<p>Thanks, Slorg, it is good to know one can change majors after getting in also. Also useful for future applicants will be the tidbit given above that EE is running at half its capacity. Hopefully, that fact fact be utilized in their admissions strategy.</p>
<p>"Computer Science and Computer Engineering are no longer impacted. " lol, yeah, it had been impacted for so long already that now there are only 1xx undergrad in CSE dept lol, anyway, take a look at the undergrad CSE ranking and UCSD is still higher than USC</p>
<p>USC's engineering is decent, but UCSD's is really good. I was faced with this exact same decision last year and chose UCSD in a flash (also, cost was a huge factor for me).</p>
<p>Even if UCSD and USC were equal in engineering rankings (and they're pretty close), that's a huge cost differential. It's even larger when you consider a certain percentage of engineering majors will end up going more than 4 years if they switch majors a time or two or take a difficult minor with their major. I see that you're indicating only the tuition fees and not the housing fees. That should be factored in as well. </p>
<p>you mentioned OOS. USC can give some reasonable merit awards so for OOS USC can sometimes be less expensive than UCSD.</p>
<p>Assume that an excellent UG degree in engineering can be had at either campus along with equal job and grad school opportunities, which school would your D prefer to spend the next 4-5 years at? The areas are quite different.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, she is instate. I mentioned instate tuition of 9k vs 36k. I am assuming other cost factors (housing, etc) will be comparable. But I will add those up. I will not be overly concerned about cost differences PROVIDED usc offers superior education to ucsd. That is, there has to be some incremental value for that cost, even if value increment is not proporationate to cost increment.</p>
<p>@ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad:Assume that an excellent UG degree in engineering can be had at either campus along with equal job and grad school opportunities, which school would your D prefer to spend the next 4-5 years at? The areas are quite different. </p>
<p>Could you elaborate on this. In what ways the areas are different? (I know I was not comfortable just outside usc, but I need to revist again). However, what did you mean by areas?</p>
<p>One is set in a college area and the other in an ultra-conservative posh beach city.</p>
<p>Also consider non-academic (dis)advantages. Given that I could afford USC, I would have gone in a heartbeat. Having a football team means nothing in terms of future job prospects, but it sure would have made me much more excited to be a student in a given school.</p>
<p>Also, mathtastic_nerd is VERY right in that your D has to consider the malleability of her decision, too. In case engineering isn't right, what else does the school offer? If she's leaning between engineering and business, guess which school all of a sudden pulls ahead? If she is looking into the social/natural sciences along with engineering, I feel UCSD is much stronger in that area (pretty much the reason I'm studying psych, econ, and cog-sci here :P).</p>
<p>Anyway, I would try to avoid these biases by either counterbalancing with posting on the USC board (I'm pretty sure you might've already) or on the Engineering Majors board, or some place similar to thegradcafe or something (I don't know anything like that besides CC for undergrads).</p>
<p>I meant that USC is in central Los Angeles, surrounded by an urban area with some areas considered less than the safest. USC is also not right next to a beach if that's important. </p>
<p>UCSD is in La Jolla, an upscale suburb of San Diego and is adjacent to the beach (a couple of blocks). The areas surrounding UCSD are generally considered quite safe.</p>
<p>The feel of each campus will be somewhat different and the living conditions will be somewhat different. Does your D think she'd be more comfortable in the physical environment of USC and its surrounding area or in the physical environment of UCSD and its surrounding area? </p>
<p>What will living there for the next 4-5 years be like? Compare on-campus housing and the number of years she'd live on-campus and what off-campus housing is like once she moves off-campus.</p>
<p>Does she want a school with a big time football team (USC), want a school that spends next to no money on athletic recruitment (UCSD), or does she not care one way or the other?</p>
<p>Again, the reputation of the engineering programs at both schools is quite high but you might want to focus further on the specific type of engineering your D is interested in - EE, ME, BioE, CS, CE, etc.</p>
<p>Another possible factor could be in the rigor of the programs along with the corresponding drop rate where students decide to switch to another major - usually non-engineering. At UCSD it can be pretty rigorous in engineering - at least in CS where probably 35-40% of students will switch out to another major. I don't know what the rate is at USC but it's possible it could be less. This lead's into oyama's statement about considering what alternative majors one might want to switch to that are available at the college in case one chooses to switch.</p>
<p>Unless money is no factor or the cost isn't offset by merit aid and grants, USC will be substantially more expensive for an program not quite as highly ranked as UCSD's.</p>
<p>oyama and ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, Thank you so much for detailed information. It is definitely very helpful to me. I will point my D to this thread.</p>