<p>I know, it's difficult to compare the two but I still would like people to weigh in on the strength and weaknesses of each academically to help sort things out. Time is running out, and my S will have to make a decision pretty soon. He got into both Carroll School of Management and into Marshall School of Business. He is interested (at this point in life) in Marketing but he really isn't sure if that still will be so a year from now. I would appreciate it very much if you could give me as much details (both pro and con) about these two business programs.
Thank you!</p>
<p>I would recommend USC. USC’s Marshall school of Business is one of the more highly-applauded business school in the US. Whereas, Boston College’s CSM is not as highly-recognized as compared to Marshall.</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Programs | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-overall/]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-overall/)</p>
<p>I have a son about to graduate from BC and a daughter just finishing her freshman year at USC. Both are great schools. Tough choice!</p>
<p>Have you visited and gotten a feel for the campuses? I don’t think you can go wrong with either one.</p>
<p>Have you visited the campuses? That was the deciding factor for my kids. With both, there was a feeling of this is the school for me.</p>
<p>I agree visiting the campus would give a good gauge of where you are going to.</p>
<p>Thanks, threetreasurs and 11starbuck. Yes, we have visited both campuses. He liked both campuses, and would be comfortable at both. He didn’t have this “Aha” moment at either. So for him it is the academic aspect that would be a deciding factor, and it’s just hard to find a lot of information on which one is ranked higher than the other and on what positions. I appreciate your input though.</p>
<p>Bump…bump…</p>
<p>USC Marshall is more renowned globally than Carrol. Marshall can also provide more international and internship opportunities for your son. If money isn’t an issue with either school, I would choose Marshall.</p>
<p>BC’s business school is actually up and coming, and I would say it’s on par with a lot of the top 15 business schools (outside of Wharton, Sloan, Ross, Haas and Stern), and I definitely wouldn’t listen to ICanDivideByZero, who hasn’t even entered college let alone experienced a recruiting cycle at an undergrad business school, who obviously has no idea about global reputations.</p>
<p>That said, I like Marshall’s business school better. However, one of the main things to consider is where your son wants to end up after graduating.</p>
<p>Graduating from BC is likely to place him in the Northeast for business, whereas a Marshall degree in Southern California is worth its weight in gold. You’ll find that BC has a far greater Wall Street presence than SC, but you likely won’t find any BC grads in LA/SF - or the west coast in general - in business compared to Marshall grads.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with ICanDivideByZero, it is true that Marshall is more renowned globally than Caroll. </p>
<p>But then again you have to give us more info: financial capability, plans after college, etc.</p>
<p>These are things I think Marshall School of Business offers:</p>
<p>A global outlook, particularly in the Pacific Rim: Colleges now talk about this, but Marshall had much interaction, internships, cooperation and global programs well before many other colleges. The Marshall Business Conferences in Asia have been sold out in Tokyo, Taipei and recently in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>More international students to add to the cultural enrichment of the students.: You will not just see men from eastern private schools in your classes, but students from all over the world. I asked a student yesterday from a province in India who was admitted. How did you ever hear about SC? His answer was, “My academic counselor suggested it.” </p>
<p>International and national case study competition: Marshall has done very well on these and have won or placed very high. There is much collaboration and preparation involved in these competitions. Women are very active participants and leaders.</p>
<p>Alumni presence and support: Alumni provide large numbers of scholarships, offer jobs, mentor students, lecture and provide numerous internships. There are formal programs for alumni to mentor Marshall students.</p>
<p>Location: SC is located in the Pacific Rim. Los Angeles is a huge media entertainment center and a force in industries such as healthcare, real estate, biotechnology, aerospace, communications and travel industry. It is the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies.</p>
<p>Unique programs: Global Leadership Program by invitation to the most qualified entering freshmen. LINC Program is open to all freshmen and exposes students to business practices abroad. Features a special course and a trip abroad to meet business executives. Countries visited have included Chile, Austrailia, China and Singapore.</p>
<p>Marshall also offers interdisciplinary joint programs: (Competitive)</p>
<p>Business and Cinematic Arts
Business and International Relations
Business and Computer Science (Together with Viterbi School of Engineering)</p>
<p>SC is also the home of 11 noted Centers of Excellence including the Lloyd Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies-Ranked 1st by Entrepreneur Magazine. Another is the Lusk Center for Real Estate, which is a co-venture with the highly ranked USC School of Policy, Planning and Development.</p>
<p>USNews ranked Marshall 10th in Undergraduate Business Schools in the nation. </p>
<p>Marshall offers a global outlook, varied programs, top notch faculty and the Trojan Family for support.</p>
<p>Here are some alumni from Marshall:</p>
<p>Dan Bane-Chrm. and CEO of Trader Joe’s
Marc Benioff-Founder and CEO of Salesforce.com
Dave Bohnett-Founder and former CEO of Geocities.com
Alan Casden-Chrm. and CEO of Casden Properties
Yang Ho Cho-Pres. and CEO of Korean Air Lines
Chris DeWolfe-Co-founder of My Space
Steve Goodall-President of J.D. Power and Associates
Jerry Heller-Co-founder and CEO of Ruthless Records
Shelly Hwang-Founder of Pinkberry
Jeff Nobbs-Co- Founder of Extrabux.com
Brad Hughes-Founder of Public Storage
Preston Martin-Former Vice-Chrm. of Federal Reserve Board
Bob McKnight-Founder and CEO of Quiksilver
Paul Orfalea-Founder of Kinko’s
John Molina-CFO of Molina Healthcare
among others…</p>
<p>Georgia Girl, thanks for such a detailed reply. I love the diversity and global reach aspects of USC. They make the school look very attractive. My question was more related to the content of Marshall’s overall program and how different components of it compare to the program CSOM offers. I know that last year Marshall revamed its whole curriculum. This is the first year it’s being tested in the classrooms. Anybody has any feedback how it compares to the old curriculum? Do students love it or hate it? What’s changed? The school claims the new curriculum is bound to produce more well-rounded workforce but I haven’t seen the old curriculum to be able to compare the two. How is their GE now different from the Core Curriculum so favored by East Coast schools? The main argument I hear against a school like Marshall is that they have a long way to grow before they can boast the breadth of education offered by schools like BC. Is this really true? I know USC is more selective as a whole than BC but I always thought that it was due to their strong programs in cinematography and journalism which have very few rivals. So my questions pertain to the specifics of each business school program, pros and cons, what specifically is similar, what specifically is different? Is it relevant for future grads? Anyway, if anyone knows more about this new curriculum at Marshall, please share your knowledge and advice. What were the main changes that were introduced into the new curriculum? Thanks to all who tried to answer my questions. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>What do you mean exactly by breadth of education? Are you referring to the range of programs in Marshall alone or the prestige of the various schools at SC such as Viterbi, School of Social Work, Thornton School of Music and others?</p>
<p>I mean the Marshall’s curriculum. I know they have changed it and this is the first year they have been teaching it at Marshall. How is it different from the old one? What’s the biggest change?</p>
<p>Sorry to jump in, but @sharkfin, perhaps I haven’t been through the recruiting process, but there were a lot of reasons why I chose USC over others schools. For example, after speaking with hedge fund managers and investment bankers from southern California about the prestige of Marshall vs. [insert other schools I was considering], I knew Marshall was the perfect fit in terms of placement into the field of finance. You’re right, I’m not qualified to determine whether or not Marshall has a global presence, as I haven’t yet experienced everything the school has to offer. However, based on what family friends have told me about the school’s reputation around the world, it seems as though Marshall is more well-known (on the West coast and internationally) than Carrol. Oh and if you knew anything about BC you would know that kids from prep schools throughout the East Coast consider it to be a second round of high school. All I wanted to do was give my two cents, and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with that. Let the discussion continue!~</p>
<p>Oh and to answer your question, feolvi: [Sample</a> Course Plans | Business Administration | USC Marshall School of Business](<a href=“Home - USC Marshall”>Home - USC Marshall)
I was just at a session for USC today with the Marshall admissions person and she talked about how they tailored the curriculum to suit the needs of recruiters better. For example, you now take an intermediate economics course sequence (micro and macro) and cannot use AP credit to get out of it. I’m sure Georgia Girl can comment more on this.</p>
<p>Business is not my field, but as I understand the new curriculum’s goal is to provide more flexibility to take additional courses outside of Marshall in order to broaden the educational background of each student.</p>
<p>The new curriculum now offers:</p>
<p>32 “free” electives which can be used throughout the university. For example, this would allow a minor in a foreign language or economics.</p>
<p>A new 2 unit data modeling class to provide data analysis training</p>
<p>Extensive travel and international experiential learning opportunities beginning in the freshmen year.</p>
<p>12 upper level business units whch can be taken across all business departments</p>
<p>Your questions are quite specific. May I suggest you call Marshall and ask to speak to an academic advisor about your possible options at Marshall. Here are two phone numbers:
213 740 8885 or 800 352 5719 .</p>
<p>There are rankings and rankings. U.S. News had broken links on their site, but I was able to access these tonight: Last ranking…Real Estate 5th in nation, International Business 6th, Accounting 6th and Entrepreneurship 4th.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys (and girls!). This is very helpful. I will definitely urge my S to call the school and talk about the specifics. Maybe they will be able to connect us with current students to talk to them directly. I appreciate all of you for your input. Marshall would be my choice if I were to choose between the two but I am not the one going to college. All the best to all current and future students at USC.</p>
<p>First of all, I suggest forgetting about rankings. While USNWR has USC-Marshall ranked #10 and BC is not in the top 10 for undergrad business, in the BusinessWeek rankings BC is 16 and USC 34. My point is that rankings are fluid, subject to the biases of individual assessment techniques and ultimately imply a level of precision that simply cannot exist in real life.</p>
<p>In my experience BC and USC are extremely similar. Both are medium-sized, private, located in vibrant cities with student bodies having preppy/party reputations that are based on old stereotypes. Both will give you a chance at a great education. Obviously USC will have a stronger entertainment industry influence while BC seems to send a lot of its grads into the Finance areas. As for worldwide reputations I can’t offer any real insight, though it strikes me that “reputation” comes down to what the individual on the other side of the table thinks not some overarching rankings, (e.g., If he got screwed in the financial meltdown he probably doesn’t have a great attitude toward Wharton and Harvard types no matter what USNWR says). </p>
<p>My personal opinion is that it comes down to where your child is going to want to start his career. Boston - East Coast vs. LA - West Coast. Europe vs Asian centric international influence. This doesn’t mean you can’t find jobs on the others turf, but the networks and contact lists are always larger and stronger when you’re “in-country”. If he’s always wanted to live and work in Southern California then pick USC. If he’s always wanted to be an investment banker on Wall Street then BC has the edge. There is no bad choice here. Regardless, after your first job it all going to be about what you’ve actually produced.</p>