<p>Title basically says all. I was just accepted to UCLA (out of state) and although I haven't heard from USC yet I was just wondering what you guys thought about the 2 in comparison to each other. I applied for political science.</p>
<p>Since you’re out of state USC will give you better financial aid.</p>
<p>Congrats on UCLA out of state - thats really impressive. I got rejected out of state haha so I know how tough it is to get in. Bitterness aside though, I still think that USC is generally a better school, but it depends on what you’re looking for. from everything ive heard about USC… i feel like USC has a much more positive vibe than UCLA (less cutthroat competition maybe?)</p>
<p>money wise… all the UCs are struggggggling with funding. theyre laying off teachers, and it might be harder to get the classes you need. more classes would probably be run by TAs or undergrads, even if you can get classes. idk about the programs and school funded events… but i feel like they would be hurting from the lack of funds also. USC definitely will give better financial aid like dream said and i think you would get a higher quality experience.</p>
<p>but isnt ucla more prestigious?</p>
<p>i think its probably too close to call, but thats just my opinion</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure anyone who calls UCLA more prestigious than USC in the USC forum gets banished for a lifetime.</p>
<p>UCLA is a great school if you are focusing on the liberal arts. In that sense I would say that they are superior to USC (as a USC student) but only marginally. In most other departments USC has a better undergrad program. I think in the rankings they take the graduate aspects of UCLA into account. Purely from an undergraduate point of view I say USC offers a better experience. I would say that USC is a better decision for you simply because of the economic situation at UCLA. Tuition is rising, teachers are feeling the pressure, and financial aid will be hurt, especially for out of state students. Even if you have the money to foot the bill, USC is just so much more stable right now.</p>
<p>UCLA likes to sell itself as more prestigious, because 20 years ago it was. Well, in the present, USC and UCLA are near equals and USC has MUCH more forward growth and momentum than UCLA. The current ranks of the schools are USC #26 with a score of 72 and UCLA #24 with a score of 73. The two spot difference is solely due to another university, UVA, that scored a 73 and was tied with UCLA. Thus, the differences between the two are very marginal. However, USC is in a better position. USC, being a private university, is not subjected to the state budget cuts. It is no secret that USC has generous donors and it is very well represented by the abundance of donor buildings, plaques, and dedications around the beautiful park-like campus. Further, in the past 20 years-aka the Steven Sample era-USC had progressed more than anything other University. USC had climbed from the high 40’s in the 90s to 26th in 2010. Also, USC has the resources to keep up forward growth. On other hand, UCLA is losing professors to higher paying universities (privates), USC included, and experiencing an unprecedented financial loss with government funding. The UC budget cuts are making class sizes larger, diminishing financial aid, and forcing admin to cancel courses, majors, and facilities. This will largely affect ones educational and social growth. Lastly, the USC Trojan Family dominates the job market in SoCal. The Trojan Family is not limited to just SoCal, but spans internationally.</p>
<p>Edit: USC is VERY VERY generous with financial aid. Because of its financial position it is able to provide 100% need to students. This allows USC to lower the total cost of attendance at or below UC levels. For example, I come from an upper-middle class family and I received around 30k each year in the forum of University grants. That 30k was able to lower my total cost of attendance to 24k. Note that the current cost of attendance of UCLA is now over 29k. With cost being equal, why would one attend a public school, especially when the academics are equal? USC offers better resources and is more student oriented.</p>
<p>If you would like to see the latest alumni donation, below are pictures of the Ronald Tutor Campus Center. It is set to open Fall '10. Ronald Tutor is one of our 9 billionaire alumni. USC is in 9th place, tied with Cornell, Berkeley, and University of Texas, for Universities with the most billionaire alumni in 2009 (post financial crash).</p>
<p><a href=“http://joelzink.smugmug.com/USC-Scenes/USC-Construction/5804313_WJ4Nx#810998821_nnZUK[/url]”>http://joelzink.smugmug.com/USC-Scenes/USC-Construction/5804313_WJ4Nx#810998821_nnZUK</a>
<a href=“http://people.forbes.com/profile/ronald-n-tutor/63030[/url]”>http://people.forbes.com/profile/ronald-n-tutor/63030</a>
<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/billionaire-study-harvard-stanford-business-billionaires-colleges-09-wealth_slide_13.html[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/billionaire-study-harvard-stanford-business-billionaires-colleges-09-wealth_slide_13.html</a></p>
<p>USC has a great alumni network.</p>
<p>I’ll state that I’m a UCLA student to begin win… (I was also accepted to USC last year).</p>
<p>USC and UCLA are virtually equal. I would probably give the edge to UCLA simply because of the financial costs (at least for California residents).
But like many have said, for you being out of state it makes no difference. So with the fact that USC gives better aid (not to me though) compared to UCLA, your dollar will be better at USC, however if you were in-state, it would be opposite.</p>
<p>Oh and honestly, the cuts aren’t that bad. I mean, thats all they talk about and stuff, and classes are getting a little larger yes, but seriously, who the hell cares if its 180 kids in a class compared to 220? Looking out at the crowd you probably can’t even tell.</p>
<p>im actually getting fusturated i havent heard from usc yet</p>
<p>i really wanna visit both campuses, i feel like that would be the most helpful thing for me. thanks for all the advice though!</p>
<p>does anyone know anything specifically about art or political science at both schools?</p>
<p>Recently I wrote a report on USC academics. For this I used the UCLA website, USC posted freshmen profile, US News College Rankings and a report from the Council for Aid to Education, 2010.</p>
<p>In the top ten fundraising institutions for 2009, USC placed 7th. This was ahead of Yale, Duke, UCLA, MIT and Univ. of Chicago. SC raised $368 plus million.</p>
<p>The last report I read SC was fifth in the nation in National Merit Scholars. </p>
<p>Princeton Review ranked USC 98 in selectivity.</p>
<p>The following are some comparisons of SC and UCLA from US News. This data is from the enrolled 2008-2009 class as there was complete data available.</p>
<p>UCLA Admit Rate for the 2008-2009 enrolled class
22.8</p>
<p>USC Admit Rate for the 2008-2009 enrolled class
21.9</p>
<p>ACT composite for enrolled freshmen (SC and UCLA use the exact same system for the ACT)</p>
<p>UCLA 25-31
USC 28-33</p>
<p>Size of freshmen class</p>
<p>UCLA 4735
USC 2766</p>
<p>Faculty Student Ratio</p>
<p>UCLA 1/16
USC 1/9</p>
<p>Faculty Resources Rank (2007 data)</p>
<p>UCLA 42nd
USC 25th</p>
<p>Geographic Representation</p>
<p>UCLA from CA 94%
USC from CA 55%</p>
<p>Giving Contributions to University Ranking</p>
<p>UCLA 109th
USC 8th</p>
<p>In a speech the UCLA Chancellor addressed the huge cutbacks and how it was affecting UCLA.</p>
<p>He remarked UCLA had a multimillion shortfall. At the time of the speech there had been l65 courses eliminated. Tuition and fee increases were expected of $1,170 this year and $1,344 next year.</p>
<p>UCLA has reduced faculty and staff hiring, cut spending on equipment, travel and construction. Data centers and communication networks have been consolidated. Faculty recruitment has been lowered. UCLA will reduce general fund support by 50% for research centers and 40% for teaching services. Student services will be cut 10%. Housing and parking fees will increase by 40%. Other programs and captial projects will be cut by $5 million.</p>
<p>This is an exact quote, “Campus is overenrolled.” </p>
<p>Here are some paraphrased comments from students in a NY Times article of Oct. 26, 2009.
Students in some cases are unable to obtain classes to proceed toward graduation. It is becoming more common to graduate in five years due to inability to obtain required classes. There were some classes where students sat outside the room as there was not enough seating space in the classroom.
Student remarked many students were living in dorm rooms make for two, but housing three.</p>
<p>I accessed the article on the internet.</p>
<p>Average class size will be about 60 per class. Non resident costs for OOS students will be $49,826 for 2009-2010. CA students will be $27,109.</p>
<p>At the same time that UCLA is having huge budget cuts there appears to be more shared research projects between the two Los Angeles institutions according to the USC Chronicle.</p>
<p>Georgia - Do you by any chance know where I could find similar statistics/information for Cal?</p>
<p>Most colleges now publish statistics called the “Common Data Set”. It can be used to compare certain facts about each university such as size, transfer students, certain admissions data and costs.</p>
<p>Go to the Cal website and search for their common data set. Many of the private universities use another system or publish a complete set of statistics about the freshman class. </p>
<p>The best way is to visit the college. Walk around. Look at the labs. Sit in the student center and see how the students interact. Take a tour. Ask permission to sit in on a class. Each campus has a different “vibe”. </p>
<p>Once you visit I think you will discover a college that would be a good fit for YOU.</p>
<p>Bump</p>
<p>10 Char</p>