<p>Help me make my official decision!</p>
<p>From my first visit to both campuses, this is what I've gathered from what concerns me the monst:</p>
<p>Engineering Program: both comparable
Cost: UCLA
Alumni support: USC
Campus: USC/UCLA
Housing: UCLA
Off campus safefy: UCLA
California prestige: USC
Nationwide/worldwide prestige: UCLA</p>
<p>note: many of these are my own generalized opinions</p>
<p>give me yours...</p>
<p>Engineering Program: USC (private vs public)
Cost: UCLA (22k vs 49k)
Alumni support: USC ($$$)
Campus: USC/UCLA (comparable)
Housing: USC/UCLA (not much difference)
Off campus safefy: UCLA (is this an issue for you?)
California prestige: UCLA (comparable however I think UCLA has a slight edge)
Nationwide/worldwide prestige: UCLA (no doubt)</p>
<p>I would pick USC if they cost the same, otherwise UCLA for sure... btw, I'm in EE.</p>
<p>I think USC's sphere of prestige AND alumni support are centered around southern California.</p>
<p>I go to Cal and my wife is transfering to SC from a CCC. When she tells people that she got in at USC, nearly half of them never even heard of it. Those that know usually know about the football team.</p>
<p>I would probably take UCLA assuming you're an in-state student:</p>
<p>Engineering Program: USC, although UCLA is close enough
Cost: UCLA by a mile if you're in-state
Alumni support: USC by a mile
Campus: UCLA, not far ahead of USC though
Housing: UCLA since their off-campus housing isn't as shady as USC's.
Off campus safefy: UCLA by a mile. Westwood is beautiful.
California prestige: UCLA, USC not far behind and really catching up
Nationwide prestige: UCLA, although expect USC to catch up within 10 years...but by then you'll already have a job and no one will care.
Worldwide prestige: UCLA will be ahead for as long as i'm alive probably</p>
<p>Some other things you should take into account are job placement and social life. I'm not sure who wins in the job placement category, but as far as social life is concerned...UCLA probably wins since USC is known for having very snobby/rich kids. If you're not like them it could be a struggle.</p>
<p>the only edge they have is alumni support but its kind of overrated, its not like they're harvard or stanford. Go to LA, basketball is better anyways.</p>
<p>
[quote]
USC (private vs public)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Private doesn't necessarily mean "better." I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that USC engineering is better than Cal engineering...</p>
<p>true, that's why I'm going to Cal engineering... =)
back to the case of ucla vs usc, i think they both have an excellent engineering program. their programs are quite compatible, however usc has the added value from being a private school. (smaller classes, flexibility of changing majors, better research funding and etc...) this is the main reason why i think usc's program is better compare to ucla...</p>
<p>eracer325,</p>
<p>I don't think that's necessarily because USC is private. There are plenty of privates with larger classes than USC. I think that's just because USC is USC.</p>
<p>thanks! these were the replies I was looking for. </p>
<p>As far as job placement goes, which school takes it? or is it about even</p>
<p>Engineering Program: USC
Cost: UCLA
Alumni support: USC
Campus: UCLA
Housing: UCLA
Off campus safefy: UCLA
California prestige: UCLA
Nationwide/worldwide prestige: UCLA</p>
<p>As far as job placement goes, if you plan to stay within southern cali, both school will get you any kind of job you want. 50-50. Not one is better than the other, both are recognized as the top two most prestigious university in the southern california (excluding CalTech cuz that's not a "real" school :P). However as you move farther and farther away from the So. Cal sphere, slowly and slowly people begin to get questionable about USC, and in the end, if it really depends on the prestige of the school, they will eventually pick UCLA. UCLA has been building up its reputation ever since it was formed. USC on the other hand had only started to pick the pace up less than 10 years ago. I agree that USC's catching up really fast, but as for now (and for long time into the future), it'll be difficult for USC to stand side-by-side with UCLA for the National/International Prestige stance. Even if USC may beat UCLA in USNW ranking someday.</p>
<p>Theres a saying at USC: Trojans hire Trojans. The alumni support holds very strong with business related majors, but I'm not sure if that same truth holds for other majors. </p>
<p>Housing for me in Westwood when I was at UCLA was terrible... I picked USC and now I'm living in a loft downtown so USC wins :p... do yourself a favor, live in downtown LA if you pick SC, best lifestyle ever.</p>
<p>California prestige: USC... it puts a big smile on my face everytime I see a Mercedes or BMW with a USC alumni plate and then I see a UCLA alumni frame on a Camry... LOL</p>
<p>"California prestige: USC... it puts a big smile on my face everytime I see a Mercedes or BMW with a USC alumni plate and then I see a UCLA alumni frame on a Camry... LOL"</p>
<p>Most of my friends at USC drive very nice cars, and sadly, people I know in UCLA drive crappy cars. However, it just doesn't seem right to me that my friend (a full time student at USC) driving a Ferrari to school everyday. I'm sure most of the young graduates with a USC alumni plate got their car with their parents $$$... That's why USC is called the university of spoiled children... LOL</p>
<p>moss,</p>
<p>I see just as many UCLA grads driving MBZs or BMWs. I think may have some cognitive dissonance issues there.</p>
<p>eracer,</p>
<p>You too.</p>
<p>since we're on the subject, should I be really obnoxious and go get myself a plain Bruins license plate or wait for an "alumni plate" after I graduate?</p>
<p>i also see many ucla bmws and stuff. i mean, it's a big school. also, if what they say about usc is true--that it's full of snobby rich kids--then the fact that you see a lot of usc plates might be saying more about the people who go to usc than usc itself.</p>
<p>It's a difficult decision, one that I would have been faced with had I not got into my first choice (Berkeley). That said, you couldn't go wrong with either school. Both UCLA and USC are looked highly upon and I think their reputations are about the same.</p>
<p>thanks a lot</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You can use the money you save by going to UCLA to buy a BMW. </p></li>
<li><p>The whole Trojan networking thing is highly overrated since it only works on employers who happened to go to USC, which is a very small %. And I think that is overshadowed by the # of employers think USC is nothing buy a college of spoiled children. It might be a group of ignorant people, but they are being about as ethical as the Trojan who only employs Trojans.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>well as my ap european history teacher put it in high school:</p>
<p>if you want to be smart, go to ucla.
if you want to be rich, go to usc.</p>
<p>Wow... you guys really took it personally when I threw my mb/bmw joke out there. I guess I'm just throwing more wood on the fire on the UCLA/USC rivalry :) </p>
<p>Ferrari to school? Everyone thinks USC kids are spoiled, but the majority are not. The USC parking center houses a ton of beater cars, and the Trojans I know, even if they are a bit wealthy, are very down to earth and not high in the clouds.</p>
<p>Seiken: I think I will rather use my income to buy a loft rather than a depreciable asset :)</p>
<p>You don't know what kind of wonderful career services the USC Career Center provides for students. Only works on employers who happened to go to USC which is a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE? I will stop here because you will simply be taking away too much time from my vacation in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Many business CEO's who were USC alumni come back to USC to speak and to mentor fellow Trojans. It is all about keeping in touch with USC after post-graduation. </p>
<p>You guys need to know only one word when it comes down to picking between colleges ie. Berk vs. UCLA vs. USC etc, and that word is "FIT"</p>
<p>UCLA Biz/Econ was my first choice, I therefore took summer classes there. I realized that I did not FIT into that school for various reasons. I then decided to over to USC, a school where I felt I had a perfect FIT. I therefore chose USC.</p>
<p>I would offer one recommendation: before you make a decision, go to whatever college you plan to go to during the regular semester/quarter and hang out on campus. Do whatever things you think you would be doing on a daily basis ie. food, groceries, parties. If you FIT in the social setting, then thats the school for you.</p>