<p>I am deciding between the University of Southern California and The George Washington University as a transfer.</p>
<p>USC admitted me for Spring 2015 (which is a bummer), and GWU admitted me for Fall 2014 (good)</p>
<p>I am majoring in Political Science, but I figure both are in cities that could get me internships easily. </p>
<p>It seems to me that USC is a wonderful up-and-coming university while GWU may be losing a lot of it's "respect" recently with the scandal thing a few years ago and it's admittance rate going from ~33% to 43% this year. </p>
<p>USC will also be 2-3k more expensive a year than GW for me.</p>
<p>So my question is, is GW about a tier below USC when people look at them academically/reputation wise? How do they match up?</p>
<p>I want to go to law school after, it that's worth anything. </p>
<p>The reputation of a school is of interest to few employers unless you’re going overseas. It’s what you do, not where you do it. USC, even among DC area academics I associate with, is thought to be generally a better school than GWU. </p>
<p>You can certainly get internships in either school. If you’re interested in lobbying, government service, or politics, an internship in DC is certainly a good idea, and being from USC might provide a little more polish to your application resume than if you’re one of thousands of GWU, American, Howard, Georgetown, et al. grads. There are bazillions of opportunities here.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think it makes much difference which school unless there’s something in your “fit” with one of the schools that matters. What are you looking for in a transfer school besides urban living (GWU is a little more downtown than USC)? Sports teams? Diversity? Traffic (you’ve covered that pretty well)? How will you pay for these schools? They’re both very expensive, as you know? What do you want? Why these two?</p>
<p>My niece just graduated from USC as a transfer student and LOVED it. They accepted a great deal of her credits and she graduated in a total of 4 years plus 6 hours as a comm major. She had great internships, made important career connections, covered football games at Notre Dame, very cool. </p>
<p>Yes I am aware that both of these schools are expensive but GW gave me a very large scholarship and USC gave me a decent amount in grants. My states two top public schools are also the most expensive public schools in the nation so the cost is comparable to even my states public colleges. The thing about GW that I am not crazy about is how there is no real school spirit/pride. USC seems to be filled with pride involving sports and just overall for their school which appealing to me. The only draw back from USC is that I was accepted for Spring 2015 over Fall 2014. @jkeil911 </p>
<p>^^^…that you are certain USC will accept and that won’t just inflate your general electives? Or could you take 3 or 6 credits at USC while working Fall 2014 and getting adjusted to LA.</p>