<p>I've been accepted to both universities. I already sent a SIR to UCLA but not USC because I didn't want to pay $300, yet. </p>
<p>Since I'm interested in Accounting, if I end up going to UCLA, I'm going to try to minor in Accounting. If USC, then I might switch to Leventhal (if i can). If not, then I'm going to do the accounting concentration path.</p>
<p>Since I'm an international student, their tuition is about the same. But still, USC is somewhat more expensive than UCLA.</p>
<p>I've always liked Westwood, not a big fan of USC area. </p>
<p>I don't know how their lectures differ, but I'm more interested in practical studies of business not econ. But it's not that I hate econ.. I just like business better. (If I've gotten into UCLA as an Econ. major, then no doubt.. USC for me.)</p>
<p>This is a huge dilemma for me since both UCLA and USC have amazing programs. </p>
<p>Even though I'm the one who's going to be making the ultimate decision, but it'd be helpful to hear different inputs from you guys! help me out here!</p>
<p>For starters, it appears to be very easy to switch to accounting if you’ve already been admitted to Marshall, so that should be a non-issue.</p>
<p>The differences in the two schools seem very marginal. How much more expensive is USC?
I’ve heard (I do not know personally) that USC places better for accounting at the Big 4 because it actually has a dedicated accounting program.</p>
<p>Seriously though, both are excellent schools. However, USC Leventhal certainly does better with the Big 4. USC also has, for a number of years now, held an advantage in the number and diversity of international students, which gives it an advantage in terms of the international alumni network.</p>
<p>As an international student, you should have either a primary or a backup plan for applying your degree outside of the US. The Big 4 and others do hire international students to do accounting work in the US, but it’s far from a safe bet. </p>
<p>Both schools have significant international enrolment and alumni networks, so the USC advantage is a matter of degree (no pun intended). </p>
<p>The big advantage to Leventhal would be the preponderance of smallish classes and easy access to faculty. With the exception of some first-year classes, enrolments above 40ish students per class are quite rare at Marshall/Leventhal. Instructors will be a mix of some professionally qualified adjunct and clinical faculty in addition to the academically qualified tenure-track faculty. Instruction by graduate students / TAs within Marshall and at USC generally is relatively uncommon. Though, Leventhal used to have PhD candidates teach second-year principals of managerial.</p>
<p>If by “$10K to $15K” you mean per year, then it probably doesn’t make economic sense to pay the extra for USC. If you mean overall, then I agree that the difference isn’t that much. You should also note that UCLA has been increasing tuition rapidly in response to the institutional financial needs resulting from the California budget crisis. If you can find figures for the international tuition rates for the last four to five years, you should consider the possibility that the recent trend could continue if not accelerate. You can be sure that the cost will not go down. Same for USC, of course.</p>
<p>ReallyOldSchool/ thank you so much for your input
$10K to $15K–I meant two years combined. (I’m a transfer student)
Again, I really appreciate all the comments you made regarding USC.
Do you know how UCLA bizecon is like?</p>
<p>If you want some real advice, avoid accounting all together unless you absolutely have no creativity. The pay is good but the work gets old fast. You’ll be stuck in the weeds and never get to see the forest (how business actually gets done). Honestly, if I were you and picked USC, I’d probably go for some heavy entrepreneurship/feasibility analysis/new ventures combined with some light accounting and finance and a little heavy on marketing if I had to do it all over.</p>
<p>You may have a hard time finding a job at the Big 4 (at both schools) unless you are stellar since you are an international student. Most mid-tier firms won’t sponsor international candidates.</p>
<p>You’ll enter UCLA as Pre-Biz/Econ, so you still have an extra hurdle to go through to actually get into Biz/Econ, otherwise you’ll default into just Econ if you don’t make the right grades in the weeder classes at UCLA. Your opportunities grow more limited since you’ll be competing against the more rigorous Biz/Econ students for the same jobs. Think of it as being an Econ student at USC and fighting for the same jobs as Marshall students. Don’t bank on it.</p>
<p>Let me know if you want to know anything else. I was admitted to both programs and chose USC.</p>
<p>moss// Thank you so much for your input!
Indeed, I’m just a lower-division student, but as of now, I really enjoy studying accounting. I’m a type of guy who likes to study/work all day long. But what you said about accounting is valid; once I choose which university to attend, I’m ready to do more research on their programs. </p>
<p>I really like UCLA and Westwood but like you mentioned, being a pre- major really bothers me. It’s not like I’m going to slack off at UCLA; it’s just that who knows what’s going to happen, right? But Marshall is Marshall; no pre- nothing. I don’t want to pay over 30k to study just econ at UCLA. </p>
<p>I love both universities, both have distinct pros/cons… I wish I can hear from someone who’s going to UCLA biz/econ major. </p>
<p>By the way, how hard is it to transfer to Leventhal from Marshall? </p>
<p>Again, thank you so much for your comment!! I really appreciate it :)</p>
<p>As long as you have decent accounting skills, it’s not difficult once you enter Marshall. You just need to pass BUAD 305 (review of financial and managerial accounting) with a B or better for admission into Leventhal. However, if you tell your 305 professor you want to be at Leventhal, they’ll let you make the grade unless you completely screw the course up.</p>
<p>moss// thank you so much!
it’s kind of a side question but I’ve heard some great stories about Marshall International Case Competition. I don’t know if it’s possible for a student like me, a transfer student who doesn’t have any track record at USC, to participate in the competition. By any chance, do you know what kind of students participate in the competition? </p>
<p>Also, one of my friend was accepted to USC as a non-Marshall major and is trying to transfer, again, once he starts attending USC. He talks about it like internal-transferring is piece of cake; I’m just wondering if you know anything regarding internal-transfer to marshall.</p>