<p>I think highly of USC myself, anxiousfather, and I understand what the question is. I am suggesting that part of the answer to the question involves the limited extent to which USC’s strides have been widely recognized outside of CA. I’ve come to know more about USC since moving to CA for college, but before that I lived on the east coast and elsewhere, and few people in those locales are familiar with much about USC other than its great film school. I’m not endorsing that kind of reductionism in evaluating colleges, but it’s still operative for the time being. As I said above, everyone will have a subjective take on the importance of that, depending on their circumstances.</p>
<p>I live 3000 miles from California, and never has my first thought of USC been of its film school.</p>
<p>The graduates of USC I’ve run into have for the most part done very well, and none were in the film industry.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought of it as a first-rate university, probably a tad below the elite schools. I think US News ranks them about #25 (for whatever their ranking means), which seems awfully good for me.</p>
<p>When I was looking at schools 35 years ago, they called USC the University for Spoiled Children, implying it was a long ways from 2nd rate.</p>
<p>University of Second Choice
University of Scholastic Compromise
University of Special Connections
University of Spoiled Children
University Surrounded by Crips</p>
<p>All those nicknames don’t really apply anymore…except maybe the special connections.</p>
<p>Wow, it’s nice to see so many others having the same questions about this issue. My S also is deciding between Stanford which has offered no financial aid and our appeals so far have been to no avail even though all his other universities offers have granted us an avg 25k of need aid. Trustee Scholarship to USC? or Stanford? Stanford is his dream school and a better fit for size, etc. He’s being highly recruited by a couple D3 schools too that he’s been admitted to but he’s determined the money at USC is worth more to him than his desire to attend the his other options with the exception of Stanford. Just went to the local Stanford admitted student reception this week as he can’t attend the Admit student day at either Stanford or USC. We’ll attend the local reception for USC later this week. Hopefully it will help him decide but like many of you, he’ll likely attend Grad School, likely Law School. But Stanford also has a a Coterm program that would allow a grad/undergrad degree simultaneously which would help make the investment more worthwhile since he’s considering a double major anyway. Tough decisions! I’m still hounding the Stanford FA office before he makes a decision either way.</p>
<p>USC was my son’s safety school. He was all set to attend the scholarship interview and admit special event then he received a likely letter from Stanford. The next day he canceled USC. There was no comparison between getting a scholarship at USC vs full pay at Stanford for him and our family. That being said he would have been very happy if USC would have ended being the best school he got into, he loved it when he visited.</p>
<p>blue, I suppose money is not an issue in your case, which is great. For most, however, a full ride at a school like USC would be compelling enough to forgo Stanford at full price.</p>
<p>just a word of gratitude & appreciation to phantasmagoric & zenkoan. always appreciate their posts, comments, insights, etc. very objective, fair and respectful. their efforts to posts here are really commendable. i was a long time lurker here, and last year we have to make a big difficult decision. son made it to stanford but had many free ride offers from other elite univ, USC included among others (USC was his safety private univ cause we know he’ll get full ride). he also made it to Cal as regents scholar plus leadership scholarship, and UCLA regents plus dream fund scholarship, both giving him almost free ride (plus a lot, lot more comps) bec im a custodial single mom, but different story with stanford cause S dad’s income has to be considered. in fact, bec of $ considerations & all the offers that came with it, we actually already did submit SIR with another university, but at the very last minute, backed it out and chose to go to stanford instead.</p>
<p>again, i am very thankful for all of phantasmagoric & zenkoan’s very objective and valuable posts. it helped us decide in a lot more ways than one. S is now a very happy student at stanford and doing well and we have absolutely no regrets, and not living with any what-ifs in mind, even though we have to pay, S has to work and take loans. i cannot say this enough, but there is nothing like Stanford - the world-class education, the experience, the environment, the facilities, the staff/admin/professors and students themselves, and a lot, lot more. everything is just world-class. imo, this is the only university worth foregoing any free ride fr another (elite) university. there is just nothing like Stanford.</p>
<p>hillary, nice to have differing opinions. My son chose Stanford over Columbia and a state flagship school, so it is nice to see that people feel it is worth it. He did not, however, have any full ride offers (didn’t apply;-) to such schools as USC.</p>
<p>Phantasmagoric, I took about 10 or so graduate-level classes for credit at Stanford when I worked there. They ranged from Computer Science to Math to Literature. I already had a graduate degree from USC, so these were purely for “the joy of learning.” You can do that when you get old. Plus, I got a good discount on tuition.</p>
<p>You do get a feel for what classes are like when you’re sitting in them.</p>
<p>As for why I think Stanford + $80K is the wrong choice in this case - if the OP wanted to be a high-tech entrepreneur, or an academic, or was interested in making business or political connections for later in life, then paying an extra $80K for a Stanford degree would probably be worth it. Otherwise, what one learns in a USC undergraduate class isn’t going to be much different than what one learns in the same Stanford undergraduate class. It’ll be the individual effort of the student that gets them into medical school.</p>
<p>I hope I don’t sound like I’m slamming Stanford. It’s a special place, and I love it. But honestly, the difficult part about Stanford is getting in. Once you’re in, I don’t believe it’s any more difficult than other schools that might be considered top 30 or 40. I’m no Einstein, but I certainly wasn’t intimidated by the other students or subject matter.</p>
<p>simba9, I agree. I think it’s hard to say that Stanford is worth $200k (or $80k, however much it is) over a school like USC if that cost difference is a burden - although, as you mention, certain areas such as entrepreneurship are a different issue. I don’t think you’re slamming Stanford, but I did want to be clear on what experience you (and anyone else) have had with both schools.</p>
<p>I have no idea why I was using $80K. My brain is turning into swiss cheese.</p>
<p>Thanks hillary21 - I’m glad that our posts have been helpful. It’s great that you and your son have no regrets and that he’s enjoying Stanford (it goes by fast!). I agree that Stanford is a very special place, but I can also understand why some parents can’t stomach spending a great deal for a Stanford education, esp. in the face of a more generous offer from another great school such as USC or Regents at a UC.</p>
<p>I really hope that Stanford goes back to being tuition-free soon (there would be far fewer headaches, like 9help9’s, if it did). Given normal endowment growth, this will be feasible within 3-4 years, so hopefully by then the administration will realize that, for many people, no matter how amazing Stanford is, money is the most important issue. Here’s to hoping there are fewer “Stanford vs. ____” threads in the future. :)</p>
<p>Is anyone worried about the spur of incidences around USC?
[Gun</a> in USC robbery tested for links to murder of Chinese students - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/gun-usc-robbery-tested-links-murder-chinese-students-000531195--sector.html]Gun”>http://news.yahoo.com/gun-usc-robbery-tested-links-murder-chinese-students-000531195--sector.html)
Normally I would advise to take full ride, but if it is not causing undue hardship, go with Stanford.</p>
<p>OK…editing to say…saw you have other financial concerns. But money aside, I am not feeling too comfortable with what is going on at USC. Granted these incidents can happen at any campus…but…</p>
<p>Though tragic, these events are not unquie to USC. All urban campuses in a major cities will have crime, ie Berkeley, Chicago, Yale, MIT, UPenn, and yes USC.</p>
<p>fall2016parent, there was another robbery at gunpoint after that incident as well:</p>
<p>[USC</a> Students Robbed At Gunpoint Again: Jeremy Hendricks Shot & Arrested (VIDEO, UPDATE)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>USC Students Robbed At Gunpoint Again: Jeremy Hendricks Shot & Arrested (VIDEO, UPDATE) | HuffPost Los Angeles)</p>
<p>While this does happen elsewhere, there’s no denying that some campuses are in a more dangerous area. Since students frequently go into the surrounding areas (either because they want to or because they have to, e.g. a large portion of undergraduates at USC do), extra caution has to be taken, but even that sometimes isn’t enough.</p>
<p>One thing is certain - the Stanford campus and area are not nearly as run-down as the USC area (there’s a reason that USC put up a wall).</p>
<p>@hillary21, I can relate to your story as it’s the same position we are in. I, too am a custodial single mom but with my S’s dad’s income, Stanford has not granted any financial aid which we’re still appealing as he did receive some excellent aid at other private universities that considered his dad’s income too. But having a full tuition to USC, nearly full ride to Cal (which he’s eliminated), or participating in varsity sports at a couple top 25 ranked D3 universities with financial aid packages has made it difficult. I think he’ll commit to Stanford anyway. We’ll find a way to make it happen but with three at university next year we will incur a lot of debt. I’m glad to hear you felt your decision has been well worth it.</p>
<p>Discouraging people from attending USC because of the neighborhood reminds me of people being warned away from California because of earthquakes. The odds of anything happening in either case is very low, but that doesn’t stop people from exaggerating the risks.</p>
<p>^ that’s a bit different though. Logically, it’s better to go to a school in California if you’re worried about major earthquakes, since all the building codes are very strict, and you would likely be fine if one hit. By contrast, if a major earthquake strikes on the East Coast, lots of people will be in trouble because their building codes are weak (and the fact that the East Coast has earthquakes so rarely makes the next one that much more likely to happen soon).</p>
<p>But crime statistics don’t lie, and you’re far more likely to be mugged in some areas than others, and certainly more likely to be mugged than to be hurt in an earthquake. I’m not saying that’s a reason to turn down USC (esp. in the face of the Trustee scholarship), but the two aren’t the same in likelihood.</p>
<p>Since USC doesn’t offer most of its students housing, they have to live in the surrounding areas, which are still crime-ridden. This was talked about in news stories about the shooting - USC’s lack of housing is being partly blamed for the student deaths.</p>
<p>Davev61. Where will your d go?</p>
<p>Just back from thorough head to head contrast of Stanford and USC for non engineering, science and computer science majors. Absolutely no comparison.</p>