truly harder to get into ucla?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>it seems that the consensus is that it's a lot harder to get into ucla. but...i dunno, it doesn't really seem to add up. average sat scores for usc are higher, granted it does use superscore, but that's not super-relevant imo. </p>

<p>acceptance rates are almost equal, right? both about 25% give or take a percent, depending on the year? </p>

<p>usc also looks at one's essays and ec's much more than ucla, so if someone at least has good numbers, it seems like it'd be easier to get into ucla (cuz you wouldn't have to worry as much about the more soft factors). </p>

<p>finally, it should be WAY easier to get into ucla as a cali resident since--if you have the numbers to be competitive at ucla/usc AND you live in cali, it's very likely you'll get into ucla--whereas usc only takes about 50% of cali applicants, right??</p>

<p>so what is with people saying ucla is so much harder to get into? am i missing something?</p>

<p>the only thing i can think of is that it's obviously much harder to get into ucla as an out-of-stater (since they take, what, 3% of out-of-staters?) and also that it's easier to get into usc as a urm since they practice affirmative action. but for cali residents, though, usc seems harder to get into...??</p>

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<p>In the past, UCLA used to be harder to get into than USC. Between 1991-present, USC’s ranking went from 51 to 26. The admission rate has decreased drastically from 70% to a mere 21%. Given this history, it was true that UCLA was dramatically harder to get into than USC.</p>

<p>In modern days, both USC and UCLA are on par in terms of undergraduate admissions. I believe both schools’ admission rates are respectively between 21-24%. I wouldn’t say either schools consider any factors more important than others unless an admissions administrator directly told you that, but for both schools the most important criteria for admission are still GPA, SAT/ACT scores, class ranking, Personal Statement, and ECs.</p>

<p>Lastly, if you are a non-California resident, it is a lot easier to get into USC than UCLA. This is because UCLA is a public state school, meaning the school must give preference to in-state applicants. This is why also 90% of UCLA students are from California and not from out of state. USC on the other hand is private and doesn’t have such strict restrictions. This means they can enroll 50% or even 5% of Californian students if they wanted to.</p>

<p>In short, if you are an in-state resident, the difficulty of being admitted to UCLA and USC are the same. If you are out of state, UCLA is much more difficult to be admitted to than USC.</p>

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<p>“In the past, UCLA used to be harder to get into than USC. Between 1991-present, USC’s ranking went from 51 to 26. The admission rate has decreased drastically from 70% to a mere 21%. Given this history, it was true that UCLA was dramatically harder to get into than USC.”</p>

<p>yeah i know but people–to this day–still say ucla is harder to get into. are they just blinded by usc’s past of being easier?</p>

<p>“I wouldn’t say either schools consider any factors more important than others unless an admissions administrator directly told you that, but for both schools the most important criteria for admission are still GPA, SAT/ACT scores, class ranking, Personal Statement, and ECs.”</p>

<p>i haven’t heard it from an admissions admin per se but it seems like the great majority of people on this board have concluded that public schools are much more numbers-based than private schools and don’t take ec’s/essays into account nearly as much.</p>

<p>“In short, if you are an in-state resident, the difficulty of being admitted to UCLA and USC are the same. If you are out of state, UCLA is much more difficult to be admitted to than USC.”</p>

<p>but wouldn’t ucla be easier for a cali resident than usc for the very reason that they admit 90% cali residents as opposed to usc’s ~50%? i mean usc would NEVER choose to admit 90% cali residents…it would just be against the whole private school methodology completely! so it seems like–if someone is qualified for both schools and they’re a cali resident–their chances at ucla are much better than for usc.</p>

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<p>I realize that this is anedotal information- but everyone of my son’s friends (including my son) got into BOTH USC and UCLA. USC might have a few kids that were accepted because they were outstanding in extracurricular activities- but you find that at most private schools. UCLA is very “by the number’s” i.e. if you have GPA+ Good-High SAT I/II + ELC + Some EC’s you’re in!</p>

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<p>so then again, it seems like it’d be harder to get into usc since they actually look at ec’s and essays, and not every high-scorer will get in just cuz of good scores…:-/</p>

<p>i’ve also heard that ucla’s applicant pool is supposedly stronger than usc’s. do you guys think that’s true? seems weird since usc’s sat averages are higher and the average gpa is about the same too, right?? also cuz it’s much easier to apply to ucla if you’re already applying to any uc (just a click away and 60 extra bucks to apply to ucla) whereas for usc you have to fill out an entirely new application, so it seems like ucla’s overall pool would be weaker. </p>

<p>sorry i just find all these consensuses about the two schools to be odd…</p>

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<p>UCLA, like all the UCs, has eligibility rules that affect the appearance of the applicant pool. UC admissions are aimed at the top 12.5% of California’s graduating seniors, so nearly all applicants are in or near the top 10%. Students without all A-G requirements and at least a 3.0 simply are not eligible to even apply. USC has no such rule, so students who may not be “eligible” to apply to UCLA are free to apply to USC.</p>

<p>Both are very selective. At my kids’ school, USC has proven to be harder to get into than UCLA (in-state California).</p>

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<p>wow so you have to have a 3.0 even to apply to like…uc merced and stuff?? k i didn’t know that, that’s interesting. people would be very dumb to apply to usc with less than a 3.0 too but i guess it happens. lol.</p>

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<p>see that makes sense to me…hopefully it’ll be that way at my school too. i’m sick of hearing people longing to get into ucla and acting like its the best school on earth and yet acting like usc is a “crap school that anyone can get into”. grrr!! </p>

<p>for the record, i applied to both and really like both schools, but i definitely prefer usc. :slight_smile: i just really hope i can get a lot of financial aid and afford to go if i get in!! :(</p>

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<p>It depends on the major (for transfer anyway…). I applied to UCLA as a Communications Major in November. And I am applying to USC for Business Admin. Now I know i’m going to get into Marshall pretty easily, but I probably won’t get in to UCLA’s communications department. That doesn’t mean anything though. If i had chosen any other major at UCLA, i would easily get in. But i also applied to Haas (Berkeley) and wrote my statements as a business major. so it would make sense to UCLA’s admissions staff to reject me even though i’m well qualified (academically) for their school. i have no interest in any of UCLA’s undergraduate departments.</p>

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<p>I thought the state of California has a budget crisis creating more competitive conditions for fewer spots. I also heard that UCLA is very hard to gain admission and that it could take 5 years to graduate because some students can’t get enrolled in all of the necessary classes in 4 years. This will create an interesting admissions situation because with increased cost of attending UCLA due to the budget crisis, plus possibly having to pay for 5 years at UCLA rather than 4 years at USC, plus housing in Westwood for upper classmen is extremely expensive, ummm…it makes sense that USC will become the more sought after university and harder to get into.</p>

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<p>That’s interesting, alamemom. For our CA HS 2009 grads, several students who applied to both only got in at USC. S got in both, but chose USC because he sees it as a rising star as opposed to a question mark at all UC’s in light of the budget issues. Merit money didn’t hurt either. But at the end of the analysis, he the program at Marshall was superior to Business Econ at UCLA.</p>

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<p>SoCalGal09, my guess (and it is just a guess) is that it may have something to do with the “competitiveness” of the high schools. Our local high school is in the middle - not awful, but not at all “competitive.” Private schools like USC give extra consideration to very rigorous, competitive schools, while UCLA awards extra consideration to students from lower-performing high schools as part of their comprehensive review. That may explain why UCLA admits more than USC from this school.</p>

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<p>Recently I wrote a report on admissions at USC and UCLA. The information I used was for the incoming 2008-2009 class as I had complete data. The scores are directly from the UCLA website and the USC freshmen admissions profile on the SC website. Some numbers are from the latest U.S. News college edition. </p>

<p>SC, as does nearly all private colleges, uses the best scores for the SAT. UCLA uses the best scores in a single sitting.</p>

<p>For the ACT BOTH schools use the same scoring system.</p>

<p>For the enrolled 2008-2009 freshmen classes…</p>

<p>Size of Freshmen Class:</p>

<p>UCLA 4735
USC 2766</p>

<p>Size of Undergraduate Student Body:</p>

<p>UCLA 26536
USC 16300</p>

<p>Faculty Student Ratio:</p>

<p>UCLA 1/16
USC 1/9</p>

<p>Faculty Resources Rank: (2007 data)</p>

<p>UCLA 42nd
USC 25th</p>

<p>Contributing Funds to University Ranking:</p>

<p>UCLA 109th
USC 8th</p>

<p>ACT Freshmen Composite Score </p>

<p>UCLA 25-31
USC 28-33</p>

<p>SAT Comparative Scores (Middle 50%)</p>

<p>UCLA Critical Reading 570-680
USC Critical Reading 620-720</p>

<p>UCLA Mathematics 600-730
USC Mathematics 650-750</p>

<p>UCLA Writing 580-700
USC Writing 640-730</p>

<p>Geographic Distribution:</p>

<p>UCLA 94% from CA
USC 55% from CA</p>

<p>Students in the Arts:</p>

<p>At UCLA students in the arts including art, architecture, film, TV and theatre 3.4%
At USC students in the arts including art, architecture, film ,TV, theatre and MUSIC 18%</p>

<p>(For some reason the UCLA website does not include music in their data set).</p>

<p>Other information of interest about USC…</p>

<p>At USC 98.1% of freshmen now live on campus. Legacy students in this class were 23%. Weighted GPA for this class at USC was 4.1 on a 4.0 scale. UCLA uses a 5.0 scale and a composite GPA, so there is no comparison listed for GPA.</p>

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<p>I cant wait to see USC’s reputation grow in the years to come. Attending right now, and watching how this school conducts itself… I have been nothing but impressed since transferring. Considering we still have to deal with lingering reputations from the past, well you get it.</p>

<p>And for anyone even considering UCLA, I hope you get what I mean when I say that I have met plenty of bruins and I know that I am surrounded by a bunch of future CEO’s here in Troy, but that state school’s attendees seem like some future cubicle prisoners. Maybe Im biased, but look at our alumni network. </p>

<p>FIGHT ON!</p>

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<p>“Weighted GPA for this class at USC was 4.1 on a 4.0 scale.”</p>

<p>How do you have a 4.1 if the scale is on a 4.0?</p>

<p>If you want to hear the other side of this, you should probably post this thread on the UCLA board as well. Just pointing out though, if it wasn’t obvious enough, the people that respond on the UCLA board are going to be just as biased as the people that responded here on the USC board.</p>

<p>Both schools are going to be claiming each are better or whatnot, but at the very least it’ll show you another view and hopefully you can find more information and come to your own conclusions.</p>

<p>Just based on my experience, UCLA and USC focus on test scores, GPA, EC’s, and personal statements all the same. I had a 4.45 weighted, 1810 SAT, plenty of ECs, good letters, and was accepted to both. I had friends who had good GPAs, 4.0+ weighted, less than 1700 SAT score, plenty of ECs, good letters, and rejected from both schools. It really depends on the person.</p>

<p>In addition, just because USC’s student body is 50% Californian doesn’t mean they admit only half of their CA pool. It might just suggest some students would rather attend somewhere else. I’m sure getting into both schools will be very similar in difficulty.</p>

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<p>“i’ve also heard that ucla’s applicant pool is supposedly stronger than usc’s. do you guys think that’s true? seems weird since usc’s sat averages are higher and the average gpa is about the same too, right?? also cuz it’s much easier to apply to ucla if you’re already applying to any uc (just a click away and 60 extra bucks to apply to ucla) whereas for usc you have to fill out an entirely new application, so it seems like ucla’s overall pool would be weaker.”</p>

<p>The applicant pools are very similar and honestly the difference is negligible. Either way, one school is going to have slightly higher stats than the other, but honestly it means nothing. The reason USC’s SAT scores are higher is because they superscore their scores. And also, don’t judge the admissions of schools based on the application. The UC application may look simple, but if you look at the USC application, they ask you who your favorite singer is. Does that make either schools a bad school? No. It’s just a form you have to fill out.</p>

<p>"see that makes sense to me…hopefully it’ll be that way at my school too. i’m sick of hearing people longing to get into ucla and acting like its the best school on earth and yet acting like usc is a “crap school that anyone can get into”. grrr!! "</p>

<p>Well both schools are rivals, meaning they hate the crap out of each other. Someone is going to take sides and is going to talk down on the other school. Just be smart about it and only listen to the facts, you can usually tell which answers are the biased or irrelevant ones. And like I said, the only reason USC has the reputation of the “crap school that anyone can get into” is because of its past, where, quite honestly, it actually used to be the “crap school where anybody could get into.” Nowadays, USC is a top notch academic institution and only top students are admitted. The climb for USC has been recent though, so naturally you’re still going to hear many comments on how trashy USC is, especially from UCLA people.</p>

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<p>i was accepted to usc for biz, rejected at ucla biz-econ, rejected at cal econ</p>

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<p>My son was accepted to UCLA Biz-econ, USC Marshall and Berkeley -econ- (you have to apply seperately to Haas after your sophomore year- you can’t apply from High School) and NYU Stern- but preferred USC’s program and overall feel.</p>

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<p>^^^
Same here except the NYU part. My son’s very happy at USC and can’t imagine being anywhere else. His friends at UCLA are happy too, and although they’re all in triples they said they didn’t have a problem getting classes.</p>

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<p>A weighted GPA is computed with credit given for AP, IB and honors classes. That is why it is 4.1.</p>

<p>The scores I used were straight from the UCLA website. The ACT is more significant because both universities use the same scoring system. </p>

<p>USC does not have different criteria for admission of California students as it is a private university. </p>

<p>Both universities are considered highly selective. In certain cases students may be accepted at one and rejected at another. Much depends upon the essay, EC’s and the preferences of the admissions committees.</p>

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<p>oh yeah, add rejected from nyu stern to my post as well :x</p>