Michigan USC or Lehigh??

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I got into these as a transfer. Money is no issue, and aside from what I want to study, which school gets the better, more prestigious rep?</p>

<p>Michigan = economics and/or communication
Lehigh = journalism and/or business management
USC = journalism (got in for print, want to switch to broadcast) and/or business</p>

<p>At Michigan, business is out of the question because it is a 3-year program and I missed the deadline to apply.</p>

<p>For USC and Lehigh, I am not sure if I can still try to transfer into the business colleges and still graduate with the class of 2010.</p>

<p>Which school would be the best, reputation wise? I don't believe a lot of people know about Lehigh. It is ranked higher than NYU, yet NYU gets far more recognition. USC is a good school in my view, but it does have a rich kid school reputation, and compared with Michigan, I feel that Michigan has the greater academic reputation with firms.</p>

<p>Please advise! Would be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>In order of prestige:

  1. USC
  2. Michigan
  3. Lehigh
    USC if definitely the most famous. It does have that reputation but I think visiting the school and talking to current students about whether the reputation is factual or not would help your decision process considerably.</p>
3

<p>Midwest: Mich>USC=Lehigh.</p>

<p>West Coast: USC>Mich>Lehigh</p>

<p>Northeast: Lehigh>USC>Michigan</p>

4

<p>I agree with Tourguide, but with a couple of addendums:</p>

<p>1) In the Northeast, it should be Lehigh > Michigan > USC. However, there are two exceptions; DC and NYC, Michigan > Lehigh > USC. Michigan’s presence on the East Coast, particularly in DC and NYC, is extremely strong.</p>

<p>2) on the West Coast, it is USC > Michigan > Lehigh. However, in the case of Silicon Valley, it is more like Michigan > USC > Lehigh. Michigan’s reputation in Silicon Valley has always been very strong. </p>

<p>Overall, those are three very different and, in their own way, excellent universities. They deliver very different experiences. The OP should really go for fit.</p>

5

<p>If you were accepted into Annenberg for print journalism, it’s USC FTW!!! (not sure about whether you can double in Marshall though…)</p>

<p>UMich: Communications is a small dept in LSA; no contest for your interests unless econ will predominate</p>

<p>Lehigh: again, small journalism dept (but respected regionally…)</p>

6

<p>Victoria16. USC is the “most famous?” We’re talking academics here not football. Michigan is the most well rounded and prestigious university among these three. Some very famous people went to Michigan who make it big in broadcast journalism. Mike Wallace immediately comes to mind.</p>

7

<p>Another thing to note is that Michigan’s PA score is (4.5)</p>

<p>USC (4.0) - tied with Rice, Emory, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Georgia Tech and Illinois</p>

<p>That’s a significant difference in academic prestige.</p>

8

<p>Princeton Review (2008 Edition)
The Best 366 Colleges
Freshman Profile</p>

<p>Lehigh SAT Critical Reading 580-670
SAT Math 640-720</p>

<p>Michigan SAT Critical Reading 580-690
SAT Math 630-730
ACT Composite 27-31</p>

<p>USC SAT Critical Reading 630-720
SAT Math 650-740
SAT Writing 640-720
ACT Composite 28-32</p>

9

<p>The Princeton Review is not 100% accurate. I would rely more on the universities’ own websites.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/docs/admission/Freshman_Profile_2007v2.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/docs/admission/Freshman_Profile_2007v2.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://sitemaker.umich.edu/obpinfo/files/umaa_cds2008.pdf[/url]”>http://sitemaker.umich.edu/obpinfo/files/umaa_cds2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~oir/cds/lucds2007.xls[/url]”>http://www.lehigh.edu/~oir/cds/lucds2007.xls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Lehigh:
CR 600-680
Math 640 710</p>

<p>Michigan:
CR 590-690
Math 630-730
ACT: 27-31</p>

<p>USC:
CR 620-720
Math 650-740
ACT: 28-32</p>

<p>But those SAT ranges are superscored in the case of USC, but not in the case of Michigan. That probably gives USC the advantage. Besides, I am not sure those numbers prove anything. Roughly 100 colleges and universities have similar stats and those three schools have very comparable SAT (and ACT) averages.</p>

10

<p>

I think you’re misunderstanding what the PA means. Prestige has a lot more to do with selectivity than what a bunch of academics think of either other’s schools. </p>

<p>Regardless, I’d go with Michigan assuming all three schools will cost the same.</p>