<p>I just joined CC but have been looking at posts for the past month or so. I need insight into making my choice... UCLA or USC? (I'm posting this in both colleges' forums BTW).</p>
<p>USC:
- Presidential + University scholar ($24,000/year in scholarships)
- COA = approximately $38,600 for 2013/2014
- Fairly steady tuition prices
- Admitted to Marshall School as Business Administration major
- Excellent alumni network
- Shadier campus neighborhood
- US News ranking: T-24, Forbes ranking: 95 (for the record, I don't believe in rankings but just another statistic to add)</p>
<p>UCLA:
- No scholarship or financial aid
- COA = approximately $32,400 for 2013/2014
- Uncertain future in public education costs for California
- Admitted to CLS as pre-business Econ major
- Decent alumni network
- Beautiful, upper-class neighborhood
- US News ranking: T-24, Forbes ranking: 45 (for the record, I don't believe in rankings but just another statistic to add)</p>
<p>I'm not completely sure what I want to do after college... Either law school or business school. With UCLA, I'd consider Poly Sci because isn't Econ a traditionally tough major?</p>
<p>Any insight you guys have would be awesome! Things I'm missing, what you'd do if you were me, etc. Either way I'd just love to hear any thoughts.</p>
<p>USC > UCLA for business! UCLA doesn’t have a business prgram for undergrads.
USC > UCLA if you don’t go to any grad schools/med/law etc because of alumni network.
If you’re not a die hard UCLA type of person, then I’d say that USC might overall have better prospects for getting a job after graduation… just from what I’ve noticed in general.</p>
<p>I would prefer that UCLA had an undergrad b-school, just for a segment of the school’s students. But the name of the U is such that it doesn’t need one, somewhat if not entirely like Harvard or Stanford because it doesn’t have the name as those two. </p>
<p>You’ll find that alumni connections come into play for those who graduate at the top of their class or significantly high. No venture cap firm of decent size and repute will take a chance on someone in the middle of his/her class or lower, especially since USC graduates 20-25% of its 5,000 grads with bus related degrees.</p>
<p>UCLA is a much better all-around U:</p>
<p>-Much better STEM U, top-10 in the nation in pure nos in bac to PHD completions. </p>
<p>-Much better MD producing machine, a good 3x’s more MD’s to m-school every year.</p>
<p>-Much better atty producing machine, ~ 2.5-3.0 x’s more bar-listed attys in CA</p>
<p>-Much more future MBA’s with placement into better u’s because these grads had better jobs to gain standing to enter better b-schools, with higher mean scores on the GMAT. Part of this is also because USC has undergrad bus with a lot more of its grads forsaking grad school.</p>
<p>Generally, with the rep that UCLA has, it doesn’t matter the major: English for future MDs, history for future JDs, Philosophy or Engineering for future MBAs. USC, on the other hand, is all about major, which they need to compete. CSU has vocations, too, for the same reason, because they need to entice people by these majors.</p>
<p>Depending on your focus, this may not be as important of a factor as the others you listed, but it was a big one for me: the student/campus culture is pretty different between the 2 schools. I won’t describe it in my terms because I don’t want to offend anyone, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. And if not, a quick browse of College Pr0wler will help. So think about where you would fit in more and be happier.</p>
<p>As usual, another important question to ask is: Have you visited each campus?</p>
<p>UCLA has several different versions of the Economics major. I’m guessing you would want Business-Econ, which is a bit more competitive than a regular Econ BA and requires some other kinds of classes (like management).</p>
<p>You made comparison lists for each school, which is good, but do you feel drawn to one school over the other? Why are you hesitating to commit to one or the other, and similarly, what do you find compelling about each school?</p>
<p>Is that merit aid from USC going to stay with you for all four years? Although the UC system has trouble managing its budget, the cost of USC will go up if the scholarships are a one-time thing (or if you lose them by not meeting renewal requirements). How big of a factor is money for you and your family?</p>
<p>Visit each campus. Think about your reasons. And go with your instinct.</p>
<p>@Lilly9: I think I want to go to some sort of post-bachelor schooling though…</p>
<p>@alwaysawriter: Yes I’ve been to both campuses. The business-econ major sounds appealing. I feel drawn to UCLA as a student but I’m worried about post-graduation help from the school. I feel much more desired by USC but I’m not so much into the culture their graduates are know for. The merit-based money is guaranteed- money isn’t a huge factor though.</p>
<p>UCLA for quality education, USC for alumni network. That sums it up for what the two is good for undergrad. You can always do undergrad UCLA and USC grad for networking,vice-versa</p>
<p>Love Ucla & very happy South Campus Stem student, but my dad SC Alum who did benefit from Alumni network seems to be done w that, and his firm focuses on Cal Poly grads for engineers now… Better prepared for the workforce w less student debt & better prepared day one… UCLA grads seem to head off to Silicon Valley & Beach & Seattle… As long as U do not have debt U will have so many great options!</p>
<p>There are a couple of red flags with the previous post:</p>
<p>1) What companies / firms hire based on one’s debt load? They do not effect the company at all, unless the firm is paying for them. Also, they don’t have access to one’s personal finances. I’m sorry but debt does not show up in background check.
2) Your assumption that UCLA grads graduate with less debt than USC grads is flawed. USC meets 100% of ones need. I know this may be a new concept to you, but private schools have funds (which USC has the largest than any other uni) specifically designated to reduce the sticker price. In addition this form of financial aid is a grant, which does not need to be repaid and is completely independent of scholarships. So, in addition to this grant, one can significantly reduce or even eliminate the sticker price of USC. In my case, the grant alone made my cost equal to UCLA and I come from an upper middle class family.
Now I am aware UCLA has grant programs but as you may know, those are given to a select few students out of the 28k undergraduate population.</p>
<p>It’s not flawed, UCLA students do typically graduate with less debt than USC students. USC does not meet 100% of one’s need, they meet 100% of university determined need. It’s certainly better than average, but the takeaway is that it will vary from individual to individual. On a side note, USC ranks #2 in outstanding student debt with approximately $631 million, although this doesn’t really affect the current crop of students.</p>
<p>I also detect something fishy with Hipkittyz post. Engineering grads are so scarce that no company can realistically limit itself to particular colleges. </p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO grads are pretty good, though.</p>
<p>As someone who was in a similar situation last year (UCLA Business Economics or USC Marshall), I had a really hard time. If you are studying business and intend on staying in southern California, I would say USC is better. As other people have already said, USC does have a good alumni network. That being said, it is limited to southern California, and it is not quite as impressive as people say (there are way too many cases where the Trojan network has failed to help). If you intend on leaving southern California, UCLA would be a better choice; USC’s reputation is very regional.</p>
<p>Also, just because UCLA doesn’t have an undergraduate business program doesn’t mean you are at a disadvantage. In fact, more firms recruit at UCLA than USC despite not having an undergraduate business school.</p>
<p>All in all, there are no real big differences between the two schools, so you really can’t go wrong with either. Personally, I chose UCLA, and my biased opinion would say go to UCLA! But objectively, it really doesn’t matter because both are great schools.</p>
Just so you know, it is not common to get an MBA right after undergrad. Biz schools prefer students that have a few years real-world experience, so the theories they learn in class have something they can be anchored to, and so they have real-world examples to contribute in class.</p>
<p>As for choice of major, don’t you think prospective employers also understand the relative difficulty and might have a preference for those that have done well in the more challenging program?</p>