SCU Engineering vs USC

Colleges and Universities A-Z Santa Clara University
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<p>I have to decide between University of Southern California (USC) and Santa Clara (SCU) to attend next year as a transfer student. My major is mechanical engineering.</p>

<p>I am wondering on opinions from students etc on what they think from a student perspective (I couldn't care less about USNews rankings etc.). Fortunately the money difference is not an issue for me.</p>

<p>*I like Santa Clara because it is an hour from home, right in the Silicon Valley. I want to live in the Bay Area and so far I hear they are pretty good for jobs in the Valley. It is also a lot smaller so I believe I would get to know my teachers more. The people seemed very chill when I visited.</p>

<p>*USC has the prestigious name over Santa Clara and seems to have a lot more money for research and a bigger program as far as classes offered. However, I am not a frat/greek guy and I hear USC revolves around that and is a frat school. I love the school spirit at USC as well as sports.</p>

<p>******Bottom line: I am unsure if USC is more theoretical or hands on? Both schools seem to have a good alumni network. Which do you think is better if I am aiming for a Engineering Job for the Bay Area? Does Santa Clara's program even compare to USC Viterbi Engineering?</p>

<p>Thank you very much for any responses/opinions! :)</p>

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<p>I am not a student, but the parent of a high-school senior strongly considering mechanical engineering at SCU. We had a wonderful visit to SCU in late May. You may want to read my visit report. <a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/santa-clara-university/8474546.html”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/santa-clara-university/8474546.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>The top three employers for SCU graduates are Google, Apple, and Cysco Systems. That statistic is not for engineering majors but for all majors. 48% of the students hired by these employers have non technical degrees.</p>

<p>We were very impressed with the engineering facilities. The engineering faculty have great contacts in Silicon Valley, which really helps with internships and jobs. The mechanical engineering faculty members have degrees from Caltech, Stanford, MIT, and other great engineering schools. <a href=“http://www.scu.edu/engineering/me/faculty/”>http://www.scu.edu/engineering/me/faculty/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>We ruled out Southern Cal. We live in metro Phoenix, and much prefer the Bay area to the L.A. area. Also, Southern Cal is next to some very bad areas. A graduate student was murdered just off-campus quite recently. SCI is also much smaller and easier to get around. Both schools have lots of California rich kids.</p>

<p>My class-of-2015 son liked just about everything at SCU.</p>

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<p>Our S was admitted to both SCU and USC with merit. He weighed both carefully before ultimately chhosing USC, where he got his EE. He received several job offers, as did peers and friends. One is deciding between Cisco and Boeing with her CS engineering degree. </p>

<p>I’d suggest you also visit USC and decide where you feel is a better match for you. S liked that USC has more female engineering students than most places. He also liked that USC was more willing to work with his chronic health issues than SCU–the latter said he’d have to withdraw if he missed 2 weeks in a quarter. USC promised to work with him. </p>

<p>Both are good options, assuming you can get accepted and many of your credits transfer. SCU is quarters and USC is semesters, if that matters to you. </p>

<p>Both my kids are USC grads and neither participated much in Greek life but had no shortage of things to do–rock climbing, skiing, polo, fencing, watching sports, intramurals, and more! There’s also a ton to do in LA. </p>