<p>goodluck.. :) what happens if they don't have a spot for you in your major? do you then declare undecided? or do you have a second choice major?</p>
<p>Engineering has it's own internship & career placement office at USC. If your child is considering settling in the western US (especially CA or HI), I believe the Trojan family can be helpful & have heard "All things being equal, of course we'd hire the Trojan." During the accepted students' reception in HI, alumni told us that USC regularly gets USC alums to find internships for USC students (which is a great way to boost your resume & have a headstart in your career). One friend graduated from USC in film & is an independent director/producer in HI. A biomed engineer from USC got a job before graduation, where she is still working & living in LA. I know a lot of major companies do recruit on the USC campus, but career placement would be able to give you a better idea, particularly if you have a better idea of what your child may be majoring in & wish to work at.
A woman I know whose daughter got a liberal arts degree (can't remember the field) from USC did get a job in HI because she was a USC graduate & has been working her way up the ladder.
Don't know anything about Redlands career placement.</p>
<p>
[quote]
One last comment regarding class size. My D doesn't care about the size of the classes, so we didn't focus on that. But our tour guide mentioned the average class size was around 25. Then she mentioned that the most popular programs - and she specifically mentioned the intro classes for cinema and international relations - have big classes in order to allow everone to get a class in those disciplines, not just the people who are majoring in it. I figured she mentioned that since at some schools certain classes are huge because they're required. But at USC certain classes are huge because a lot of students want to take them.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, a lot is made of class size (in favor of USC) since, as you said, most classes are fairly small and there are only a few large classes. But large classes are not always bad - for example, the large classes are often taught by some of the very best professors in the university, the ones that have won teaching awards. This gives everyone a chance to take a class with them that wants to. </p>
<p>But at USC, even in the larger classes, I've never felt "lost" because there were too many students for the prof/profs(some of these larger classes have two professors!) and the army of TA's they hire. They always are sensitive to making sure that every student is considered an individual.</p>
<p>I was hesitant to declare a second choice major because I wanted to emphasize how much I wanted my first choice.......anyway, If I don't get a spot I attend as undecided and i'll have to either try again for Fall 2007 or chose something else, let's hope it doesn't get to that.</p>
<p>Thanks for your encouragment! Let's hope for the best.</p>
<p>For my son, we are deciding between Purdue and USC. The only help we have from USC is the dean's (1/4) scholarship. USC will cost me $39,000 and Purdue $13,000. We visited USC 2 weeks ago, and really liked it. But $26,000 difference per year adds up to over $100,000 in 4 years. It's a tough decision!</p>
<p>Just a note of thanks to all for your thoughtful responses, it's greatly appreciated! Best wishes --</p>
<p>It sure can be a tough decision when there's a lot of money at stake. For us, AzSU would have been totally free & USC will be 1/2 tuition, so we will end up paying about $120,000+ over 4 years. Son really is NOT interested in AzSU, so ultimately, we have decided to go along with his choice & believe it will be worth it for him in the long run, to be in the environment he prefers & hopefully be able to get career counseling & make some contacts & have the "Trojan family" experience we have heard so much about.
We did consider Purdue, but he wasn't fond of its location and never applied. The cost of college really makes these decisions a lot tougher, but it is ultimately an investment and our kids need to buy in to the decisions that are made. I knew we were in trouble with son when he balked at getting the transcripts mailed in to AzSU. <sigh>
I'm sure your family will make the decision that works for all of you. It is nice that USC does give some merit aid--son crossed one school off his list when his acceptance came with no merit aid (Boston U). Good luck in figuring it all out. One more thing is that USC does give some additional scholarships to continuing students--don't know the level & how frequently this occurs.</sigh></p>