<p>hmm...
USC
Pros
USC is closer to home.
Cons
USC had that recent issue with those 2 interenational students.
Outside USC..its not that great.. according to what I heard.</p>
<p>UCSD
Pros
UCSD is fresher...</p>
<p>Cons
UCSD is 2 hours away.
Housing would be so much more expensive.</p>
<p>Unsure...
I'm unsure which one is more renowned.
I also heard that for my specific family income..I would get almost a free ride to USC if accepted. I'm sure that both have strong EE programs, but i wanna see if ne one knows more of the details.
How many students are in the classes for USC and UCSD?</p>
<p>USC for sure. Seems like your main concern is safety.</p>
<p>If you’re from a city, the area around USC is nothing new. those two kids got shot pretty far from campus (past campus security’s patrol route).</p>
<p>I’ve yet to experience an instance where I felt like my safety was being threatened. Just don’t be stupid and flash wealth while walking by yourself down shady alleyways (Apparently this is not common sense).</p>
<p>An engineering major would probably be more helpful in terms of the EE program, but in terms of overall university prestige I’d say it’s safe to say that USC is held in higher esteem (especially since it’s been getting increasingly selective - 18% acceptance rate this year vs UCSD’s 37.7%)</p>
<p>They’re both well-regarded universities. But UCSD definitely plays 3rd fiddle to Cal and UCLA, at least in terms of prestige. If UCLA is considered roughly equal to USC, then USC is better than UCSD. Like that logic? Lol. </p>
<p>As for your pro/con list, San Diego is still Southern California. Won’t be much different. It’s like living in the Bay Area and going to UC Davis. Meh.</p>
<p>The Trojan family is the real deal. It is almost like you are a life-long member of a fraternity simply by being a Trojan. This is what drives the record amount of donations to the school by alumni. In fact, I’m actually excited to graduate simply because I can start going to alumni events.</p>
<p>To many, the strength of the alumni network will seem like marketing to recruit students until you actually come here and experience it for yourself.</p>
<p>You become a member of the USCAA (AA = alumni association) as soon as you graduate from any one of the degree programs. alumni.usc.edu may explain more about it but it is worth noting the location of all of the alumni chapters both here in California as well as worldwide.</p>
<p>SC is considered highly selective. Have you checked with your academic counselor to see if your grades, scores, ECs, courses taken and other accomplishments are in the range of other admitted students?</p>
<p>Have you read through the USC Viterbi School of Engineering website, checked the list and background of professors, viewed the Viterbi videos and planned a visit and tour of the engineering school? Before you apply I suggest you do the above and this will assist you in making a more informed decision.</p>
<p>USC is a private university. It is not affected by the huge budget cuts to the Univ. of California system. SC is adding professors, constructing new buildings and moving forward. </p>
<p>The overall faculty student ratio at SC is 1 to 9. The ratio at UCSD is 1 to 19. The admit rate as listed in U.S. News is 38% for UCSD.</p>
<p>Back to EE, it matters if you want to get just your BS, do a progressive degree MS, or move on to get your PhD. Someone very close to me got full fellowship offers straight out of undergrad for a PhD in EE to USC, UCSD and some other prestigious EE schools. However, the unexpected twist is he went to UCSB for undergrad EE where he lived by the beach and got a 3.9 GPA while being involved in several research internships, outreach organizations, and clubs. Point being, be picky about the EE prestige for undergrad if that’s going to be your terminal degree. If you plan to go further, look for a school that either has a progressive degree program or will set you up to excel academically and extracurricularly, so you have a better chance getting into a good PhD program. Make sure to look into what research opportunities undergrads have at either university. I’ve heard it’s hard to do undergrad research at many UCs because of budget problems while USC definitely tries to connect and fund students for those opportunities.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard it’s hard to do undergrad research at many UCs because of budget problems”</p>
<p>Completely untrue. This is one of those things people from the outside start that always is amusing to come across. </p>
<p>OP, I would recommend you go to USC if you are really only considering UCSD and USC since not only did you say USC would be free for you, but it is closer to home. Even though USC is in a very unsafe part of LA, it doesn’t matter. Just be safe. USC’s campus can’t be worse than UCSD’s campus. I usually hear from most of my friends about how dead UCSD is at night. Keep in mind, if your family makes under 80k a year you’d technically get free education at any UC as well. However, free USC is better than free UCSD EE in my opinion. Since you didn’t mention anything about Berkeley (which is clearly better than both school’s engineering programs hands down) and only talked about UCSD and USC, I’d say the choice is pretty clear, go ahead and enjoy your free USC education.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard it’s hard to do undergrad research at many UCs because of budget problems”</p>
<p>Well actually he’s sort of right. UC’s don’t make it easy. I came from one. Believe it or not they make you jump through a lot of hoops. Me and my friends (biology majors) were only able to work in a professor’s lab in the last quarter of our 4th year. It’s basically like applying for a job. You have to see what positions/PIs they’ve posted. I tried approaching professors as potential PIs but they didn’t have anything. Meanwhile they guilt trip you, saying things like “Research is hard, yadda yadda”. It’s seriously annoying. I’m not asking to get paid or anything, just a chance to get some experience!!! </p>
<p>USC is not any easier however. Especially considering that a lot of medical research is done at Keck, which is geographically and logistically problematic. Obviously not for an EE, but for me it wouldve been. </p>
<p>I actually think the easisest to find opportunities in research are at small liberal arts colleges.</p>