Fork in the road: undergraduate business

College Search & Selection
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!
Thank you</p>

2

<p>The quality of undergraduate business education is effectively measured by post-graduation outcomes.</p>

<p>The outcome survey at Berkeley is here:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt;
with the following for the business major in particular:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/BusAd.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/BusAd.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>USC’s career center is here:
[Welcome</a>! | USC Career Center](<a href=“http://careers.usc.edu/]Welcome”>http://careers.usc.edu/)
but it does not have any post-graduation outcome survey information that I can find.</p>

3

<p>

Seems like you know what to do. If you want to succeed in business you’re going to have to be able to make your own decisions. Here’s your first chance.</p>

4

<p>Well I’m ultimately gonna make the decision. There’s nothing wrong with gathering some research or second opinions before making one of the most important decisions of my life thus far.</p>

<p>A businessman who goes out rashly and makes decisions without research will probably not be a businessman for long!</p>

5

<p>Is the Presidential scholarship the half tuition scholarship? Are you certain that you won’t get offered anything else? Did you try their online price calculator?</p>

<p>It sounds like you’d enjoy USC more for a variety of reasons. You like that you’ve already been admitted to Marshall, you like the Trojan atmosphere, you like that USC has a rep for pretty girls, and so on. The Trojan alumni system is strong. Unless the differences in the two business programs are substantial and would likely result in noticeably differences in career success (not likely), then Cal shouldn’t really be an option anymore.</p>

6

<p>Marshall is a very good school (Obviously not on Haas’ level but still up there) I’d go with the school you like more rather than the one that is more prestigious. (Especially since you have to apply to Haas after sophomore year and might not get in).</p>

7

<p>thanks for the feedback. Any more opinions?
Is there anyone out there who actually experienced a similar situation? Having to choose between Marshall and Berkeley? That would be great if you guys could offer some input.</p>

8

<p>Bump10char</p>

9

<p>Some parts of business are school-prestige conscious (investment banking and management consulting companies). Based on some postings on the Berkeley forum, such companies recruit at Haas, but take very few (in comparison to Ivy League schools and MIT where a large percentage of graduates overall go into investment banking, even when there are no undergraduate business majors). No idea what the Marshall situation is like in this respect, if you are interested in such post-graduation destinations.</p>

<p>Another thing to consider is where (location) you want to work after graduation, as USC’s reputation is said to be very strong in the Los Angeles area, but not as strong elsewhere.</p>

10

<p>Any more input?</p>

11

<p>Post your issue in the forums for both schools, you may get more feedback there.</p>

12

<p>Bump10char</p>

13

<p>Any more opinions?</p>

14

<p>Berkeley is the better school and you’re saying it would be lower cost. So what is the issue?</p>