<p>Hey everyone, I'm having an aweful time with this decision. Right now I have it narrowed to two schools, Upenn (potentially with Uscholars) and USC (with a full scholarship, thematic option, honors program). I have two main interests, archaeology and cinema. In general, I like UPenn more then USC, I like the student body more, the campus more, the distance from home more, etc. UPenn has an excellent anthropology/archaeology program, truly world class, however, their cinema program is very small and just started and is only theory/history oriented, not production oriented. USC on the other hand has the number one cinema school in the world. I did not apply to be in the cinema school (chicken :-P) but would be in the college of arts and sciences and would do cinema as a minor or try to get a dual major with it being one of my majors. However, their archaeology program seems to be quite small and new. So I'm kind of stuck in a pickle where each school seems to only have one or the other. In general I realllllly liked Penn and liked it a whole lot better then USC, but on the other hand, it has been a lifelong dream to be involved in cinema and USC + LA is the perfect place for that.
HELP!</p>
<p>I have a son at USC. Not familar with the archeology department but do want to share with you the fact that he finds the students not as serious about academics as he would like, fun loving yes, serious no, and he finds a lack of opportunity for 'intellectual discussion' since most kids he knows just aren't interested. he's a pretty social kid and wasn't very intellectual when he started college, but he has since become more so and I guess USC deserves credit for that, but now that he is, he is somewhat disappointed with the academic environment. Of course this is just one opinion but just wanted to share. And I do have the impression from him that there are quite a few cinema courses open to non-majors so that is a good thing. It is difficult to become a cinema major, but if you are interested in film, having access to the USC film school is a plus.</p>
<p>When is the deadline for committing to USC?</p>
<p>here is a link to the USC schedule of classes. Looking at this is one way to get a sense of what the academics are like. Doesn't look like they offer much in the way of archeology (have to look under Anthropology or Classics). Also if you check out cinema production, I think I mispoke earlier, most of the classes seem to be offered for majors only, though perhaps if you declare a minor more might open up.
<a href="http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/term_20073.html%5B/url%5D">http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/term_20073.html</a></p>
<p>I say go for Upenn. From the sound of it, it just feels more "right" for you.
I would say go for whichever major you are more interested in- cinema or archeology, but you already know that =P</p>