<p>For internships, I would say USC’s alumni network holds an advantage. They’re known to hire fellow Trojans over others and at times give opportunities for the sole reason that someone is a student at USC. Outside of So Cal, I’d say they’ve got about equal chances in getting internships not through an alumnus.</p>
<p>… internships in what field?</p>
<p>Law? </p>
<p>UCLA has it all over USC…</p>
<p>Business? </p>
<p>Then we have to divide into smaller regional firms or national firms. Smaller firms, I’d agree USC would hold an advantage. </p>
<p>Nationally, as you at least intimated, the school connection is undoubtedly lessened.</p>
<p>A USC guy was telling me about his school’s connections in the accounting field. Really…who cares? The vast majority of accounting positions at the larger firms in CA are staffed by Cal State grads anyway. (The accouting school at USC is named after a UCLA grad, btw, and a couple other depts also.)</p>
<p>If you’re talking about a small venture capital firm, sure, USC grads are more connected to their school and would probably engage in nepotistic practices. This can be both good and bad. UCLA grads are undoubtedly more detached. Detachment often comes with more intellectual capacity, lol. Really, though, UCLA grads do internships very well, if it’s business or law related.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of the need for internships to get into law school…unless you’re talking law school itself, which UCLA has a better reputation and send a higher number for clerkships. Accounting and the national firms in pretty much any field are going to have a more rigid process than allow nepotistic practices in hiring (though if someone is very high up, or if the candidate is politically connected, etc). But anything Hollywood, smaller/medium firms is where the USC connections work.</p>
<p>undecided: </p>
<p>“I want a school with HUGE school spirit, and I think USC wins in that one.”</p>
<p>Well, it’s tough to compare, but trust me…school spirit is not lacking at UCLA. Definitely worth a campus visit to get a feel for that.</p>
<p>The school spirit isn’t missing on the campus of UCLA, just the football stadium. But it’s nothing more than 15 miles and 45 minutes away, if you’re lucky!</p>
<p>No, not referring to clerkships, and not referring to law school, because former are for law students and we’re referring to undergrads here. And not referring to national firms as you mentioned. Smaller firms, summer undergrad hiring, etc.</p>
<p>If you want small business, USC does well there. Automobile dealership, pizza place, etc. In some of these, internships would seemingly be pretty limited. Yeah, small accouting practice, good experience…</p>
<p>I prefer USC over UCLA any day. In my experience, the student body at USC is far more talented. I also favor the semester system over quarters. I know plenty of idiots that got into UCLA. (The so-called “idiots” at USC used to be smart, then they joined fraternities. They came in equally competitive.) Greek life at USC is superior. As far as reputation, they’re regarded as equals in Southern California. Choose the one with the better program for your area of study and the vibe you’re looking for in a campus.</p>
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<p>That’s fine, you’re entitled to your opinion.</p>
<p>I would run you through a battery of tests to see where I feel your intelligence lies if you were to respond, but I will at least defer.</p>
<p>According to your history you seem to be on the Pepperdine board a lot, but your name suggests George Washington U. </p>
<p>Only one real question:</p>
<p>Where did you know all these ‘idiots who got into UCLA’? High school, where?</p>
<p>I know the idiots from high school. </p>
<p>I got this account when I was still applying to colleges. GWU was one of my top choices at the time, but I ended up at Pepperdine.</p>
<p>I don’t care where you feel my intelligence lies. Get off your high horse. I’m just trying to give practical advice.</p>
<p>Good enough. I won’t ask you the high school, but if you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me the approximate location: SF Valley, OC, oos-CA? Thanks…</p>
<p>I’m not on some high-horse; I was thinking of putting my real feelings wrt my battery-of-tests remark, a ‘lol,’ but I wanted you to stew a bit.</p>
<p>Btw, what is teh IQ - Idiots’ Quotient - at Pep?</p>
<p>The high school I attended is in a conservative suburb of L.A, near Orange County.</p>
<p>At USC there is no intention to lessen emphasis on foreign language study. The number of students interested in majoring in German was too few to maintain the large department. At SC there is much interest in the Pacific Rim countries. While fewer students were interested in majoring in German, many are studying Chinese, Japanese and Korean.</p>
<p>A student can major in the following languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Judaic Studies.</p>
<p>The op wants to study business…I thought UCLA doesn’t have undergrad business…</p>
<p>If you want to study business then no question USC. UCLA doesnt even have an under-grad program. Plus the connections & opportunities at 'SC are much better than the ones at UCLA. I was in a program in high school that visited many types of businesses in the Los Angeles area and I met many kinds of people in different positions from USC (ex interns, CEOs, investment bankers, philanthropist, lawyers, etc).</p>
<p>…in pizza places according to drax12. In SoCal, it’s the USC people that are struggling to find meaningful work not the UCLA people…(hahaha)</p>
<p>There’s not much harm in applying to UCLA if you’ve already chosen to apply to Berkeley as everyone has already pointed out. I’d just apply now and figure things out later when I’ve been accepted. I mean, for all you know, you could be rejected to both Berkeley and USC.</p>
<p>Don’t count your eggs before they hatch.</p>
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That’s more of an instate (SoCal) thing. The OP is OOS and, as others have pointed out, a UCLA degree is valued higher on the East Coast.</p>
<p>IMO neither is valued enough on the east coast that it should be a deciding factor in anything. It’s not like the people on the Atlantic coast are blown away a student from UCLA is in their presence. OMG This person must be smarter than XYZ (or USC). Very few schools have that ability with cachet all around the country/world. Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, MIT…only the very top, top schools that have been highly-regarded for a long time. Even living in California, intelligent isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I meet someone from UCLA (or USC for that matter). Actually, probably the opposite. There are so many people that snuck in because they did alright in high school or transferred in after doing okay in community college. A degree from a huge state school on its own tells me nothing.</p>
<p>I dont really get the “more valued on East Coast” arguement … not like schools like Northwestern,Vanderbilt,Duke,Georgetown,University of Virgina, etc are big names on the West Coast but they are still great schools. Im pretty sure most people on the East coast hold UCLA & USC to the same regard. Despite if they do or dont USC will still give you more opportunites for business because UCLA doesnt even have a undergrad program.</p>
<p>^Incorrect. Northwestern and Duke are actually very well-regarded and considered Ivy Level. I come from Norcal so I speak from experience. </p>
<p>I don’t know of the others.
UCLA is well regarded in east coast, not saying otherwise. I was saying USC might be a little well known immediately because USC can be confused with University of South Carolina. Just an observation.</p>
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<p>Most terrible. Let me guess. You’re a high school student or something along those lines. You’ve never attended HYPSM.
But since you’ve included Berkeley, you might be a Cal freshman trying to feel secure with your choice of institution.
Whatever may be the case, no one is going to judge you from having graduated from HYPSM or Berkeley. Its just a way to start conversation or, a way to boost your self-confidence in the most pathetic way. I’ve seen few people around do that, and it ticks me off. </p>
<p>Have you read “Everything Matters” by Ron Currie Jr? The heroine is a girl named Amy. She’s rude, swears in every other sentence, and she even gets caught smoking in an airplane. Her ex-boyfriend graduates from college and involves himself in terrorist activities in the Middle East.
They’re both cited to have graduated from Stanford. And so? Should the whole world bow down to this heroine? Does she magically become an enlighted being? That doesn’t stop her from smoking and drinking.
Oh and for the record, she is described as a whore who sleeps with many men. Does that sound like a typical Stanford student?</p>
<p>You need to realize this instead of living off some fantasy land that getting into top universities (in your book its Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Princeton, and…Berkeley) isn’t a one way ticket to success. Or else the whole world would be revolving around HYPSM. Guess what. Its not.</p>
<p>My true feelings from a person who actually attends an “HYPSM” level institution.</p>