Fork in the road: undergrad business

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Okay ill keep this short and sweet.
I was accepted to USC Marshall with a presidential scholarship and I am pretty confident that I will be accepted to UC Berkeley as well. </p>

<p>I would like to enter undergraduate business. I need to choose between these two amazing schools.</p>

<p>So cost wise, berkeley would be a bit better. I am most likely not getting any financial aid for either schools so Berkeley would be around 30-35 and USC prob closer to 40 with the scholarship. </p>

<p>Campus and community wise, I prefer USC. I love San Francisco but Berkeleys campus was a bit too liberal and frankly, had too many Asians (I can say this because I'm Asian). I like an atmosphere that more closely represents the real world and having Asians as a majority, especially in business, would probably put me into a bubble that I don't want to enter. Plus, I like that USC has a more diverse regional demographic (as in there are more people from all over the country and around the world). Berkeley is like 99.999999999% Californians. </p>

<p>I also heard Berkeley is super cutt-throat. I love competition but a "Trojan family"-like atmosphere seems more appealing to me. Plus USC has a better night life, Greek system (if I decide to go), and I heard very attractive girls (let's not deny that). And the football program at USC is exciting. </p>

<p>Business school-wise I know Haas outshines Marshall in almost every category. But I don't like the uncertainty of having to apply for Haas my sophomore year. Whereas at USC, I'm already in Marshall. There is no uncertainty of possibly getting rejected to Haas and having to take economics or something along that.</p>

<p>Career wise, I am still unsure. Possibly something in the finance industry, venture capitalism, or maybe even entrepreneurship.</p>

<p>So overall, I feel that USC would be a better fit for me and according to College *******, it offers a better overall college experience. But is this worth the slight drop off in the quality of business education? (Haas>Marshall).</p>

<p>If anyone can make a recommendation for this fork in the road, I will greatly appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>For an undergraduate degree, I don’t think many employers are going to make much of a distinction between Berkeley/Haas or USC/Marshall. On the other hand, if you were asking about an MBA, Berkeley would be slightly more impressive.</p>

<p>Sounds like you want to go to USC, and I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t. (I’ve never been crazy about Cal’s campus, either.)</p>

<p>BTW - I live in the Bay Area, and most people complain that Cal is taking too many out-of-state students. It needs the money.</p>

3

<p>If picking a school was based on someone else’s arbitrary rankings then choices would be easy and boring. Schools do not make the student. Students make their own success by placing themselves in the best places to succeed. Re-read your post; the answer seems pretty clear.</p>

4

<p>I’m posting this reply from a different perspective. My best friend is Asian (Chinese) and his parents refused to let him attend UC Berkeley or UCLA on a Regents scholarship because they were concerned those schools were too Asian and he would be stereotyped.</p>

<p>He ended up at the University of Chicago and is quite happy with his decision.</p>

<p>While attending a UC Berkeley and USC alumni football watching event in Seattle, we all noticed that virtually all of the Cal alumni were Asian. In fact I saw not one caucasian or other ethnic among the dozens of Cal alumni. It was quite noticeable. USC, by contrast, was extraordinarily ethnically diverse, and most of us were from out of state as undergrads.</p>

<p>Follow your instincts and you’ll make the right decision.</p>

<p>Congratulations and well done!</p>

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<p>Yes. Berkeleys heavy asian demographic is making me consider USC more heavily. Nothing against Asians, i prefer diversity!</p>

6

<p>I would choose USC over Berkeley too. lol</p>

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<p>Let me chime in that the geographic diversity issue, IMHO, is huge. Something like 91% of UCLA’s undergrads these days come from California whereas USC is much more broadly diverse, with around 47% in-state, 40% out-of-state, and 13% international. I think this was one of the great intangibles that I didn’t focus on in picking the school (film school + extra-curriculars + financial aid) and in my experience in the business world, UC graduate are much, much more provincial than graduates of USC, Stanford, Claremont, Caltech, etc. and it’s because of the out-of-state and international students. Having all of those diverse perspectives both in and out of class makes you a much better person because you get to meet people from all over the country and all over the world and understand why they see the world the way that they do. You just don’t get that at a state school, regardless of the state.</p>

<p>The only potential downside I see for you is that if you’re interested in venture capital, you know that most of that money is up in the Bay Area. Still, USC has fantastic programs in finance and entrepreneurship. Either way, you are fortunate to have a choice between two excellent schools and can’t go wrong with either one. In my experience, either degree would be respected in the professional world, and I wouldn’t obsess over one or two slots in the rankings.</p>

8

<p>There are some things you will face at Cal in your freshmen year. The cuts have affected class size and other aspects of your educational experience. There is no guarantee you will be admitted to Cal’s business school. Here are some numbers from the two websites:</p>

<p>Faculty Student Ratio
SC 1/9
Cal 1/17</p>

<p>Freshmen Retention Rate</p>

<p>SC 97%
Cal 97%</p>

<p>U.S. News Rankings for Specialties Within the Two Business Schools</p>

<p>Accounting
USC 5th
Cal NR</p>

<p>Entrepreneurship
USC 4th
Cal 7th</p>

<p>Finance
USC NR
Cal 3rd</p>

<p>International Business
USC 4th
Cal 6th</p>

<p>Management
USC 10th
Cal 3rd</p>

<p>Real Estate
USC 4th
Cal 3rd</p>

<p>Marketing
USC 10th
Cal 3rd</p>

<p>Cal scores higher on Production, Analysis and Information. As you can see in some areas SC is ranked higher by this ranking service. There is not a chasm between the two schools. It is a decision to discover what is the best fit for YOU. Where will you be happy and motivated to do your best?</p>

<p>Due to a recent huge donation USC will be breaking ground soon for the new business school complex. It will have the latest technology and innovative design.</p>

9

<p>USC is making a new business facility?</p>

10

<p>rocnation,</p>

<p>Marshall alumnus, Frank Fertitta, has made a major donation to USC to construct a new state of the art complex for the School of Business. He and his family have also endowed a new chair, the Fertitta Endowed Chair of Business, at Marshall. The amount of the gift has not been released. The family lives in Nevada. </p>

<p>The new complex will be constructed at the corner of Figueroa and Exposition Drive. </p>

<pre><code>Fertitta’s daughter is a 2012 graduate of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.
</code></pre>

11

<p>Back when our son was facing this “fork” his father & I thought Cal was a great place for him. He toured the campus with a cousin who was a senior there at the time and loved Berkeley. Son said it wasn’t for him. Fast forward four years, he’s a USC senior with a great job offer in his pocket (as the rest of his USC/Marshall roommates have) and couldn’t be happier. </p>

<p>That being said, he has HS classmates at Cal who love it and are equally successful. OP, you are in a great place to determine your best fit and move forward. Best of luck!</p>