U of Alabama vs U of South Carolina for business

College Search & Selection
1

My daughter is a business major, probably marketing, and she is trying to decide between these two schools. She might want to do advertising or public relations. Both check the boxes for D1 with sports, school spirit, and greek life. Both campuses are beautiful. Both appear to have well respected business schools.

Not sure about Tuscaloosa vs Columbia. We saw both briefly but probably have not seen enough to fully assess. Any opinions?

Any reason to pick one school over the other? Are the academics, business school, and reputation better at one school over the other? She’s having a hard time making a final decision and time’s running out.

We are OOS full pay at both schools so USC is probably about $5-6k/year more expensive than Alabama. Not a deal breaker.

We are from New England. She plans (at this point) on staying in the south after graduation but thinks she would like to work in the Carolinas after graduation. If she chose Alabama would this present difficulties in getting a job in the Carolinas after graduation?

2

No, it wouldn’t.
Not that nowadays a marketing major must have a retry thorough statistics/digital &data science background.

Look at /ask about internship opportunities, study abroad possibilities for business majors.

3

USC hs a very well renouned international business program.

4

Absolutely not.

5

*note, not ‘not’

6

Bama. But both great choices for you. Congrats.

7

As far as the Carolina’s after graduation, that’s actually a good question. Most employers for skilled jobs are from small to midsize companies and it’s more cost effective to hire locally and regionally. NC has a lot of prestigious universities to draw talent from, so that could potentially be at a disadvantage if she wants to get an entry level job there after graduation. It’s a similar story with most any state university with an entry level job. The recruiting is going to happen around the region. I tried applying to out of state jobs as an experienced professional just recently. Zero callbacks. There’s going to be plenty of jobs in places like Jackson, Mobile, Birmingham, etc. If she wants to move that far out of Alabama after graduation, she’ll just need to be super aggressive about it.

8

Thank you for the replies.

Any opinions about Tuscaloosa vs Columbia for a college setting? I realize one is a large college town and the other a small city. Nonetheless would still like opinions from those who have lived in these places or attended U SCarolina and U Alabama. Is there plenty to do in these places? Any real positives or drawbacks to either town/city?

9

I live in Tuscaloosa and love it. I’ve also spent some time in Columbia, SC. There’s more to do in Tuscaloosa. What else do you want to know about it?

10

I have a sr graduating from Bama in a couple of weeks and a freshman at USC. They both love their schools. I see a lot of similarities between the 2 schools in general. I could see both of them being happy on the other campus.

Does she have an intuitive feeling for one over the other?

11

Thank you for your responses.

She’s down to the wire here and my daughter is having a tough time deciding between these two.

Would she have more difficulty getting internships on the east coast coming from Alabama?

Is one undergraduate business school more highly ranked or regarded than the other? In the eastern coast states?

She plans on joining a sorority.

Any other opinions about the two schools or reasons to go to one over the other?

12

USC’s business school is higher ranked. Look at the curricula for both and opportunity to add a minor at both.

13

Either school will be equal in terms of internships. Neither one is an elite Wharton type business school, so it’s all about what you bring to the table. Plenty of business students from both schools land great internships.

14

Thanks. I think she’s leaning towards USC.