UCLA or USC?

State Forums
1

<p>Hi all! I would really appreciate any help anyone would have on this. Mainly I would like to know if my pros/cons about either school are exaggerated, or if they won't be as big of a deal as I think they will when I actually go to the school. </p>

<p>Background: I have been admitted to UCLA and USC. I'm getting roughly 24k a year from USC for being a National Merit Finalist, and I would be paying in-state tuition for UCLA, so they would be around the same cost.</p>

<p>UCLA cons: My main concern is large class sizes. I've heard horror stories about classes filling up and not getting any personal attention whatsoever from teachers because of sheer size. I'm also worried about "just being a number", and getting lost in the crowd--not getting a ton of counseling, internships, job help, etc. </p>

<p>UCLA pros: Westwood is obviously nicer/safer; seems like a lot of really smart people there (many of my good friends who weren't able to get into Ivies/Stanford are going there). </p>

<p>USC cons: Party crowd; not in a very nice part of LA.</p>

<p>USC pros: Smaller class sizes, more personal attention, better funding, and (I don't know if it's true) I've heard that grading tends to be a bit easier there. Post-grad is a possibility, so getting plenty of face time with professors is important to me. Also, I'm applying for the Thematic Option and the Birnkrant dorm (the honors dorm for freshmen), but I don't know if a) I will actually get in, or b) if they will make a difference in the atmosphere of the school?</p>

<p>I myself am an Asian female, pretty smart (please forgive the total lack of modesty). Not really the party type, but I'd say I'm fairly outgoing, and I am looking to be involved in plenty of extracurriculars and maybe some intramural sports in college. Undecided major, but I am potentially interested in business, poly sci, or English. Thinking about law school or getting my MBA, but again, I really don't know at this point. </p>

<p>Again, thank you!</p>

2

<p>My daughter was also a NMF and attended USC as a Comp Lit/Cinema majors. She also was in the Thematic Program and really loved it. Lots of writing and reading like attending a small LAC, small class sizes. She also was in the best floor of Birnkrant, where there were so many Trustee and Presidential scholarship recipients. She had an amazing experience and loved USC. She was not a party type but did end up joining a sorority, overall USC was a very positive experience for her.</p>

3

<p>Congratulations on your acceptances. i’m sure you’ve visited both schools. If you can…do it again. Talk to a lot of students, hang out, see what FEELS best to you. And definitely explore the areas off campus, because you won’t be spending all your time on school grounds. I personally am just not comfortable in the neighborhood around USC, and I’ve been there many times. But that’s my opinion; you might feel perfectly at ease.</p>

4

<p>Class sizes can be looked at both schools’ on-line class schedules. While USC may have smaller class sizes on average than UCLA, USC’s class sizes should not be assumed to be small in a LAC sense, and differences in class sizes may vary based on the specific classes.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://classes.usc.edu/”>http://classes.usc.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>UCLA does not have a business major, although it has a “business economics” major. You may also want to check both schools to see if any of your possible majors requires a competitive admissions process to enter. Note that law school does not require any specific undergraduate major or course work (but high GPA is important; see <a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com</a> ). UCLA does allow for A+ grades to be given, which may help with law school application GPA (where A+ grades count as 4.33, even though UCLA counts A+ as 4.0 like A).</p>

5

<p>Thematics Option at USC is an honors program with only about 200 students per year, it’s invitation only and one has to apply to be accepted. USC sends out invitation to incoming Freshman with a minimum of 2250 on the SAT. There are classes that are only available to Thematic Option student, it’s an honor program for the L&S at USC. The class size is between 8-30(max), this is why my reference to small liberal arts class and feel.
It’s not the average plain vanilla class at USC, therefore the average class sizes at USC is meaningless.</p>

<p>As for USC neighborhood. Most of my daughter’s classmates came from rich neighborhoods, think of Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach and Palos Verdes. The area surrounding USC did not bother them. I personally were there many times and never felt any problem.
On a person notes, my daughter never had any problem while she was there and also did live at USC area ever summer since freshman year and never had any problem. </p>

<p>But do visit to see how comfortable you are with the area.</p>

6

<p>My daughter chose to do Thematic Option (TO) at USC. Her TO classes were in-depth, challenging and interesting. Her TO classes ranged in size from 8 to 20 students (none of hers approached the max), and private writing tutorials were a part of the program. TO is an amazing opportunity - the education is second to none.</p>

7

<p>Class sizes will be similar for prereqs and upper division courses.</p>