<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>yes, i posted this already in the usc form. the answers i received were very biased so i wanna see if there is a difference between responses here and there lol</p>
<p>Have you visited both campuses? They’re in very different parts of LA and have different vibes. If you can afford the airfare, I would spend a weekend in LA seeing what you like between the two. </p>
<p>UCLA is historically the stronger school for political science, but USC is definitely picking up some good names. I would consider finances and what you want in a school. I wouldn’t spend considerably more for either one, so if you get a good deal on USC, I would go USC over UCLA. </p>
<p>Just my $0.02.</p>
<p>Don’t know about the actual programs for Political Science themselves, but since finances are usually the deal-breaker in these decisions, you should probably choose USC, although I have heard horror stories about their financial aid after the first year. (For instance, one guy from my high school got into USC and was poor and stuff, ended up only having to pay 12k a year (the rest were grants and scholarships) - he was told this would continue for all 4 years. Yeah, well he was forced to take a leave of absence after his second year when they only gave him 5k. He is right now 75k in debt to student loans and is taking a year off to work a minimum wage job as a gardner (under the table so the government can’t see) just so he can attempt to afford USC)</p>
<p>californication…first of all are u defientely going to be going to a cali school? why do u want to come to a cali school?</p>
<p>yes ucla is ranked higher than USC for poli sci, but that doesnt mean ucla is still good for poli sci lol, its not…why are u majoring in poli sci? do u wanna go to law school?..if i were u i would go to usc…the reason being is that ure paying soo much in tuition at both schools…ucla will probably charge u more and more cause of the budget crisis…if ure gonna pay the same why not go to the school that gives u more bang for ur buck? usc is private, and will take care of u…the truth of the matter is (im a ucla student) ucla doesnt GIVE A JACK ABOUT ITS UNDERGRADS…on the other hand ucla is in a better location…and might be a tad bit more diverse…but if u wanna go to intend on going for law…id go to usc cause they have a better network and u need to have a 4.0 gpa for law school…at ucla there is greater likelihood of u not getting that because of pesky TAs and other bullcrap.</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>Oh man, lots to say about your post.</p>
<p>First off, I agree about bang for the buck, though it’s not guaranteed that USC will offer that. We know little about the OP’s situation financially.</p>
<p>Secondly, I remember being told that UCLA didn’t care about its undergrads when I was an undergrad, and I never had any trouble getting things I needed. </p>
<p>Thirdly, you don’t “need” a 4.0 to get into law school.</p>
<p>Finally, you’ll have pesky TAs at USC as well.</p>
<p>i dont know i heard from like one of my friends at UCLA who is third year has a 3.98 gpa and he said that like the average gpa for like yale and all the other top law schools is a 4.0…and he said he said that his one A- was from some bullcrap writing class when he had a TA who was terrible…ive heard from my USC friends that they really do have grade inflation</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>I can disprove that pretty easily: Yale’s median GPA was 3.9. However, its 25th to 75th distribution starts at 3.82 and goes to 3.96. </p>
<p>What will kill most applicants, however, is not the GPA. It’s the LSAT score. A median LSAT of 173 is going to keep even most people with high GPAs from having a shot at admission simply because it’s rare to have scores that high even amongst top 25 university graduates with high GPAs.</p>
<p>One A- in a writing class with a “terrible” TA won’t keep your friend out of Yale. His LSAT might. His letters of rec. might. His attitude might. But his GPA won’t. </p>
<p>Source: [Yale</a> Law School](<a href=“http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/profile.htm]Yale”>http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/profile.htm)</p>
<p>I got into both USC and UCLA and am also thinking of majoring in political science.
UCLA is covering all but $800 worth of yearly cost because I got awarded the Regent’s Scholarship.
USC will give me half tuition if I list them as my first choice for National Merit plus whatever financial aid they give me. I’m pretty sure UCLA will come out to be cheaper.</p>
<p>Neither one are my first choice, but if I had to choose between them under these circumstances do you think UCLA would be a better choice? The better poli sci reputation/better location/Regent’s scholarship and perks makes UCLA seem like the obvious choice but I would love to hear some feedback.</p>
<p>UCLA for sure with the Regents.</p>
<p>ya UCLA in this instance</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And since the actual cost your first year will likely be several thousand $$ less than the listed cost, your scholarship will more than cover the price.</p>
<p>In this case UCLA is the clear winner. Go cheap.</p>
<p>So should financial aid take precedence over some differences in the rankings?</p>
<p>if there is a gap of 10 between the rankings then no…but if gap less than 10 i would say yes financ aid should take pref</p>
<p>maylix,</p>
<p>Rankings are… eh. I wouldn’t choose UCSC over UCSD, for example, but I might take USC over Cornell (weather matters… trust me.)</p>
<p>whoa take usc over cornell…um no wayy…cornell is ivy league lol…and u wont get shot at cornell</p>
<p>mnop444,</p>
<p>If you’ve never lived on the East Coast it might be hard to understand, but after this year and the 3 terrible snowstorms in a row, followed by a storm that knocked out my power for 3 days, I’m of the opinion that I’d really not enjoy Ithaca. </p>
<p>Cornell is a cool university, and Ivy blah blah, but I don’t think I’d enjoy 4 years up there. I know plenty of Cornell grads, and they’re not glowing with special Ivy powers that make them into superhuman job-getting machines. It doesn’t matter nearly as much as you might think.</p>
<p>@mnop: everyone knows cornell is ivy league. what’s your point? it’s just as easy to transfer into cornell’s AE&M program as USC’s marshall school of business. both programs are ranked 10th for business. and yea, if u want to be immature than fine. u may not get shot at cornell, but people at USC don’t commit suicide either.</p>
<p>Let’s be fair: Cornell is having a bad year, but it’s by no means some hellhole with people flailing themselves to their deaths like crazy. I bet USC has had bad years as well.</p>
<p>It’s just a bad couple of years in general, and this was a bad winter.</p>
<p>damn little nathan with a temper lol…trust me buddy im mature…and no…usc isnt as versatile as cornell…wut if he decides to change majors maybe become a doctor?? hmm…cornell would be obviously better with more opportunities on campus mr. mature guy…and he is paying the same amount for less at USC</p>