UPENN for urban studies and USC for business and public policy (real estate development) . I want to make my decision based on quality of education in each major and general college experience.
I think it depends on where you want to end up after college.
There is a reason Penn is ranked #8.
Penn is a solid ivy and if you plan on working in NYC, especially in finance, you’ll have a leg up. USC is more entrepreneurial and West Coast oriented. That said, USC is a Wharton MBA feeder school. Both schools are urban but USC has the sunshine and great athletics and school spirit, if that appeals to you.
Is USC really entrepreneurial? I thought USC’s promotion of the Trojan Network and its Trojans Hiring Trojans program implied that many of its students went off to join businesses, not start their own.
Sure, USC alums have founded famous companies (notably Salesforce.) But you can find that at just about any school. UCLA alums, for example, helped start companies like Pimco, Blizzard and Uber (all multibillion dollar companies.) Yet I don’t think that necessarily makes UCLA an “entrepreneurial” school.
I would personally go with Penn, not solely because it’s an Ivy, but because I feel that for your major/line of study that you want to pursue, they have a better program .
From all the alumni publications/propaganda I get from USC, it does seem the school is stressing things like entrepreneurship and high-tech start-ups. It’s trying to be the Southern California version of Stanford.
Damn, I had no idea Marc Benioff went to USC. Salesforce seems to occupy about half the office space in San Francisco.
@beyphy: I rather disagree with your point in post #4. Networking (et al) can be highly entrepreneurial. For example, it’s a way to find “financial angels,” advisors, subject matter experts, etc. – all of which are CRITICAL to SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurial ventures.
How many USC students/alumni apply to Wharton’s MBA program?
How many are accepted?
Are their admission rates significantly higher than the admission rates of students from other colleges with similar credentials? If these numbers are not available, on what basis do we characterize USC as a Wharton MBA feeder?
Here is the only systematic study I’ve ever seen that assesses college performance as “feeders” into a set of top business, medical, and law schools:
http://www.inpathways.net/top50feeder.pdf
USC did not make the top 50.
Granted, this is an old study (~2005?).
Is something better and more recent available?
Oh, and what is the net total cost for the OP to attend each school?