<p>Hello there,</p>
<p>Please gimme some advice. Both UCLA and American University accepted my application. And I am thinking which I should pick… I am majoring in Communication! And transfer as a international student. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>In all honesty, I would go with American. For one, it is in Washington D.C. and boasts one of the most incredible schools of communication in the country. Furthermore, the teachers are all working professionals (The journalism professor is also the anchor of Meet the Press.) who work to help you land internships, which can eventually lead to some amazing opportunities. UCLA is a great school, do not get me wrong; however, for a field such as communication, there are better job/internship opportunities at American than at UCLA.</p>
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<p>David Gregory is an AU professor? I don’t think so. He did graduate from the SIS in 1992, but I have never heard it reported that he’s even as much as an adjunct faculty member, and he’s not listed on the SOC faculty page. [Faculty</a> | American University School of Communication](<a href=“Faculty Listing | School of Communication | American University, Washington, DC”>Faculty Listing | School of Communication | American University, Washington, DC)</p>
<p>Good call Sikorsky. And “the” journalism professor? As if there was only one at AU?</p>
<p>Both the host and producer of Meet the Press are alumni, but neither are professors. They’re both on campus fairly often for alumni events, though, especially seeing as Meet the Press is filmed about a block away from campus. Lots of AU students intern there as well. There are plenty of distinguished professors in SOC, however. I have little experience with UCLA so I can’t really compare, but they’re very different institutions so I would think it would be a very apples to oranges comparison anyway. Lots of factors would play into the decision, especially as an international student. Best of luck!</p>
<p>As an AU student, (and all the bias that comes with it) I would say go to AU. If not for the School of Communications itself (which is pretty good and will have its own building by academic year 2013-2014) then come for the resources put at your disposal by living in DC.</p>
<p>The nearest news station (MSNBC) is a less than five minute walk from campus. You have a lot of potential here.</p>
<p>As a Californian native who used to live right next to LA and a student at AU working at the international students office, I feel like I could give you a little insight.</p>
<p>The main factors that you should consider are program of study, type of school, and your own comfortability.</p>
<p>Depending on where you live, the prestige of both schools have some international recognition. However, for example, in Southeast Asia, largely in countries like China, South Korea, and India, that yield the most international students (Source: Open Doors Report, Institute of International Education), UCLA has a higher level of prestige than AU. </p>
<p>You have to consider that UCLA and AU are invariably different in terms of type of school and program. I’m not familiar with UCLA’s Communications program but what I can say is that they don’t have a school for communications. Whereas on the other hand, AU does have a School of Communications that is continuously growing in prestige and will be housed in McKinley and extended by the East Campus Plan. You can read more about that here: [SOC?s</a> New Building Campaign Inspires Alumni Support | American University Washington DC](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/media/news/20120409-SOC-New-Building-Campaign-Inspires-Alumni-Support.cfm]SOC?s”>http://www.american.edu/media/news/20120409-SOC-New-Building-Campaign-Inspires-Alumni-Support.cfm) … So, consider the programs and both of their competitive value and take that into consideration.</p>
<p>Another factor you should take into consideration is the type of school. Do you want to be at a large school with over 20,000 students? Or do you want to be at a small school with only 6000 students? Do you want to be at a public or private school? These are some polar opposites that would be a determining factor for me. I came to AU because of the small class sizes and so do others. If that doesn’t matter to you, that’s your personal choice. </p>
<p>And finally, consider how many international students both schools have. According to the 2010 Open Doors report issued by the Institute of International Education, UCLA ranked seventh among U.S. universities for the number of international students it enrolled during the 2009-10 academic year, up from eighth place. However, AU also harbors a 10% international student population at 1300 students out of 12000 (undergrad & grad students). There are resources for international students wherever you go, but as a Californian native it has always been a known factor to me that international students do choose to attend UCLA more often than not because of the school’s prestige and academic programs. </p>
<p>I hope this helped!</p>