an exciting city, hip and on the cutting edge. It was back in my day, and after visiting with my son it still is.</p>
<p>My BIL "hates" USC because he has his degree from UMichigan & is tired of watching USC beath them every year in football. My other BIL "hates" USC for similar reasons. Funny thing is one of his 3 sons LOVES USC and really wants to go there when he's of age. My S is loving USC!</p>
<p>Wanting him to go to Carolina was pretty much about me. Afterall that's where his mother and I met. Once he was accepted to USC we knew that's where he had to go. He's in film. I talked to the head of the communications program at UNC when he was applying. He told me that if my son thought he wanted to go into film he should come to Carolina. If he knew he wanted to go into film he should go to USC, which he did.</p>
<p>overseas,</p>
<p>
[quote]
LA is an exciting city, hip and on the cutting edge
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree with all the positives you gave and I wish I didn't see the following negatives:</p>
<p>LA is an ugly city with unusually large number of superficial people who really care about what kind of car you drive, whom you know, how big/where your condo/house is/is located...etc. I was told many peope live beyond their means to drive luxury cars just to <em>look</em> rich. Unusually large number don't read much (except GQ/Us/Peoples/Star...magazines) or care about what school you went to. :D</p>
<p>Wish me luck to get my green card soon so I can change job and get out of here sooner.</p>
<p>Sam Lee,</p>
<p>If only that was limited to Los Angeles...</p>
<p>How about if that was only limited to the US?</p>
<p>Ha, ha, ha......</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sam Lee,</p>
<p>If only that was limited to Los Angeles...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's the only place I've experienced that phenomenon, and I've been all over the U.S and overseas as well (China multiple times, Japan, Poland, France, Sweden multiple times, Malaysia, etc etc)</p>
<p>I can't stand LA. Ick. Smog, sprawl, and superficial people. :(</p>
<p>Japan? You're telling me that superficiality is lacking in Japan?</p>
<p>Is this the same Japan that I've lived in? Even in F.ukuoka, a relative backwater, women spend thousands of dollars on handbags and designer fashion. Children are subjected to "mushi" (exclusion) if they do not conform to the same standards, some of which are simply superficial.</p>
<p>Men spend literally tens of thousands of dollars on cars, clothes, and expensive gadgets.</p>
<p>C'mon guys, gimme a break here.</p>
<p>Cities with the highest density of population per square kilometre are the logical candidates for becoming the most congested, because congestion increases as the growth in their wealth increases the number of cars versus the less expensive alternatives of bicycles, motor scooters or motorcycles. Cars take up more room whether they are in motion or when parked--if they can be parked. US and European cities have often chosen to place garages in new buildings, while older nonindustrialised cities often lack such amenities. Cars may therefore be parked everywhere, legally or illegally.</p>
<p>The cities with the highest level of population congestion are: Manila, the Philippines; Cairo, Egypt; Lagos, Nigeria; Macau, off the Chinese coast; Seoul, South Korea; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. To drive a car in any of them might be the ultimate challenge.</p>
<p>April 22 is Earth Day. The event began in 1970 to get people thinking about cleaning up the planet. Smog is one of Earth's nastiest problems. A hazy blend of smoke and fog, it causes breathing problems in industrial areas. These five cities--the world's smoggiest--need to clean up their act!
**
1. Mexico City, Mexico
2. Sao Paulo, Brazil
3. Cairo, Egypt
4. New Delhi, India
5. Shanghai, China**</p>
<p>
[quote]
Japan? You're telling me that superficiality is lacking in Japan?</p>
<p>Is this the same Japan that I've lived in? Even in F.ukuoka, a relative backwater, women spend thousands of dollars on handbags and designer fashion. Children are subjected to "mushi" (exclusion) if they do not conform to the same standards, some of which are simply superficial.</p>
<p>Men spend literally tens of thousands of dollars on cars, clothes, and expensive gadgets.</p>
<p>C'mon guys, gimme a break here.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, you are right. I didn't like that aspect of Japan either. Would I ever want to live in Japan? No way! But it was definitely fun to visit because a lot of the positives outweighed the negatives, which has yet to happen to me for LA. The Japanese are always the first to come up with the wackiest and most entertaining game shows. Most Extreme Elimination Challenge Anyone?? Haha </p>
<p>Speaking of Japan, one incident illustrates the completely different cultures. I was with my host at their corporate headquarters. I asked if I could check my e-mail thinking they would put me on some unused computer or something, but my host got all serious and barked at the nearest employee to stop what they were doing to let me check my e-mail. Whoops! :eek:</p>
<p>Perhaps I am a bit biased as well. My mom works for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (long name I know) and I myself interned at the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic. Clearly there are worse places than LA, though the ones cited above are predominately Third-World countries . When you consider smog, sprawl, and superficiality, Los Angeles ranks at the top or near the top in each of those categories in the United States. I can't think of a city in the United States that has that "whole package", so to speak. I wouldn't want to live here. Just my opinion though, your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>UCLAri,</p>
<p>That's why I used the word "unsually large number" to refer to LA. You are a pretty bright guy but sometime I think you are a little too quick to act like a smart a** and think you are more perceptive than others. I am not that naive. I am talking about the "feel" and what seems to predominate in a <em>relative</em> sense. I've lived or spent multiple summer/winter breaks in different parts of the US (Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, western Mass, Boston, and NYC). After all, I am not offering anything new and my friends warned me about this before I moved here. It was a good move career-wise though. Many people love LA but for the ones that don't, this is one of the most common reasons (along with traffic/cost).</p>
<p>By the way, I wasn't thinking anywhere outside the US. Where I came from is no better than Los Angeles, though in a different way/style (as in not as Hollywood). I am well aware that many people in the developed parts of Asia are extremely trendy and materialistic. In any case, I am not thinking of going back unless my green card application runs into a problem.</p>
<p>Sam Lee,</p>
<p>I don't think I'm more perceptive than anyone, and was just offering up what I feel is an unfortunate caveat of sorts.</p>
<p>I've had Chicagoans tell me that New Yorkers are just a superficial and awful lot. I've had Angelenos tell me that San Franciscans are an awful lot.</p>
<p>And so on and so forth. </p>
<p>In the end, I think that a lot of the overall perceptions, while borne from a grain of truth, are usually unfair to the cities involved. That was all my point was, and I didn't really mean to be some terrible smart ass as you suggest.</p>
<p>But I'm not denying that I can be one...;)</p>
<p>sfgiants - I commuted most, if not all of the Bay Area freeways. Ask your mother (with the Bay Area Air Qualty Management District) this question. Which is worse, to have 4-6 lanes in each direction (LA), that are moving? Or 2-3 lanes in each direction that are stopped (Marin, SF, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and other Bay Area Counties) ? </p>
<p>For several years, I commuted up Hwy-101 into Marin County, and the cars just sat. I mean they just sat. Moved a few feet, and sat, with engines idling. Every day. Good ole Larkspur, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, San Rafael, etc. receiving the continuous fumes from thousands of cars sitting every day. I have never understood why they dug their feet in, and refused to widen the freeways. They (incorrectly) argued that fewer lanes would keep the people from moving out from SF. They were wrong. It was the builders who built the houses (out further and further) who caused the people to move further and further away from SF. The point being that the people (they were trying to stop from moving into the outer areas) already did. And, without widening the freeways, the cars just sat, every day, day after day. </p>
<p>I am interested in your mom's thoughts on freeways and number of lanes. </p>
<p>I am curious - how long has it been since you have come towards SF from the East Bay (either on 24, or on 580). You no longer can see across the bay (except for on a good day). How about coming into the East Bay from I-5, on 580. How long since you have approached 680 Intersection (while driving on 580). It is nothing but haze and smog. </p>
<p>Compare that to LA. Maybe you are too young to know what LA was like, coming down I-5, through the Grapevine, when your eyes would burn, and you could not see across the SF Valley. Try it now (as I have many times). I have recent pictures that I have taken of the drive up the 405, and onto I-5, and up over the Grapevine. I will bet you (money) that the drive is clearer through LA, and up through and out of the Grapevine - then it is coming down the hill on 580 approaching 24 and 880 (in the SF Bay Area). It did used to be very clear, and uncongested in the Bay Area, but that was years ago.</p>
<p>I am not saying that LA is without smog. It has a LOT of it. But it has improved, and is continously getting better. (closed factories, improved auto emissions, etc.). LA had Smog Check II (much tighter restrictions on emissions) long before the Bay Area did. I have been pleasantly suprised at how blue the sky is in LA.</p>
<p>Check out these photos. I just copied up some photos to webshots. They are mostly USC, a few on the LA freeways, and a few in SF Bay Area freeways. I am not saying LA is better or cleaner than SF Bay Area. However, I think if you look at the photos, it may not be as easy as you would have thought to choose which area is cleaner (less smog) LA, with USC, or SF Bay Area.</p>
<ul>
<li>make note, the photos of USC were taken in March, June, and August (so it was not one freak day after a rainstorm).</li>
</ul>
<p>Just for grins. Hey, if nothing else, we agree on the fact that USC is an awesome school.</p>