<p>So I've been accepted to both UCLA and USC as a transfer student for Fall 2011. I've pretty much already made up my mind. But it was difficult because, both schools are pretty much equally great and prestigious. So I just have to ask you guys, which school would you guys pick if you were in my position? Here are my reasons, not in any particular order.</p>
<p>I chose UCLA because:
1. I already have many friends there. Some of my best/closest friends go there.
2. I'll live off campus in an apartment with my friends, which will save me around $9,000-$10,000 a year.
3. I'll already have completed all the GE's for UCLA. (I did IGETC in community college). I also won't have to take a foreign language class because of this.
4. Apparently, the Philosophy department (I am a philosophy major) at UCLA is better than the philosophy department at USC. (Anyone else think this is true?).
5. My overall costs will be around $17,000-$20,000 a year (for 2 years) at most.
6. I will most likely graduate in 2 years.
7. I love the UCLA Westwood area and the campus. I also love UCLA basketball! =)</p>
<p>I did NOT choose USC because:
1. I do have some friends there, not many though. It would be nice to make new ones though!
2. Since I don't have many friends there, I dont have off-campus living plans. So I'd probably have to live on-campus, which I heard is VERY expensive.
3. I still need to complete 5 GE classes, including a foreign langauge. The classes I took to complete IGETC didn't complete all of the USC GE requirements. So there's basically another semester added on before I can graduate.
4. Philosophy department not as great as UCLA??
5. My overall costs will be around $40,000-$50,000 a year. Assuming I don't get any financial aid. Which I most likely wont, even if I do, it wont be much. My family's EFC on the FAFSA was around 37000.
6. Because I still need to complete GE's, it will likely take me more than 2 years to graduate. Maybe 2.5 years???
7. I love USC's campus as well, but not so much the area surrounding it.</p>
<p>So theres my reasons for choosing UCLA over USC. What do you guys think? Was it the right move? I know both schools are pretty much equally good. And UCLA has certain things that are better or worse than USC. And USC has certain things better or worse than UCLA. That's why it wasnt so easy to make a decision. Can anyone else give me comments justifying/agreeing or disagreeing with my decision? any UCLA vs. USC comparisons you wanna add? anything would be helpful. </p>
<p>Based on the information above, it sounds like you definitely made the right decision. Having your GE’s already completed at UCLA is a huge advantage; after probably 2 years in CC (?), it seems like you would definitely be ready to move on from those requirements and focus on your major/research opportunities/et cetera. Having a lot of close friends and living plans with them at UCLA too is another huge plus! And the cost difference…nothing even needs to be said about that. XD</p>
<p>The only possible reason I could see that you personally might want to choose USC is that it might be easier to get a high GPA there and therefore easier to get into law school (maybe that’s not your goal, but of course, a lot of philosophy majors do move on to law school), but it probably wouldn’t be a great deal easier, and if you work hard, you’ll be able to get the same GPA at UCLA. So, it sounds like you might the right choice. Good luck! :D</p>
<p>You made the right choice. As far as prestige, UCLA is known around the world, USC is not! US News is the only org that ranks them close…all other major orgs rank UCLA significantly higher. One of the biggest advantages USC is their alumni network, but it really only helps business, Comm, and Film majors.</p>
<p>yeah i did do 2 years at a CC. so a big reason is cuz i wanna start my philosophy upper divs right away. if i go to USC, ill probably have to wait a semester. and i do plan to go to Law School!! you hit the nail on the head. haha, is it really harder to get a higher GPA at UCLA than USC?</p>
<p>IMO US news is the only credible one, All the other orgs put ucla and random universities above Iv league schools, I saw state schools above princeton and such. US news MAKES sense, all the others don’t.</p>
<p>well rankings dont matter to me THAT MUCH. because USC and UCLA are pretty much neck and neck in the US news rankings. and this year was the 1st year EVER that USC was ranked higher (by 1 point difference, most likely due to UCLA’s budget cuts. Not because of the school itself)…to me, USC and UCLA are both super good schools. Although UCLA has Always been ranked as one of the top schools in the country, whereas USC has just recently started to make their rise. </p>
<p>So why is it that UCLA is known countrywide/worldwide, and USC is kinda only known in CA (with the exception of the football/basketball team, haha)? </p>
<p>thanks for the the feedback guys? any other USC vs UCLA comparisons you wanna make? please do!</p>
<p>It’s true USC is only recently an amazing academic institution which is why UCLA has more INTERNATIONAL recognition. A lot of people say that on the East Coast USC and UCLA are regarded the same. </p>
<p>ALso think about where USC will be in 5-10 years, I’m almost positive that USC will be in the top 20, whereas UCLA resonates around 25 and will probably drop. USC got more than 300 million dollars in donation this year, isn’t that like 1/4 UCLA’s entire endowment?</p>
<p>Also think about the type of education you want, I personally want to be at a school that actually cares about me, not just a number. And once again, check out the campus. USC campus > UCLA campus by 439434489x UCLA AREA > USC area!</p>
<p>One thing you may want to do, which I didn’t do prior to transferring, is to check out each departments actual course offerings per school year. Course catalogs are often not a good indication of what it will be like majoring in Philosophy at either schools. Sometimes the classes that you may find yourself most interested in aren’t offered on a regular basis, or are never offered at all.
Also look at the major’s distribution of requirements. Will one department make you take classes in subjects of philosophy you aren’t interested? If so, how many classes?, etc.
Not that the above should really matter because even if you don’t like the program, both schools are large enough to allow you freedom to pick another major or department that will fulfill your interests.</p>
<p>I applied to both as well, and as far as i’m concerned, the alleged prestige of attending USC does not outweigh the enourmous price and half-assed financial aid. </p>
<p>see you this fall, fellow-ucla-philosophy major! what what.</p>
<p>@harophilip: I have a cousin in Pike at UCLA and a good chunk of friends who’ve been there for 2-5 years. Hell, I was at Pike’s formal last week in Palm Springs </p>
<p>I also have a couple friends at USC and have spent more time than the average sociology major on both campuses.</p>
<p>Just trust me, USC stomps all over UCLA in the hotties department :P</p>
<p>I have a friend who was a grad student at SC. I’d meet him there and park in the metered parking on Jefferson, and we’d have lunch downtown. I’d go there early and sit at the fountain (or one of them) across the way from Tommy Trojan and watch the people pass by between classes… </p>
<p>USC coeds are severely overrated. I don’t know if it’s the high grad population there – there are more grad students than undergrads at SC, but I didn’t see a lot of ‘hotties.’ Just a different point of view. This is the general student population, not sorority related. </p>
<p>At UCLA I guess you can start by dividing north (sciences) and south campus (humanities, social sciences, art, etc) and work from there.</p>
<p>Probably the hottest coeds (imo) are probably in the south, UMiss, Georgia, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not saying they’re all on the Maxim Hot 100 list, but the per capita hotness is without question higher than UCLA. Not to say UCLA is UCSD or anything, but perhaps it’s just a difference in taste.</p>
<p>i don’t know about you guys but i think the girls i see at my CC are probably gonna be way hotter than the girls ill see at UCSD/LA/usc/etc after i transfer</p>
<p>I go to LACC, it’s in hollywood, and girls from all over come here to take Acting/Singing classes before dropping out and ODing on coke.</p>
<p>More people denied? sure, cause probably 2 times more people applied,
selectivity percentages? FALSE</p>
<p>I believe USC was like 6 % more selective than UCLA for transfers, and that is including UCLA and their extremely competitive out of state requirements. But for the most part, most students who apply to ucla come from community college and isn’t that like a 40%? acceptance rate? USC is like 27 or 28%. ON TOP OF THAT, you can tap to ucla which takes almost no effort and is a 90% chance to get in. I’m sorry but UCLA is NOT harder to get into than USC. USC takes that boat, USC ALSO has much higher average SAT/ACT scores than the freshman at UCLA and higher SAT/ACT scores than the freshman at CAL.</p>
<p>And I think there’s something strange – besides superscoring – how USC computes SAT score. I don’t see how USC’s scores could be higher than UCLA or especially Cal’s (though there’s not much difference between the two UCs medians). I can’t figure out by looking at profiles of matriculants at USC how the school can report, say, a median SAT of 2050+ or whatever it reports.</p>
<p>Wrt acceptance rate from cc, UCLA’s is in the low 30%'s. It’s dropping every year, average gpa of 3.65+, about what USC’s is. USC will admit more with less standing than either UCLA or Cal. I don’t see a material difference in the quals of USC’s and UCLA’s (and Cal’s), except for xferable units which is greater at UCLA.</p>
<p>There’s a greater community of pre-laws at UCLA than at USC (adjusting undergrad for UCLA/USC: 1.5:1.0.)</p>
<p>There a generally a lot more high-powered pre-professional types at UCLA over USC. A lot more future MDs – probably 3-4 times more MDs come from UCLA undergrad, a lot more MBA types, because USC has a very good undergrad BuAD program.</p>
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