<p>Hello everyone, I am currently a Freshman majoring in Economics at Dornsife CLAS. My main issue here is that I am quite disappointed with the Econ program at USC: everything that I've learned last semester was just redundant high school material (I just took some lower level classes, but I haven't touched any of the upper level ones) and the Econ department at USC isn't that renowned.</p>
<p>After some planning I narrowed my future course of action down to two options:</p>
<p>Option 1) I will aim for a dual degree in Business at Marshall, and Econ at Dornsife </p>
<p>The Pros:
-Econ is to Business as Physics is to Engineering, ergo, these two degrees fit nicely together
-Very strong background for business or finance related jobs as Marshall is ranked among the top undergraduate business schools in the U.S.
-I will also continue my studies in Econ since I have a genuine interest in it
-I can graduate within 3 years with a dual degree if I take 20 units per semester from now on (feels like an overkill, but I really don't want to pay 50k of tuition)
-Trojan Network</p>
<p>The Cons:
-Marshall is hard to get into as an internal transfer
-A dual degree in Business and Econ from USC in my original country is as prestigious as a degree in a random state university; what I'm saying here is that in my country appearances are very important, and that the prestige of your university mirrors your intellectual qualities.
-...and on top of that people with creativity and lateral thinking abilities are not appreciated; I happen to fall into that category of people (without a nice degree from a renowned college, I would just be considered another drop of water in an endless ocean)
-Dual degree within 3 years is overkill, but I am up to the challenge
-I don't like LA; nothing personal, but too much sun is making me stupid
-I don't like the neighborhood surrounding USC; not because it is dangerous, but because the only entertaining venue is LA live</p>
<p>Option 2) I will transfer to a college with a relatively better Econ department</p>
<p>(I am thinking about UC: Berkeley, Princeton, U Penn, or U Chicago)</p>
<p>The Pros:
-Prestige, Prestige, and Prestige; something that the Econ department at USC lacks and that will distinguish me in my original country
-Personal satisfaction of being able to attend a top-notch university that also has a nice Econ program
-4 different seasons instead of an endless Summer</p>
<p>The Cons:
-Very very hard to get into
-Not sure if I can transfer all of my credits
-I will probably graduate in 4 years, so I will end up spending more for a degree
-No Trojan Network
-No more beautiful USC girls to peek at, again, personal taste</p>
<p>So, on the bottom line, the major difference between the two choices is just the university and the Econ department's prestige. I really like USC so far, but if I can't transfer into Marshall and graduate in both Business and Econ, it would be like graduating with a liberal arts degree in economics. I weight both of these choices as giving me the same benefits, but the latter option is harder to accomplish.</p>
<p>So, I would like to ask the community at CC about their opinion. Should I stay at USC and apply to Marshall or should I transfer to another university?</p>