Hi all,
I’ve been narrowing down my college list and am finally down to two schools: USC and SMU. I want to double major in Business (leaning towards Accounting) and Political Science, but I’m more interested in/focused on the business major. I’ve been accepted to Marshall at USC and Cox as a BBA Scholar at SMU.
I’m from California and was at one point determined to leave (really want to experience change of seasons haha), but have reconsidered in the past months, so location isn’t too important at this point. While I am fortunate that financial cost is not a major factor or need for me, I did receive an equivalent to half tuition in scholarships from SMU, and because college is so expensive, I believe it would be silly to overlook that.
I would greatly appreciate any feedback, opinions, help, insight, etc. from other students or parents that are considering or have considered these schools in the past. Thanks!
Also, just to note, I’m posting this on both the SMU and USC forums just so that I can hopefully draw in as much feedback as possible.
HI Ibther,
Congrats to you. You must’ve worked very hard. My son just made the same exact decision, and chose SMU BBA. He really wanted to get out and experience a new part of the country, broaden his horizons and meet new people. Thus, he only applied to one Calif school. At the SMU visit, he loved the business class he attended, spoke with the professor and was really excited by the focus on Cox at SMU. Plus, the Cox School Dean Niemi spoke for an hour and he was awesome. The job growth is in Texas, as you know, Calif companies are leaving here and going there.
Cox requires you have 2 internships to graduate, and the students there are really driven by that.
USC/Marshall now seems very focused on Pacific Rim, and international in general. Of course, they will help you get jobs in LA also. It is a much larger school, has dynamic alumni, and when the band starts playing Conquest, you get tears in your eyes. There are a lot of similarities and some subtle differences. There are tons of SMU students that have USC parents.
SMU’s city location is better. USC graduates will scatter all across So Cal to find jobs and apartments. But, when you graduate from SMU, Uptown is a fabulous surrounding neighborhood where it is nothing but 20-30 year olds in houses and apartments that are nice, affordable, and there are tons of restaurants and shops. Great night life for young professionals. If you want though, you can easily find a job back home.
The Greek system at both schools is significant. You may already know kids in houses at SC. At SMU, you will be able to find your own niche undetermined by where you went to high school. The Dallas weather is great if you want a little taste of snow, rain and some, but not too much, humidity.
Thanks so much for your response @Maggpie . I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I also completely identify with the desire to experience some place new, and that’s weighing a lot on me! You’ve broken a lot of the pros and cons down for me (although cons are very limited for both schools), and now I’m thinking about some things I wasn’t before, i.e. city location/future living!