<p>Alright so after these many weeks of pondering, I think I have finally narrowed my decision down to USC and UCLA for comp sci/engineering major. </p>
<p>With the financial part (which was my biggest factor in deciding) both are actually similar, so I am taking other factors into consideration. Like academics. I have been hearing and seeing that UCLA has a much better school of engineering (prove me wrong if you can, please), however, UCs are quite risky in my opinion at the moment due to CA's budget crisis. The classes are impacted, and I have heard many stories of people not being able to get the classes they needed because there were so many people signing up for them. USC, on the other hand, as a private college, will not have this kind of problem.</p>
<p>So what do you think, folks? UCLA or USC?</p>
<p>UCLA. If you don’t get in or don’t like it, just switch to USC. I think USC is more stable, but UCLA is better as a whole.</p>
<p>While private schools are generally secure from state budget crises, keep in mind that they are not bulletproof against economic downturn. For example, in 2008/2009, USC took a 25% loss on it’s endowment. Just taking a SWAG at it, a $1 billion loss in endowment (what USC lost) is probably a $50 million reduction in revenue. UCLA’s budget cut is around $40 million.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider when looking at Rankings is that USNWR discovered that USC has been reporting incorrect data, and should actually be ranked lower than it currently is because of those data issues. See here: [University</a> of Southern California and the Engineering Rankings - Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2009/06/11/university-of-southern-california-and-the-engineering-rankings.html]University”>http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2009/06/11/university-of-southern-california-and-the-engineering-rankings.html)</p>
<p>Not to mention that USC is in an utterly terrible neighborhood and his filled with a bunch of stuck up rich kids.</p>