In Need of Some Perspective: UCLA vs. USC

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>afcartman,</p>

<p>Don’t worry about the UCLA v USC war. It’s never ending, but it’s all good fun. I urge you to take my advice, it’s unbiased and objective. The article does not lie and it’s from the source. Bruinlifer is talking about his personal experience in a prior up economy, that is not the case today and his UCLA is not the current UCLA. The UCs are having major changes and I wouldn’t recommend attending till the situation is under control. My sister and I are asian american, and she loves it at USC. Enjoy your undergrad and worry about careers after grad school, hopefully the economy and the UC system will recover by then. </p>

<p>Bruins like to call my a ■■■■■ because they are quite offended by anyone pointing out that their university is on a decline. Read any post about UCLA and you’ll see that almost everyone is unsure about the quality of education being provided there. Bruin’s are very prideful and you have to hand it to them. </p>

<p>Go Bears!</p>

<p>PS My sister is pre-med. For the record, Med schools look at your stats more than your undergraduate university. The only time they care where you went is where you did your residency. Ask any doctor.</p>

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<p>Sorry, Bruinlifer, I admit you were not ENFORCING the stereotypes, but alluding/insinuating/suggesting the stereotype about USC/NYU is still prevalent, which I disagree with. </p>

<p>The data I provided basically says one thing, “It is not all about UCLA and Berkeley”. Hell, it is not even all about Berkeley when you talk about undergraduate programs. The popularity contest happens to be highly correlated with the name recognition and business job prospects for schools in East Asia. It should serve as better arguments than your anecdotal story 10 years ago. I understand UCLA was just that fantastic when you attended it. But as an education consultant, today, you should not steer Asian students to UCLA (and Berkeley) by your great personal job hunting experience 10 years ago. This is just a suggestion. </p>

<p>I was not trying to help OP, as he/she was looking for perspectives of UCLA people. I am totally fine if he/she chooses UCLA, but she/he should be informed correctly.</p>

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<p>I am not alluding or suggesting anything negative about the reputation of and progress made by NYU and USC recently in my prior post. </p>

<p>If anything, I have worked HARD actually to sell USC Marshall and NYU Stern to my prospective clients, who are basically parents! Please go read my post one more time to get a better understanding the whole scope of my general findings.</p>

<p>I am regretful that you are finding my previous post as some sort of “arguments”. LOL</p>

<p>But that was not an intention at all, and I am simply reciting the general findings I observed. After all, I worked within finance and management consulting industry from 1997 to 2004, and I regularly help my students by doing some legwork.</p>

<p>Just last year, I visited Bain and McKinsey Korea human resource departments to see which schools feeds their grads into the industry. Most of them were Ivy League educated with a few Berkeley/Northwestern/UCLA grads here and there.</p>

<p>I did not see any USC grads in either office, and as far as I know, the offices there have not hired any USC undergraduate students within last decade.</p>

<p>This is a fact. This is NOT an argument. What you make out of this fact can be an argument, but I have no interest in taking this fact beyond what it is.</p>

<p>Moreover, I checked through many of my former students, peers, and contacts to see from which undergrads investment banks hire on a regular basis. They hire most of their employees from major business schools, but I did not see the name USC there.</p>

<p>This is another fact. This is not an argument.</p>

<p>So based on these observations, I simply derived some pretty straightforward generalization - that USC Marshall program has not YET reached the level of other major business universities.</p>

<p>Granted, I do know many USC grads currently working at Deloitte Consulting and KPMG, but I really doubt whether people would consider these companies on a par with other top MC and IBs.</p>

<p>On another note, you have mentioned that </p>

<p>“The popularity contest happens to be highly correlated with the name recognition and business job prospects for schools in East Asia.”</p>

<p>If that is true, then I am a proud alumnae of the MOST PRESTIGIOUS university in the United States. After all, UCLA has been receiving the most number of applications for the past, what, five, ten years now??? :)</p>

<p>Another interesting extension of your argument would make NYU the most prestigious university in this country as well, since NYU has been regularly voted as the dream school by the most number of high school seniors.</p>

<p>As you can see, no one should dare to correlate the categories of the MOST NUMBER, the LARGEST NUMBER with the level of prestige or pedigree factors alone.</p>

<p>I am really appalled at how a person of your supposed caliber with good, excellent USC education (No, this comment is not a tongue-in-cheek comment), could possibly use the plain and single-dimensional statistical data to make such juvenile, absurd, and wildly sweeping assertions. </p>

<p>Actually, now, I really doubt that you are indeed a graduate of USC. </p>

<p>After all, it has been my earnest and genuine observation that many recent USC graduates are savvy, smart, and analytical - all the traits that are clearly missing in your so-called arguments.</p>