<p>I think it comes down to what you want your major to be, as well as how you envision college life. Obviously, there's a disparity in the rankings. UCSD is clearly better in Poli Sci while USC has one of the best journalism schools in the country. Now, this may be confused as USC bias considering what my location is listed as, but (and correct me other CC'ers if I'm wrong) it would seem to me that the prestige of one's journalism degree and alma mater would matter much more in the job world than the prestige of one's Poli Sci degree -- especially if the less prestigious school is USC. It's still USC. Whereas I'm not even sure if UCSD has a journalism major and if so, it's no Annenberg. </p>
<p>Further, to counter ucchris' statement, as a native San Diegan (who ultimately chose USC over UCSD), I can attest to the fact that La Jolla is a horrible college town. It's not geared toward college students at all, but rather the ultra-wealthy of SoCal. The city itself is even outright tunfriendly towards UCSD students with local coffeeshops like the Living Room discouraging students from studying and taking up tables for any significant amount of time. True, Pacific Beach and its nightlife is about 10 minutes away but USC has Hollywood and the Sunset Strip 10 minutes away and PB's nowhere near those two. And even if you do not choose to leave the school, it at least has a reputable social scene, unlike UCSD. </p>
<p>That said, it seems as though for your specific situation it's quite the financial commitment. Again, I think it comes down to major. If you choose journalism, if I were in your position, I would certianly choose USC. Poli Sci would be a much more difficult matter.</p>