<p>I've been accepted to the College of Science at ND and the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at USC, intending to major in biology. (Don't know if I'll be premed or not) Other than a slight advantage in academics ND doesn't have much over USC.. no vibrant city, bad weather.. These are my final two college choices-- any input?</p>
<p>i have not visited USC, but while ND has varying weather (that is subjective as i like winter), ND’s campus and environment is absolutely amazing. ND has better academics, but if you really enjoy nice weather and football success (at this point in time at ND you just get football spirit - hopefully the big wins come back soon), then USC is probably the school for you. I thought I heard that ND was planning to build a state of the art cancer research facility (if this sparks a interest). if you have the time and funds, i would visit each.</p>
<p>It mostly depends on the program you are interested in that determines whether USC or ND is better academically. Considering that you are going into biology, I am not entirely sure of the rankings, but I would imagine that the two are nearly indistinguishable. Notre Dame does put a lot of focus on undergraduate education and has recently constructed the Jordan Hall of Science, a huge facility dedicated to all undergraduate science. USC, however, has the Keck School of Medicine (no med school at ND) which puts ND at a significant disadvantage in recruiting the best professors, not that they don’t do good job with what they have.</p>
<p>Hrm. My dad wants me to go to ND because he thinks I’d be able to concentrate on schoolwork more. I’ve visited both campuses, and they are completely different from each other and each has a very unique identity. I like the community feel of ND, while USC seems a bit impersonal.</p>
<p>ND’s campus is built to be a little village almost. when i visited, there was definitely a unique feeling on campus. it was still cold when i visited, but the basketball courts were full, the quads were full of people playing frisbee, so i definitely think that at ND there is a great community feeling. everyone spends a lot of time studying but also know how to relax and have fun. </p>
<p>I am sure that USC is a great school, and you should remember that you will thrive in either environment and now YOU get to choose. It is an awesome power. Good luck.</p>
<p>Both universities are awesome! You can’t go wrong either way.</p>
<p>Personally, I would choose USC in your predicament because of the location and alumni network.</p>
<p>Notre Dame’s alumni network is the best in the country. End of declarative sentence.</p>
<p>from a study that i was told about, BC has the strongest alumni network, and ND is second.</p>
<p>slight academic advantage? really? If you want to go to USC for weather or football or location, then definitly go. But academics are better at Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Pick the program kaydog, that is a very loaded question. For film or engineering and some of the sciences (if not all), I would say that USC is decidedly better… definitely better, and this includes economics (of which I am most familiar with). They are different schools and both are great academically. I would say that Notre Dame is probably a little better academically but to say that ND is definitely a better school academically for everybody is simply ignorant.</p>
<p>Supposedly the alumni network at USC is also very very good.</p>