USC Marshall vs Pre-Business at Haas (Cal Berkeley)

I’m so torn guys. I only applied to 7 schools (USC UCSD UCSB Cal SDSU and Cal Poly), and am choosing between UCSB, Cal, and USC.

UCSB is kinda out the window because they have no business program and I wouldn’t want to do econ, so it’s down to Cal and USC.

I got no financial aid or scholarships, both schools are full price. I’m in-state at Berkeley, so it comes out to be ~33k for Cal vs ~71k for USC.

I can see myself so much more at USC, and I feel I would relate with the people there much more. I’m over the moon to have been accepted into Berkeley (I know SC is hard to get in, but with my business background I thought I had a good shot), and I can see myself going there, but not really as much as USC.

The two main factors in my decision is this: money and getting to study what I want. At Cal, I have to transfer to Haas as a junior with a pretty slim chance of getting in, and if I don’t get in I have a slightly less slim chance to study econ, and if I don’t get that I have no idea what I would do. At USC, I’m guaranteed to be able to get the degree that I want, and I’ll probably have an easier time getting the individual classes I want as well. SC is probably a little “easier” and less competitive than Cal too, relatively. Finally, Cal being less than half the price is VERY attractive. My parents/family could swing Cal, but I would have to makeup the difference between the two schools.

Any advice from future/current students or alumni? I’m trying to get as many opinions as I can before making the decision myself.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate you reading my post! Go Bears/Trojans!! (I guess)

I agree that there is a big advantage to being accepted into the b-school at USC. But how exactly do you think you can pay for the difference between USC and Cal (over $150k over 4 years) on your own?

I run a business would be able to do it, but it is still a lot of money that I could have been saving to use after college.

USC is great - but not worth $150,000 in debt. Save yourself.

Why don’t you go to Cal and then use the $150K you saved to get an MBA at Marshall (or Haas, etc.)? Further ahead for the same price.

I really wanna just be done after 4 years, so most likely sticking with just undergrad

In that case, you certainly don’t want to accrue $150K in debt for a mere Bachelor’s degree. You will have to start paying it off shortly after graduation. Hundreds of dollars each month, your biggest (by far) expense after rent. And you’ll be doing it FOR YEARS.

In my opinion Haas is the better business school.It’s ranked much higher (not that ranking is the key determinant). All in all, Haas is definitely one of the best business schools in the country. Certainly in the top 5. Marshall is an amazing business, but it is not in even in the top 10.

I know that USC would probably be more fun, but I don’t know how you could pay 150k more to go there. Even if they were of the same quality (marshall and haas) which they are not, 150k is a huge amount of money.

Berkeley Econ + Chance at Haas + $150k saved > USC Marshall

I’m hearing a lot from the USC side (friends family etc) that the “connections” from USC will make up for the price disparity. Opinions?

Ah, yes, the University of Special Connections. I’d say it depends on the industry and location. $150k is a big entry fee for those “connections”… I doubt you’d get $150k of value.

bump

How exactly will you 'find’35k a year (IE., 40k above what your parents can pay + Stafford loans)?

I work and can pay it without getting any loans @MYOS1634

If you can pay for Marshall without any loans, go to usc. You’re assured to get your major whereas Haas is FAR from being a sure thing.

My other concern would be funding issues at Berkeley. There could be cuts in classes making it difficult to get the classes you need/want. And potentially the number of students admitted to Haas could shrink making it even more difficult to get into. You need to decide how important it is to get a business degree (vs economics degree) and whether you are sure you want to bypass getting a Masters in business.

@singermom4 yea I heard a lot about it being tough to get good classes at Cal, another plus at USC.

Fin aid came out this week and I officially got 0, does anybody have any tips for calling the aid office to appeal?

If you can pay for usc outright, you won’t get financial aid. Not sure how you can ‘appeal’.

Why not matriculate to Cal, if you don’t into get the program you want, transfer to USC. USC takes a huge number of transfers every year. You might want to look at the transfer statistics as USC before taking my advice. I think your GPA is key to getting a transfer from Cal.

I really like Cal. My kids might be attending there if we were in state.

Chose USC. Super excited about it. Cal wasn’t my home and I don’t think I would be able to thrive in that environment as well as I could at USC. Thanks for all the help everyone! I appreciate it.