<p>penn offered only $3000 fin aid, columbia nothing, and sc gave me a full ride.</p>
<p>suggestions?</p>
<p>umm i had the same problem..and chose SC....i loved PENN, Cornell, and Georgetown SFS...but....after realizing that i'd have vacation money to spend if i went to USC..........the answer was simple haha..take the free ride and go to grad school!!! :)</p>
<p>If it were me, I'd go USC.</p>
<p>what are you planning to study, geisha girl..just wondering..
if it's film or communications, USC is the way to go.
if it's business, either Penn or USC.</p>
<p>It depends what you want to do. For most jobs, you're better off with USC because you'll be debt free. However, if you're considering about working for a top tier investment bank, go to Penn.</p>
<p>Where are YOU from? Where do YOU want to live after graduation? What weather do you like? (silly, but a happy student is a much better student!)</p>
<p>I AM VERY PRO on going DEBT-FREE. You just do not realize what a huge deal those debts are coming out of school. It makes grad school almost impossible. Do the numbers. </p>
<p>Did you visit all?</p>
<p>End of story is: you can get a GREAT education at any of these three schools. IF you do SC, choose carefully and go for the moon! (Probably true for the others as well...)</p>
<p>Best to you as you walk this path!!!</p>
<p>Depends what grad school...my writing instructor tells me English graduate students (at USC) pretty much pay nothing as long as they have fellowships or at the undergraduate level while they're taking classes, and I assume the same holds for many of the social science/humanities fields.</p>
<p>But, you do still have to pay off debts whether you go to grad school or not. I just don't think it makes grad school impossible.</p>
<p>just to answer some of your questions:</p>
<p>i got into annenberg at usc (the communications program) and the normal undergraduate program at columbia and penn. penn has annenberg for when you become a junior.</p>
<p>i'm just not sure if the overall experience would be better on the east coast or the west coast =</p>
<p>have you visited either of the schools, cuz that might help..
i think if you want more involvement as an undergraduate in communications, go to USC. while penn has annenberg there too, you clearly won't be able to be involved until your last 2 yrs of college.</p>
<p>full ride...hm</p>
<p>In my view, the real choice is between USC and Penn for many reasons, and Annenberg in particular. The social life at USC will be better, but Penn is considered to be the "social Ivy". I think the tie-breaker for me would be the southern California weather and beaches, skiing about an hour and a half away and -- oh, yeah -- that little thing about the FULL RIDE!!!</p>
<p>It's hard to tell someone to go to a specific college without knowing all of the details, but there are a few points to keep in mind:</p>
<p>How much is financial aid a factor for you? How much can your family afford? Obviously USC gives you the best deal, but if you really love UPenn and/or Columbia and you're willing to work for it you may be happier overall there.</p>
<p>What exactly is it that you want to do in communications? Are you interested into going into PR or journalism or something else? If you want to do PR, then UPenn and USC are probably your two best choices as you can take undergrad business classes.</p>
<p>Do you want to pursue other majors besides communications? If so, then USC provides the best opportunities out of all of the colleges you're considering to double major/minor. And if you want to go into journalism or any other job, really, that gives you hiring advantages. Plus, you can explore other interests if you're not sure later on you want to pursue just communications.</p>
<p>In terms of reputation-Columbia is best known for its graduate journalism program. There is no undergrad journalism/communications major there, as you probably know. According to the journalists I know, UPenn isn't known in professional circles for its communications program, at least not at the undergrad level. Northwestern and USC have the two strongest undergrad journalism programs in the country; I also remember hearing that Annenberg has joined a new journalism association made up of Northwestern and a few other Ivies (I don't think UPenn is included but I have to check the details).</p>
<p>It also depends on where you're interested in working later in life-if you want to work in California, USC would vastly improve your job prospects wheras UPenn doesn't necessarily have a better program but has more brand name recognition. USC has a lot of really good connections with the LA Times, which is one of the best newspapers in the country. Seriously, the professional journalists I've met say that it's rivalling the New York Times in quality and prestige, and the LA Times didn't have the Jayson Blair scandal. I don't know of UPenn's connections to any particular papers, though I've heard that Columbia's grad program can help lead into a career at the New York Times or the Wall St. Journal.</p>
<p>Best of luck on your decision!</p>
<p>thank you all so much!! i'll be going to usc next year, so see you all there</p>
<p>Nice choice :) To which orientation session do you plan to go?</p>
<p>i'm not sure... do you think it's better to go to the first session? i graduate sometime after the third one, so i might be going around then.</p>