<p>Hi guys I'm an international student and I want to know how other students' thought on this university(University of Southern California). What would be the merits of this university and what would be weak points?</p>
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<li>If you could, please compare this university with UCLA. Because both universities are in LA and have high reputation, I'm quite not cleared of which is better or what difference do they have with each other. Any info that would be helpful for me.</li>
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<p>p.s. I'm considering Intl Economics, or Business..</p>
<p>Well, I'll give you a less biased perspective. I have lived in L.A. my entire life (except when I attended Berkeley) and I have relatives who attended both USC and UCLA.</p>
<p>Both campuses are nice.
The surrounding area of South Los Angeles/Exposition Park (USC) is not as nice as Westwood (UCLA).
L.A. is not a college town. IMO, the off-campus environments of both USC and UCLA are not student oriented.</p>
<p>Reputation-wise, they are about equal. Academically, I'd give a slight edge to UCLA. USC's academic reputation has really improved over the last decade and it's about as hard to get into USC as UCLA nowadays. The rivalry (sports and more recently, academics) is fierce.</p>
<p>USC, IMO, has a more balanced student body in terms of diversity (geographically and demographically).</p>
<p>USC also has a stronger, more loyal, alumni base. If you want to work in L.A., USC's reputation of "University of Special Connections" applies.</p>
<p>Regarding business, both programs are strong at UCLA and USC. Keep in mind, that you can formally major in business at USC, while UCLA has a biz-econ major.</p>
<p>You can't go wrong with either. I'd suggest a visit and then decide.</p>
<p>Until USC buys up the land a mile in every direction from the campus, the campus location can be considered very poor. UCLA is one mile from Hef's mansion, one mile from Gary Winnick's $150 million hilltop mansion in Bel Air, and a 15 minute drive straight down sunset blvd. to the ocean. </p>
<p>UCLA sits on the most expensive land in the US outside of Manhattan. It is a truly beautiful setting, but becoming more crowded every year as they continue to expand the for-profit part of the medical complex.</p>
<p>USC's undergraduate students are now on par with UCLA's. However, at the graducate level, with the exception of 3-4 professional schools, USC is NOT a top 50 research university and won't be for at least a couple of decades. It takes time to accomplish that.</p>
<p>One very good thing about USC -- most of the students are not from California. UCLA is probably 85-90% CA, most of that from the LA area.</p>
<p>Both USC and UCLA are pretty poor when it comes to businesses serving students off-campus.</p>
<p>Now, the student is international, and with the weak dollar, maybe he/she will feel flush enough to go have a fun night out on the town in West LA.</p>
<p>USC: Very strong in film and business, with other solid programs as well. TONS of school spirit. Very nice campus, although the surrounding neighborhoods are sort of rough. Everyone I know who's gone there has absolutely LOVED it. Great alumni network. </p>
<p>UCLA: Very strong school as a whole. Great neighborhood. Great library. Sports aren't quite as big, but there's still a good deal of school spirit. More economically diverse student body.</p>
<p>As an international Ph.D. student at USC, I will have to defend my school regrading Dunn's remark on two school's research production. USC is a top 25 research university based on most of objective data. As a whole, we still play lower hand to UCLA. However, most of professional schools at USC are better, on par, or slightly lower than the counterparts at UCLA. This leaves the College of Letter, Arts and Science, which is already gaining momentum in research over the last decade. </p>
<p>USC produces more Masters students than UCLA yearly. This contributes to the industry and local community greatly, and also benefits the University financially. But producing excellent Ph.D. students is the only way to gain reputation in academic world. USC has made this their next focus, note that it has done a lot in this regard in the past decade. It probably won't take more than a decade to be on par with UCLA if we keep trying hard, because 1) we are starting not too far behind; 2) UCLA is not that great either quality-wise; 3) USC's college is small and still has potential to grow.</p>
<p>Other comments: UCLA has great sports program, just not very good (still good) in football. But they certainly under-utilize their resources - location, public school tuition, top school image, etc. Just think about it, if USC and UCLA exchange their locations, USC may be a better school in both sports and academic right away:)</p>
<p>FWIW, USC is a private school, while UCLA is public. Some people think that makes a difference, but I'm not sure why. (Other than that UCLA's student body will obviously be made up of mostly Californians).</p>
<p>There is an intense rivalry between the two schools in both sports and more recently, academics. Although UCLA ranks a little higher in academics, I get the feeling UCLA suffers from a slight inferiority complex towards USC, perhaps because of the "private school rich kid" reputation USC has had in the past which continues to haunt it.</p>
<p>When I think of USC, I definitely think of a school leaning towards theater, the arts, and film studies and less about academics. If you're into film studies, I hear AWESOME things like lectures with top-notch directors and whatnot. </p>
<p>I hear tons of great things about UCLA too, though, and that's that it's more academic and is overall stronger. I personally would prefer UCLA because I hear of so many studies in so many fields on the news and elsewhere (e.g. from studies in the psychology of serial killers, to dealing with LGBT teenagers, to interesting differences between men and women, to studies on spiders!) I think it's much more of a research-oriented school than USC. </p>
<p>UCLA's business school is probably one of the best in the country, comparable to Berkeley's and UMich's business schools and UPenn's Wharton. However, as an international, it's much more difficult to get into UCLA than it is to get into USC because UCLA aims to get mostly California residents (and there are tons of qualified Cal residents, let me tell you!)</p>
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As a whole, we still play lower hand to UCLA. However, most of professional schools at USC are better, on par, or slightly lower than the counterparts at UCLA.
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Given that "professional schools" are usually defined as medical/business/law school -- all the professional schools at USC are slightly/solidly lower than its counterparts at UCLA.</p>
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Just think about it, if USC and UCLA exchange their locations, USC may be a better school in both sports and academic right away
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And if they were to change their endowments (especially per capita), UCLA could also buy its faculty, students, and rankings ;)</p>
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I get the feeling UCLA suffers from a slight inferiority complex towards USC, perhaps because of the "private school rich kid" reputation USC has had in the past which continues to haunt it.
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I can't speak for anyone else but I've never felt inferior (or superior, for that matter) to someone who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth. Having attended a top private institution for my MBA, I'll allow that while there are certainly advantages to attending a rich private school, they're usually fairly overrated in importance.</p>
<p>Considering that you are an international student, I would recommend UCLA over USC if you had the option to attend both. USC, while respected in Cali, isn't that well known outside of U.S. On the other hand, UCLA's reputation internationally, esp. in Asia, is very strong. Especially if you wanna work in your country after getting education in U.S., UCLA all the way.</p>
<p>Patlsee' right, UCLA has a great reputation here in India....however USC has also been gettin alot of attention and respect recently
And im sure USC and UCLA would have an equal reputation in the U.S. (for undergrad)....id go to USC because of its emphasis on on small classes.....i cant imagine goin to a place for each class is filled with like a 100-150 students</p>
<p>USC's reputation overseas especially in Asia is pretty good. Eg. in Hong Kong, people think of USC as the next top school after Harvard and Stanford etc. maybe due to its strong alumni network in Hong Kong? Not sure.</p>
<p>Nothing really to add to this conversation just some personal observations as the parent of a recent USC graduate. Having witnessed many USC/UCLA threads over the years on CC, some of them pretty nasty, I must say I enjoy the rather genteel discussion, which is probably a reflection of the recognition of USC's rapid academic improvement.</p>
<p>Let me give you a different perspective from an east coast guy:</p>
<p>USC definitely has a slightly better reputation on the east coast over UCLA. State schools, with a few exceptions, aren't well thought of here.
Certainly this is true for films studies and animation.</p>
<p>As for grad school and professional schools, I would think that both schools are rated equally. </p>
<p>I have seen both. UCLA is in a much better area than USC but that was not your question.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think that from a cache perspective, they are about the same. Admission wise, they are quite close too. Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong at either place.</p>