I was awarded the trustee scholarship to USC, and got into JHU for BME and regents at Berkeley. I know hopkins BME Is really well renowned, and berkeley engineering is fantastic, but it’s hard to turn down the money at USC. Is usc engrg on par with JHU and Cal? Or would I be better off spending a bit more money for one of the other two schools?
My S is also in the exact situation. He is UCB regent (BioE) and USC trustee. We ruled out JHU due to the cost. He attended USC explore and ROHP at UCB and liked both. We are right now debating over USC and UCB. We are in state but USC is still cheaper compared to UCB.
What are you inclining towards?
Last year USC was offering guaranteed research opportunities for engineering freshmen on merit scholarships. USC also has an excellent support system for finding internships if you are on the Dean’s List. You should check to see if these programs are available in your major.
Work experience enhances the value of an engineering degree. I would compare these factors as well as COA.
You might call someone at Cal and ask if they guarantee that all the classes needed for your major will be available for you to take in the proper sequence.
Actually, they can’t say that. The UC system is underfunded, and undergrad engineering students have difficulties scheduling classes in order to graduate in four years.
Have you talked to Paul Ledesma?
@TRT , I think that regent scholarship at UCB should take care of getting all classes that you need as they have priority registration over all others.
@CalMom2015 UCB is about double the cost of USC overall, but I’m leaning towards Berkeley right now. Regents will help make sure that I can get the classes I need to graduate so that won’t be an issue, and I know that the research at Berkeley is really fantastic if your son has grad school in his sights, like I do. What are you leaning towards?
@confusedsenior3 , We haven’t yet decided and still thinking about UCB and USC. We are currently planning to visit USC during break and talk to more students.
Did you get USC viterbi undergrad fellow? Yes, my S does intend to go to grad school for medicine.
The Michelson BioScience/Engineering building is under construction. It will be the largest building on the USC campus. Michelson donated $50 million dollars for this center. It will have the latest state of the art labs, computers, imaging suites, classrooms and facilities.
Viterbi is the home of two National Science Foundation Research Centers. They are the Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems Center and the Integrated Media Systems Center. In addition to the top rated games program Viterbi also offers a special program with Marshall which is Business Administration and Computer Science. A student receives a combined degree.
“Priority registration,” so if you’re not a Regent Scholar you’re pretty much left on your own, WTF?
I don’t understand the debate of a Trustee’s at USC versus attending another school. Oh well. Can lead a horse to water…
@seattleTW - yes, without Regents’ priority registration, a student must get in line for impacted courses. Freshmen are at the very, very back of the line. Athletes and Regents get their pick of classes before even seniors. IMO, it’s the primary benefit and value of a Regents award, and it is a substantial perk indeed.
WOW
@SeattleTW, I did not intend my post to frighten you away from Cal. The major and courses you might wish to pursue may be easily available. It is worth investigating, however, to determine whether students are generally achieving their degrees in four years in your particular major.
@Georgia Girl, How is USC bio-engineering department reputation? In terms of ranking per US news, UCB bioE undergrad has better ranking. Did you study at USC? Can you share your experience at USC - academics, social, extracurricular etc.?
What about USC chem e?
@blueskies2day it’s important to remember that UCB Chem E/Bio E (OP, are you a chem e or bio e at Cal? Got confused by your most recent post about chem e haha) and JHU BME are significantly stronger engineering programs and are much better respected in the engineering world. If the op is interested in med school or a phd, research is going to be top notch at cal and JHU, more so than USC, as great the school and the trustee scholarship are. And if the Op wants med school, being around the hopkins med school is hard to turn down!
@bioninja , no doubt about JHU BME but without any merit, it is damn expensive for pre-med and having so much debt is not a great idea when one has option like UCB BioE with instate tuition. So, we ruled out Rice and JHU for our son. We are still making decison in between USC trustee with viterbi fellowship vs UCB bioE premed track. I see from your posts that you are also applying this year . Are you also trustee scholar? Which college are you commiting to?
@bioninja I totally get the differences and strengths of programs, my point is if a person is asking if a Trustee is worth it at USC then USC probably isn’t the school for them - Trustees should be people that are all in to a school or they couldn’t attend a school without it financially. If your heart lies elsewhere, go there. If it isn’t a really needed financial thing - then go to the school where they feel the program is better.
I agree. He should go to Cal where he’ll jump to the front of the line for registration, which is worth far more than anything USC can offer him. 