Hi there! I’ve recently been accepted to UCLA and USC (50k scholarship over 4 years for USC) and am absolutely torn on which one to choose. I’ve been accepted as a Biology major for both schools. I’m not too concerned about cost of the school and care a lot about having a good time while also keeping up with my grades to get into medical or veterinary school. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!
Both are great schools. Private over Public has the edge in almost every meaningful category. If no financial concern exists, Private offers “more” benefits which may or may not be beneficial to you. Also, semester versus quarter system - which one do you prefer?
Are you getting the same aid from UCLA? Like uclaparent says, if you’d be in the same financial situation either way, it’s really up to you. For me, I had the same decision to make (but as a transfer). I initially went with UCLA, but after attending orientation, I withdrew and was still able to attend USC. For me, I was really put off by how the student advisor for my group was basically telling me what classes I could/could not enroll in (I wanted to take a language class, but it wasn’t on his “list”) and that I would basically have no shot at enrolling in full classes. Whereas at USC, they basically told me to enroll in whatever I wanted - I enrolled in CS classes with relative ease. My advisor even managed to open a spot for me in a class that had been full (I had no idea that was possible). It really depends on what fits for you. I loved the UCLA campus so much and had dreams of attending since I was 14, but my orientation experience really soured my opinion. I doubt that my case was the typical one though.