to be a trojan or a bruin?

College Search & Selection
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<p>AHH! Okay I have had my heart set on going to UCLA after being accepted, but I got my acceptance letter from USC today and now I'm having trouble deciding. (I have a month or so to decide I know but still) Is anybody having trouble making the same decision? What do you all think is the better choice? I'll give some information about myself and what I'm interested in studying. </p>

<p>UCLA- I applied as a Poli-Sci major
Pros:
* Got accepted with honors
* I <em>LOVE</em> the area (have not yet seen the campus, but have heard great things)
* I'm really interested in having crazy-big school experience esp. coming from a very tiny private all girls school.
* Prestige factor (UCLA is so world-renowned!)
* MUCH cheaper tuition (it'd be cheaper than my high school) </p>

<p>Cons:
* I don't know if I'd like just being considered a number
* I'm worried about getting into the classes I want
* I won't be able to double major or minor in Theater, because you have to be fully a part of the separate school and audition for freshman year.
* Is it as liberal as Berkeley?</p>

<p>USC- I got accepted to the Annenberg School as a Communications major
Pros:
* The whole "Trojan Family" Network thing (my dad is a Business school alum, and says this is extremely important aspect of the school)
* More individualized attention, while still being a big school
* Easier options in terms of double majors and minoring in the fields I'm interested in (International Relations, BA in Theater)
* Easy to get into the classes you want </p>

<p>Cons:
* Not too fond of the area it's in
* I'm worried it might have too much of the same "so-cal private school" feel as my HS even though it'd be co-ed, pretty diverse, and a lot bigger
* I didn't apply by the scholarship deadline, so my parents would have to pay full tuition
* I've heard too many things about the absolute dominance of Greek Life in terms of social atmosphere.</p>

<p>Personal qualities: I'm a pretty social person, but I like to float around and not be in cliques, which is why I don't know if I'd like being in a sorority. I'm not into heavy drinking. I am interested in a crazy variety of things namely, politics, theater, and public relations. I like college football, but I'm definitely not a fanatic? I like to participate actively in classes and be in a school where most students are up for very intellectual conversations/political debates. </p>

<p>The only other school I'm waiting to hear from and would seriously consider is Claremont Mckenna. </p>

<p>okay so this a super long post and i feel selfish for taking up so much space, but if anybody has any insight to share or any opinions that'd be great! Thank you SOO much. I love CC!</p>

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<p>Hey....I'm at the same situation. I'm trying to look for as much advice as possible. About USC being the whole greek life thing, my friend goes there, and he says that it's prominent but not to the point where everyone wants to be in it. There are PLENTY of people not into that stuff, and not HARDCORE fanatics of football. I just like their alumni like you said, and their sense of Trojon Pride. They are just like a cult, always sticking by you and helping you out. I'm trying to decide because I want to double major and USC has the Renaissance Scholar program for double majoring too. I visited UCLA and it was just too big of a feel for me. People were too busy to even talk at times, and there's a lot of construction going on right now, which is a turn off. I hope I have helped a little, let me know where you are headed (= Who knows, we could end up going to school together in the future or what not.</p>

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<p>I don't plan on being in a fraternity either, I just like the socialness of USC. A great balance! UCLA too, but USC is a little more social.</p>

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<p>UCLA has more academic prestige than USC, but it is tough to get your lower division courses at UCLA. However, if you are in the honors program you get some sort of priority registration. USC is generally more conservative than UCLA, but UCLA is not as liberal as Berkeley. Both schools have many attributes that fit your personal qualities. I found USC to have more social students. When I visited the campus, almost all students friendly greeted me. UCLA has friendly students too, but it’s kind of true that they seem busy – probably because the campus is so big and they need to get to their next class. USC has a big fraternity scene, but you don't have to go near them to have a good time. I think the biggest difference between the two schools is the cost.</p>

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<p>MAN JOIN THE CLUB. SAME DILEMMA HERE. well for me. I choose USC. The campus is AWESOME!!! UCLA is great too with their prestiege but their campus doesnt beat USC. Well, USc does have a good reputation but UCLA has a lil better reputation. well, for me..im choosing USC. UCLA is good and all but USC has the most awesomest campus in my opinion. haha awesomest...used dat since when i was 5.</p>

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<p>Well, I can at least help with some stuff about USC. </p>

<p>You say you're interested in having the crazy-big-school experience. I originally took that as the whole crazy college experience, which USC definitely offers. That's why I love it. But if you just mean you want a big school, well, there are 30,000 students here. The benefit of USC, though, is that I feel we get a lot of personal attention, and our campus is small, which means that although there is a big student population, you can always see a familiar face. That's a nice feeling. Plus, you don't have to wake up half an hour early to get to class. You can get anywhere in 10- 15 minutes. </p>

<p>Also, as far as prestige, USC is steadily gaining reputation. Plus, if you plan on staying in Southern California, there is a high USC grad population, which helps with jobs, and the whole prestige thing. And, very importantly, you got into Annenberg, which is extremely well-respected, and one of the top communication schools in the country. Not too shabby, I'd say.</p>

<p>As far as the dominance of the Greek scene at USC, it is what you make it to be. As a girl, you'll have no problem, no matter what you do. Frat parties let all girls in, sorority or not, so that's awesome. If you don't care about frat parties, there are a bunch of other options (whether it's house parties, clubs, movies, shopping, dinner, or just hanging out over at a friends), and you'll have no problem finding people who share the same interests as you. I've met amazing people both inside and outside of sororities, and everyone is able to find their own thing and be happy with it.</p>

<p>And, I must add, that there definitely is a tremendous feeling of pride here. I haven't met a single person unhappy in my two years here (not to say there aren't). We all just seem to have a love affair with our school. And when I meet alumni, they haven't stopped loving USC. That's part of what attracted me here. </p>

<p>As far as football goes, that should be reason enough to come here! It's just a fun part of the college experience. I hated football, and most of all, college football, before coming here, and now I am obsessed. But if you want intellectual conversations, at times, instead, there is no shortage of people wanting to join you, football fans or not. Also, a lot of our classes our small, which always helps for good conversations, and for our larger classes, there are discussion sections, which would aid in that as well. </p>

<p>It is true that without scholarship USC will be more expensive, unfortunately. But there are always outside scholarships (FastWeb), jobs on campus (you don't need work-study), and scholarships the next year. </p>

<p>Whew! There's my long response! I'm not saying all this stuff to tell you to come to USC (but you should, you really should!!! :) ), but I just wanted to show some stuff in a different light. If you have questions about USC, I'd love to help (and try to be as unbiased as possible)!</p>

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<p>All I can offer is this.......think about it</p>

<p>A trojan is good only once, a bruin is good forever</p>

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<p>I'm so happy, rExRun! And, as you'll hear a lot coming up, Fight On! :)</p>

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<p>There is also a saying over here, OhFive, something to the extent of: </p>

<p>"You're a bruin for three quarters, but a Trojan forever."</p>

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<p>That's certainly not as funny.</p>

<p>I like this one: "Enjoy being a sophomore at UCLA-It's the best three years of your life."</p>

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<p>its interesting, now highschool grads are actually considering both schools when accepted, rather than jumping at the chance of attending ucla just b/c its cheaper and probably a slightly better academic institution.</p>

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<p>Yes it is interesting...you're either a Bruin or a Trojan! ;)</p>

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<p>This is a tough decision : UCLA or USC</p>

<p>UCLA probably has better graduate placement (atlthough it may be the other way around) </p>

<p>theoretically, USC should allow you to get closer to your professors with the individual attention and all. Of course this all depends on how aggressive you are.</p>

<p>USC has a better football team but UCLA's football team will definitely be top 25 next year because they got some top recruits plus that new coach Dorrell. He had the team playing well this year.</p>

<p>UCLA is top 15 for law school and grad school poli sci which means that they probably have a stronger poli sci</p>

<p>UCLA is generally regarded as more prestigious than USC</p>

<p>Their are more living UCLA alumni than USC so the whole alumni thing is probably is UCLA's favor overall</p>

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<p>I don't think some of your generalizations are necessarily true!</p>

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<p>"its interesting, now highschool grads are actually considering both schools when accepted, rather than jumping at the chance of attending ucla just b/c its cheaper and probably a slightly better academic institution."</p>

<p>mrtrojanman, im curious too. what changes has USC made? to me, everything seems to be the same... perhaps they hired more professors, but otherwise they're taking a page out of washU's strategy in boosting their USNWR ranking (from 41 to 30 in five years) and offering scholarships to top students. (i dont know the answer to this), but what real changes has USC made that would make it almost an academic equivalent of UCLA and also to be superior to UCSD, all within about 5 years?</p>

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<p>They upped their standards in terms of GPA and Scores for sure.</p>

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<p>i know they upped their standards in terms of gpa and sat, and so the student body has gotten better.</p>

<p>But has the SCHOOL ITSELF gotten better (i.e. academic quality, resources, facilities for students, new courses, more research, etc etc)?</p>

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<p>"but what real changes has USC made that would make it almost an academic equivalent of UCLA and also to be superior to UCSD, all within about 5 years?"</p>

<p>oh, well that depends on all kinds of things. maybe you can say that the quality of a school is reflected by the quality of incoming students, where both are now very similar. or you can judge their academic quality on alumni networking and job placement where USC is clearly better. or by by the quality of research coming out of each school, where ucla is clearly better. or maybe by grad school placements, where they are roughly equal. </p>

<p>im not sure what USC has done exactly to jump in rankings and prestige. i do know this: alumni donations are at an all time high; yrs ago, no ibanks came here and now even small boutique ibanks as far as san diego (Relational Investors) come here to recruit; top firms (GS, EY, HLHZ, ML) now hold regular info sessions detailing the steps to take in order to intern or get a fulltime job at that firm. My Conclusion: alumni giving, alumni networking, career placement all boosted USC's reputation.</p>

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<p>and back on topic: choosing between these schools is a pretty good kind of dilemma. i think youll be happy either way. if you want a more social atmosphere, go to USC. if you want to be really focused especially for grad school, go to ucla. try not to pay attention to reputation, b/c it wont matter when your happy or upset with your choice.</p>

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<p>re: "is ucla as liberal as berkeley?" under cons in the original post (was that a typo? wouldn't that be a positive attribute?). I think the liberalness of berkeley is over-stated. Yes, the city does have an international policy, but that is part of its charm. Berkeley is a unique phenomenon; and I don't think Westwood in LA is particularly forward-thinking. </p>

<p>as for your choice, if you can, go visit the two schools to help you decide. Also, I would worry less about reputation (and football/greek life), and concentrate on which one academically floats your boat</p>

<p>good luck</p>