Since USC is now more prestigious than UCLA, is UCLA still relevant?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>ModernMan your statement about USC being number 1 is false. Only if the numbers were equal I would agree with you. Its like comparing a 100% pass rate on the AP euro exam of one high school and another high school with a 70% pass rate. the catch is that one high school had only 3 people take it, and the other high school had 15. It says only 5 have taken it while UCLA had 9. If we just take only the number of people passing, we would say UCLA > USC because we had 2 more people. You say drax isnt debating properly? youre debating like a fool with your skewed and biased information right now.</p>

<p>"With a little edge on USC because of our extensive security efforts. "</p>

<p>Let me quote my EMT coworker who is also chief of the “extensive security efforts”</p>

<p>“I have dealt with 24 rape cases (24 of which were quieted down by the USC administration providing free tuition to the victims), the recent double homicide, 206 robberies by the harpy dead ends and 18th streets of supposedly USC apartment properties, 55 assaults by surrounding gang members. All in the past 5 years. We need real cops, not wannabes protecting the students. Even our third tier securities could not have saved those two chinese students because they werent doing their job right. Every tier should be as safe as the other tiers, if not, why are we hired as the security force?”</p>

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<p>While it’s highly unlikely that super scoring explains the sizable difference in SAT scores between USC and UCLA, what about the ACT? Admitted USC freshman score a FULL 2 points higher, on average, than their Bruin counterparts. The argument that this is a result of all those wealthy USC students and their rich tutors is ridiculous given that student profiles show that the parents of USC students have LOWER AVERAGE INCOMES than their Bruin counterparts. And in regard to the argument that UCLA is forced to take more underrepresented students, that doesn’t change the fact that the ACT/SAT are measures of aptitude for college performance. If you have lower scores, you’re less prepared for the rigors of college and you’re effectively lowering the standards for your colleagues. </p>

<p>I don’t think I’ve ever even heard USC students complain about a class being canceled for lack of funding. I guess I have to give some props to those Bruins who stand by a school that screws kids over like that.</p>

<p>And for the love of God, stop bringing up different world rankings. The ARWU ranks UC Riverside ABOVE Dartmouth and Brown… Insane. This thread is about college prestige, not research output.</p>

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<p>@madseason</p>

<p>For the love of god? What did you say this “thread” was about? This particular thread was started by a USC fan “seattle” on the UCLA message board for the express and only purpose of agitating people and sucking them into a meaningless debate about nothing important. Let’s get that straight friend. It’s frat boy mentality (whichever side you are on…). It’s school pride gone hormonal.</p>

<p>That said, and rankings being what they are, take a look at the graduate school rankings for 2013 from the beloved USNWR. You will find USC lags the UCs in almost every field. Does this matter one bit? NOPE. Because anybody who graduates either institution undergrad or grad school is lucky and that person worked very hard to get there. And an M.S., J.D., MBA, PhD, or M.D. degree from either institution is fantastic, despite small variations in the “Ratings.” </p>

<p>USC affordability? That is an interesting topic. If you get money, it might be a good deal. But I’m betting the average parental income for UCLA students is higher than USC for many reasons – one being if the parents (such as myself) make too much to qualify for need based aid (according to the private institution’s interpretation of the CSS and FAFSA), then UCLA becomes a much MUCH better deal. As I found out regarding my daughter, even a 50% off tuition discount from USC leaves it about 9K pricier per year, than any UC education.</p>

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<p>You’re right about one thing: anyone who has the opportunity to attend either school is extremely lucky. I don’t think anyone is denying that. The rivalry is a product of pride, which, in turn, is essential for an amazing college experience. Having an exclusive, prestigious, and clearly demarcated community makes college a magical experience. I think your daughter will be all the more happy for being a diehard bruin - hormonal even - instead of being apathetic.</p>

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<p>Dear UCLA Dad: honestly dude, I firmly believe your daughter would be happier at pepperdine, and I’d send my kid there over any uofc in a heartbeat. The smaller classes alone would provide a superior education than the uofc diploma mill. Like my roommate of decades ago, your daughter should transfer from UCLA to USC next year, if she can get in; you and she will be much happier. Fight On!</p>

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<p>I clicked to read this thread’s last post because I saw SeattleTW had posted. Always awesome to read his posts. Stay classy, you’re doing Chrysostomos L. Nikias’s work, son.</p>

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<p>I’m going to USC in the Fall, and I think you’re an idiot, SeattleTW.</p>

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<p>I would say that if you are in-state, UCLA would be the obvious choice over USC, because of the much lower tuition.</p>

<p>Unless you have money to burn, or there is a specific program you want to attend at USC, it would seem, in general, foolish to attend USC over UCLA if you are in-state.</p>

<p>Plus, according to US News, USC is 64% in-state. That seems VERY high for a private college that is ranked highly.</p>

<p>Obviously, from that statistic, it appears that USC does not have that great of a national footprint yet.</p>

<p>My son applied OOS to UCLA, and got in. He decided to attend elsewhere. He didn’t apply to USC. I didn’t want him to apply to a school where Iraqi-like/Afghanistan like green zone security is needed. I had read that the stats show that the neighborhood around USC is actually more dangerous than being a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. I might risk that for Yale, Columbia, or Penn, but not for USC.</p>

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<p>USC is 48 percent in state, 52 percent out of state. The rest of your post is wrong. Did you graduate from FSU?</p>

110

<p>Dear boo go,
Since when did USC implement affirmative action?</p>

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<p>Seattle TW:</p>

<p>No. I didn’t graduate from FSU.</p>

<p>Actually, it was Cornell.</p>

<p>Now that we got that out of the way, why don’t you address my central point?</p>

<p>You say UCLA has become “irrelevant” because USC is higher in the US News rankings. By the way, USC is given a 77, UCLA a 76. I would hardly call this an earth-shattering difference that merits calling USC “more prestigious” than UCLA. Furthermore, there are other rankings out there that rank UCLA higher. </p>

<p>Plus, for some areas of study, UCLA may be higher ranked than USC, and visa versa for other areas of study. Right?</p>

<p>In any case, if a person is in-state, is it not true that for many people, it would make more sense financially to attend UCLA rather than USC? To an in-state person, I would say that UCLA is far from being irrelevant, when compared to USC. Most people wouldn’t pay $20,000-$30,000 extra a year to attend USC over UCLA, unless they came from a wealthy family, or had a particular program they were looking for. </p>

<p>So UCLA is not irrelevant, is it? It is far cheaper for in-state students, and in some areas of study, it is superior to USC. So to many, UCLA is both cheaper AND better than USC.</p>

<p>As noted, USC is 64% in-state. Northwestern, for example, is only 28% in-state. So I would say that by any fair standard, USC has a long way to go before it can even be considered a national school. While I have no horse in this race, the more I look at the numbers, it would seem to me that USC, if you look at the people who attend it, is in many ways essentially an extremely expensive state university !!! </p>

<p>So UCLA is indeed still relevant, right?</p>

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<p>you say that now, floridadad, but it’s only a matter of time until USC makes Cornell irrelevent too :rolleyes:</p>

113

<p>I think any discussion comparing the two is not worth all the words you all may have to say. They are both great schools. Period.</p>

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<p>Ah Cornell…is that an Ivy league school? I’m from Boston and the question pops up all the time…:)</p>

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<p>Why is anyone getting into debates with SeattleTW? Isn’t it pretty dang obvious that he is immature, annoying, and trolling? It’s not like you’re going to change this person’s mind…nor is it like it actually matters. Even if USC were the number 1 university in the world, wouldn’t change my life. I didn’t go there because…I didn’t want to go there. Nothing would be different if it were ranked differently. Same reason I chose UCLA over Berkeley. </p>

<p>If Seattle is right and USC is so much better than UCLA, then congrats to them! Discussion over?</p>

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<p>Seattle, your arrogance and disrespect really astonishes me. USC and its heralded rankings from one web site versus UCLA and its argument about gpa, most applicants per year nationwide, etc. This whole discussion has been going off in tangents, leading nowhere. Now you all are resorting to snide remarks? I thought this discussion was about ucla and usc - two amazing universities. I stress the word university because it has a connotation that associates itself with respect, maturity, simply acting like an adult - something you, Seattle, seem to lack. But here is something to think about: why do we even care about which is “better”? They’re simply very different schools. And this whole talk about security: what does that have to do with which scoop is “better”? The greatness of a school can not be determined by a test you take maybe once or twice throughout your four years or even a student’s academic body of work over those four years. SAT scores are to standardize GPA. I mean that some high schools are easier to get higher gpa’s out. In theory, the SAT tells colleges how you, an extension your school stacks up against others. But then again when does theory always go according to plan? SAT scores need to be taken with a grain of salt. The true greatness of a school Is how well they prepare their students for jobs, grad school, etc. in the future - a thing no myriad of statistics can truly show.</p>

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<p>My totally objective views on the USC vs. UCLA debate is that UCLA’s reputation far exceeds that of USC internationally, but they are about equal in “prestige” at the national level.</p>

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<p>My experience is that all else equal, firms in SoCal would much rather take a freshly minted USC grad that someone who has made it out of the bloated, underfunded, impersonal mess that is UCLA. While UCLA is only a little bit below USC in test scores and exclusivity, the experience at the schools is hardly comparable. And iiBogo, be quiet until you’ve actually attended college, frosh. But welcome to the Trojan family, you’ll develop pride soon enough. BTW, SeattleTW, I really hope you’re 206 and not 425, cause the latter is NOT Seattle. Fight On however, regardless.</p>

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<p>How often does USC being a “public school in South Carolina” pop up? :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>Madseason, nice job telling your soon to be trojan brother to quiet down his opinion because he hasn’t learned yet what it means to be a completely assuming and crazed SC fan. He needs to be more like Seattle correct? </p>

<p>iiBoGo, hope you like the way Madseason welcomes you to the Trojan Family - that’s the typical personality of students on campus. There are some very nice Trojans though that I am great friends with. Try to associate yourself with the slightly more sane half of the population, unless you want to laugh and have fun at how crazy they are. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it at SC, just please keep your sanity, clarity, and reason that it is obvious Seattle has lost (if he ever had it). You obviously still possess it at this point before entering SC. Good luck in your future endeavors.</p>