UCLA design/media Vs. USC Roski (spring admit)

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Hey all, </p>

<p>So I got into UCLA design/media arts for the fall term with a 10k scholarship. I don't know nearly as much about this program as I do for USC, I'm slightly worried about the UC budget cuts, buuut it's UCLA and its a lot cheaper than USC at this point. I also liked the student work at UCLA much better than what I saw at USC. </p>

<p>I've also been accepted into USC Roski for the spring term and I haven't gotten my financial aid package yet. I'm kind of eh about the spring admit thing (I could get my GE out of the way at a community college though), but its not a HUGE issue. </p>

<p>In terms of what I'm looking for in a school, I want a university with a very strong art program as well as strong business classes too. </p>

<p>Right now, my emphasis is in graphic design/advertising/photography and I want to be an art director.</p>

<p>So basically, which school would better prepare me for the "real world" or better prepare me for graduate school?</p>

2

<p>row,
Please read the post under art school selection. Wheaty has posted about USC. He is not an alumnus, but a concened parent who has made a thorough investigation of both programs.</p>

<p>One thing I would add to his post is a future student should be aware of the huge budget cuts that are occurring in the U.C. system. At UCLA dorm rooms for two are now dorm rooms for three. Faculty have taken unpaid furloughs. There have been cuts in faculty positions, TAs and lecturers. At last count 165 courses have been eliminated. Average class size has increased by 20% the last three years. Student services will be cut by 10%.</p>

<p>The above is taken from a a speech by the UCLA chancellor.</p>

3

<p>UCLA design | media arts always rubbed off on me as a program that would better prep a student for grad school than the professional world. i’ve looked at their course offerings, and it seems like they offer courses on the fundamentals of design and don’t really give a chance to let their students use them in other classes. however, it is a reputable program-- arguably the hardest art program to gain admission to in the west coast.</p>

<p>from what i have heard, usc’s business program is excellent. and, if this means anything to you, their film program is superb as well-- offering an environment and resources more artistically rich than ucla. it may also be a smarter move to enter a private school as opposed to a uc with all the proposed budget cuts at the moment… but the spring admission thing is kind of a bummer</p>

4

<p>rowrowrow,</p>

<p>I posted some thoughts on Roski here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/901761-help-art-college-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/901761-help-art-college-selection.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But let me also add that I think this is a VERY difficult choice in any year but especially tough this year because of UC financial stuff.</p>

<p>UCLA D|MA is ridiculously difficult to get into. The admit rate was 8% last year and probably 7% this year. And people say RISD is the ‘Art Ivy’? :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Ignoring budget cuts for a second…

  • D|MA is one of the top 3 design programs in the U.S. (maybe #1???).
  • Great and talented professors and super talented students.
  • Tiny art class sizes = tons of attention within the major.
  • excellent potential path toward Film major switch in Junior year (if desired).
  • great new facility.
  • large class sizes for G.E. and you might have to fight to get into the best for you.
  • Junior and Senior year will be the best as it will be almost all within the major but fresh and soph years will include some frustration in getting the right lineup of classes.</p>

<p>I’m no expert on budget cuts but I will say this: California is pretty screwed up. I don’t see things getting better for our state’s finances for a long time. This can’t be good news for the UC system. However, here is a thought that cheers me up on UCLA:

  • UCLA is like this huge aircraft carrier. It doesn’t travel fast, it takes a long time to turn it, and it has tremendous power. Meaning that even with further cuts incoming class of 2014 students will still receive a first class education. Almost 100 years of momentum kick in here.</p>

<p>My daughter is visiting Roski on Saturday for their open house and UCLA-Arts next Friday for theirs. She’s Fine Arts for both and she’s about 50/50 on where to go. You both are VERY fortunate to have this terrific dilemma. I’m positive that you can’t make a wrong choice between these two fantastic programs. They both offer so much and they both will allow you to expand your talents in both arts and academics.</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

5

<p>dad, calm down, you are not the one going.
I don’t even like RISD but have to stop you from dissing it.
RISD is one of the most expensive academicy goody goody private art school while UCLA is cheap public for instates, which is in the gigantic system that almost kicked Collegeboard/ SAT’s butt. Numbers % does not indicate which is better than what what, please.
I been there and I loved it but cut is a cut came and coming… library hours are shorten students lining up for food pantry, no public computer that connected were to be found, all I wanted to do was check my darn bus schedules.
All I saw was shells of PCs in cafe, library, student centers.
talk to the Bruin bear’s paw. </p>

<p>Sorry OP it has nothing to do with you, in fact we east coast folks have no idea… USC is like, caliber wise CMU or WSUSL, NWU? am I wrong? sorry. there are just too much, top UCs, so-so UCs, Cal states, mystery film colleges, then CCs, and this USC, to tell you the truth I assumed was in the UC system.</p>

6

<p>I forgot to add 2 things:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Take the Spring admit to SC thing out of your equation. It doesn’t matter. Knock out some G.E. classes at Santa Monica CC or whereever and join in Spring. 18 months into it you won’t even remember that it happened that way.</p></li>
<li><p>I just saw this on the UCLA board and thought it belonged here:</p></li>
</ul>

<p>[An</a> Oscar for a Bruin / UCLA Today](<a href=“http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/bruin-takes-oscar-for-special-154816.aspx]An”>http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/bruin-takes-oscar-for-special-154816.aspx)</p>

<p>Just one example but students from both programs go on to do wonderful things. Truly exciting stuff!</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

7

<p>Row, USC’s Roski and UCLA’s DMA are two very different programs. </p>

<p>Roski is a fine art/studio art program. You get B.A. in studio arts or BFA. You are encouraged to minor or double major in other area at USC. You get more personal attention as a student. It is much easier to do study abroad. The faculty and staff there are fabulous and very welcoming. The fine arts program there is not ranked as high as UCLA’s fine arts or DMA. The dorms are much better. USC is a very well funded private college. </p>

<p>DMA is a design program. It is a combination of fine arts, design and technology. In fact it is quite technology oriented. You get B.A. in Design Media Arts. The GE classes at UCLA are usually big and personal attention from the teachers is less. Things get much better in upper division since most classes in DMA have less than 20 students. It is a very small prestigious program. There were only 26 freshman students last year. The faculty there are very reputable. Probability wise it is much harder to get into UCLA’s DMA than USC’s Roski or RISD. Study abroad, minor or double major is relatively harder to arrange or achieve. The dorms are terrible. Freshmen most likely have to share rooms with two other students. The future of UC system is somewhat worrisome. </p>

<p>I assume that the 10K scholarship you get from UCLA is need based financial aid since UCLA doesn’t give out 10K merit based scholarship. In that case, I think that you would get bigger financial aid from USC which may very well make it cheaper for you to attend USC. I wouldn’t worry about spring admit at all.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision making.</p>

8

<p>bears and ■■■■■■,</p>

<p>I’ve asked you several times to please stop picking on me and yet you persist. I have no idea why you seem intent on bashing Dads that post on this board but it seems to be fun for you. (Actually I do have an idea why it’s just Dads you pick on but that’s the subject of another post!).</p>

<p>So let’s look at your last gibberish post to me…</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I didn’t ‘diss’ RISD. Please reread what I wrote. This is you trying to push my buttons because you want to pick a fight. ■■■■■ move.</p></li>
<li><p>You say you went to UCLA (lie), that it’s a ‘cheap public for instaters’, and you couldn’t find a working PC to check your bus schedule (sniffle). All just gibberish and lies. If any of this were the truth then why would a poor New Yorker fly to L.A. just to see a cheap school for instaters? Did you take the bus?</p></li>
<li><p>You went to L.A. but you have no idea what USC is and if it is or isn’t part of the UC system. Okay, sure. More lies, more button pushes, more ■■■■■■■■.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>All of this would be meaningless except that people come to these boards looking for answers and you serve up your lies and crapola. Like the guy that came here looking for answers on an art school in Memphis. You throw out more lies and then cover your complete lack of knowledge with a stirring report on the lack of quality control in the Greyhound bus terminal bathroom. ■■■■■.</p>

<p>Or your recent stirring report on Bard turning kids into druggies. There’s a responsible post! Nice job ■■■■■, just slightly slanderous, but nice report!</p>

<p>Oh and I’m left with a bears and ■■■■■■ inconsistency: you say you’ve been to UCLA, San Francisco, Memphis, Minn, and about a dozen other places to look at schools. How do you afford all of this travel? Why spend the time and money when all of these schools are so far beneath your standards? What do you do with your ‘kid’ while you’re on these jaunts? Why do you never refer to the ‘kid’ as your son or daughter? Weird huh? So many bears and ■■■■■■ questions, so little time.</p>

<p>Still want to play the button pushing game bears and ■■■■■■?
Best,
Wheaty</p>

<p>PS. <a href=“Welcome saynotocrack.com - BlueHost.com”>Welcome saynotocrack.com - BlueHost.com;

9

<p>now you came to show what you really are under happy cheeky nice encouraging understanding dad you are. so my mission is completed.
I pick on everyone-- braggy dad, mom, know it alls, funky kids, though I am easy on kids because they are supposed to be funky.
Here, this is how people who can’t afford here there flying and driving staying hotels does it if one is from foreign country who have never seen the sea to shining sea or just trying to get away from the trouble one caused in the hometown.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.discoverypass.com/discoverypass.usa/step1.aspx[/url]”>https://www.discoverypass.com/discoverypass.usa/step1.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It costs 300 bucks plus and you never have to pay a penny more, loam free all over US and Canada. Just have to make sure buses are on schedule and you need to check in not too early not too late to secure the spot.
I did two weeks 15 days max because that’s about all I could afforded money and vacation days wise, if I had more days, I could have done more schools.
It also is the reason I had to do it by myself while my kid - ok, my son was in this nice free humanities camp he happened to be gotten in that actually made this trip necessary because, I had to know other affordable LACs options, such as Evergreen states, Pitzer, Knox, Rhodes, Guilford that does good for him rather than art - art schools, PNCA, SFAI, CCA, MCA, KCAI, or Unis Ucin UNC Greensboro, Willamette, UCLA (sic) - it is his idol teacher’s alma mater - knowing he won’t be in or even like it, I wanted to go see it, and I am telling you, it is a good school but it is a public school yet it is so very expensive for OOS for how tight everything is.</p>

<p>I could not possibly made my kid - ok, my son go through that ordeal, besides he eats a lot, costs me a lot, needs sleep on flat surface at least 6 hours per night, walks slow, moves slow, needs serious bathing everyday.
Most schools are just “maybe” s at that point which I looked into considering sliver of possibilities as match - nature of the school, affordability, stats, scores, quality of art programs wise.
If all have went well, he’d apply, visit, sleep over or whatnot after gotten in, then he could choose, at that point of course, time is money, I would gladly squeeze out airfare for one.
.
Dad, you seems interested enough to read on almost all what I wrote recently, one thing I did not do is lie. I said what I saw, heard, ate, smelled.
I did follow you in the same manner, so I can say this here, there are folks who simply can not buy 400 bucks camera for kiddies or could choose between private schools and top notch instate Unis without worrying about costs.
I don’t understand your values, it is OK you don’t get mine. In fact I am glad you are fed up as much as I am.</p>

10

<p>sorry OP
hijack rant, good luck</p>

11

<p>bears and ■■■■■■,</p>

<p>Wait, let me understand this. Your ‘mission’ is to stop me from posting cheerful encouraging posts to college hopefuls? What the H3LL? I thought you were bitter and idiotic but this takes it to a whole new weird level.</p>

<p>Who is sending you on this ‘mission’? LOL! {cue the twilight zone theme}</p>

<p>I’ve asked 4 times already but, how about you just leave me alone? Please leave me out of your idiot ‘missions’.</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

<p>PS. English as a second language is no excuse for rudeness.</p>

12

<p>well it was to prove your phoniness and could not feel pain-ness, and as I suspected it have been proven, so you are free to go. </p>

<p>There are people really want to go to the art school in Memphis and will forever confuse pen state and U pen. Get off your throne, yertle the turtle.</p>

<p>chiao</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the input everyone! I’m just asking which college might be better…no need to get all angry hahhaha</p>

14

<p>see, I love these kids.</p>

15

<p>hey!
so i came across your thread and im in the same boat as you. im deciding between RISD fall/ USC Roski Spring and its hard figuring out which one has its benefits too. are you by chance going on sat?</p>

16

<p>OMG
Are you there Wheaty? someone dug up old mess LOL
you gotta read this GSH!!</p>

<p>kid up there, I now know bit better about USC and rather stunned how often they throw spring admits.
because of why? they don’t have enuff freshman dorm and have to wait to get weed out? study abroad? seniors take extra semester to get out to make room?
did they give reasons? how do they chose who for when?
my kid’s friend was glad to go anyway after fall stint at community college but it sort of robbed off timely “launch” fun form proud parents of this top stats super duper kid.</p>

17

<p>Bears and Dogs,</p>

<p>Oh man, did we really write all of that crapola? Yikes! Ah, the new perspectives one gets a year later in this process.</p>

<p>An update on the above regarding USC vs UCLA:</p>

<p>My concerns from last year about UCLA’s budget crunch have proven to be completely unfounded. In fact, my daughter’s art education has improved as a result of the budget crunch: </p>

<p>1.) About 60% of the undergrad art classes are taught by graduate professors. So far every fine art class she’s had as a freshmen has been taught by a graduate school full professor. The art classes are tiny and so everyone is on a first name basis. Her art education has been top notch so far.
2.) She has gotten every class that she has signed up for on the first try. No waitlisting hoping to get in, no fighting for a spot, no nothin’.
3.) She’s on track to graduate in 4 years with a dual major Fine Art / Art History.
4.) Freshmen are 3 in a dorm but they make it work and she likes her roommates.</p>

<p>Although UCLA is a public school, only 13% of their budget is from state funding. Research grants, mega donations, endowments, and tuition make up the bulk of the school’s income. Berkeley is similar and to a lesser extent UCSD is fine to. The CSU system, not the UC system, has been the hardest hit especially CSU Fullerton. Friends don’t let friends go to Fullerton. At least not right now.</p>

<p>Both my daughter and I are still very big fans of the USC Roski program. We both feel that she would have been a good fit there as well. Both USC and UCLA have gotten gigantic donations in the past year. UCLA getting a recent $100 million single donation, USC with one even larger! Fantastic news for kids at both schools! I root for both universities preferring not to buy into the ‘Bruin vs Trojan’ thing too much.</p>

<p>An update on Bears and Dogs vs. Wheaty one year later:</p>

<p>I have to cringe when I read the hammer and tong blows above. I have come to understand and appreciate BandD over the past year and she has a lot to offer on this message board. We should have a contest to see who can imitate the distinctive BandD writing style! That style is typically gibberish, gibberish, then wham - something profound and correct, then some closing gibberish. Bears is right way more than she’s wrong but I didn’t see it that way a year ago. I mentioned to BandD in a PM about a month ago that if I lived in NYC that we would be lunch buddies where we could do our college art admissions geek thing on full tilt. I’d make her buy the sandwiches though. :)</p>

<p>My take on the USC Spring admit thing:</p>

<p>In my opinion, this is a result of USC chasing the rankings game. Unfortunately all schools are forced to play the rankings game and USC plays it well. (I mean that in a good way.) Spring admits aren’t counted in the ranking profiles that a school sends to the ranking companies. So if you have a stat that isn’t up to par but you are otherwise a great recruit then bang - you’re a Spring Admit. Doesn’t mean they love you any less, they just want to maintain the stats purity to improve their rankings. Like I said, a game that most schools are forced to play. The good news is that it doesn’t effect the student. You wait one quarter before starting… no big deal, wait a few months and then you are in a wonderful university that happens to have a terrific art school.</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

18

<p>no, dad
are you kidding? you are the one that’s gonna pick up the tab at Gramercy tavern or Craft.</p>

<p>sooo…
super duper kid from NY is still not good enuff right away for their cinema school? how dare them. stay in the hi mighty wooden horse. no, wait…that’s the other way around.
or
do they wants more local kids on stats since their enemy is the giant homegrown bear?
I wish all would just ditch USNWR.
everyone’s life would be less stressful, half of bragging matches of CC parents, poor misguided internationals, heartbreak of kids be gone.</p>