<p>^^^ pacheight – the thing is, all things are not otherwise equal between USC and Wash U. Granted, weather is a factor that some students might wish to consider, but I’m not sure that the overall obesity rate of the region matters all that much to them. These 2 schools could not be more different in many more meaningful ways. The OP’s son needs to figure out what’s important to him and which is a better fit. I have a son who’s a freshman at Wash U, and he is incredibly happy there. He loves the friendly students, supportive environment, good food, outstanding facilities, collaborative environment, challenging classes, inclusive social life, beautiful campus, great professors, and I could go on and on. Would he be happier if you took Wash U and plunked it down in Southern California? Probably. But I very much doubt he’d be happier at USC.</p>
<p>^^I too think WashU is great! They currently have one of the best mock trial teams in the country! Right up there with the other top teams which are Stanford, USC, Cal, Harvard, and Georgetown!</p>
<p>My point is that environment does matter, it does have a significant influence on an institutions culture and lifestyle. And St. Louis is less desirable than many other areas with great colleges, such as LA, Boston, NYC, Chicago…</p>
<p>USC does have a very large international community, especially in the engineering department. They even have a dorm that focuses on the international experience (Parkside), which many internationals & others choose to live in; it serves international cuisine in their cafeteria. </p>
<p>Because LA is a very large city and is served by many large airports (including LAX), there are often pretty good deals and airfares for you & your child to visit back forth as well. This is something that you may also wish to factor in. It’s always nice to have inexpensive flights or no layovers or connections.</p>
<p>Have already sent you a few PMs about USC; don’t really know much about WashU, since my S didn’t apply.</p>
<p>Hi All, </p>
<p>I seriously do not think the ‘obesity factor’ influences my son’s decision at all. WashU is an amazing place to be at for 4 years, it provides a ‘total’ college experience for any kid, let alone mine who could definitely use the collaborative nurturing environment.</p>
<p>When we first began the college search, he was quite clear on the ‘no cold’ criteria but when we looked deeper we found that WashU offers everything else he was looking for - size/student body/faculty/overall reputation. WashU was a far reach for him according to the school graph but he applied thinking he will take a shot at 3 far reaches and he got in!!</p>
<p>Now, it has boiled down to 3 top choices WashU, USC and UT honors. I know he cannot go wrong with either 3. Knowing my kid I feel he would thrive at an environment like WashU, but I am not sure about the computer engineering part there. Weather has become the least important issue right now. </p>
<p>Forgot to mention - he is waitlisted at CMU for CIT and SCS.</p>
<p>^^which schools personality fits your son the best? </p>
<p>I know a bunch of kids at UT and SC, and some kids (there now) at WashU. All good kids but fairly different personality types/world views.</p>
<p>WashU = smart but nerdy (politically active and cause oriented)
USC = smart but social (business and networking minded)
UT = smart but social (a bit bible belt, conservative and christian)</p>
<p>so which one sounds like a group your son would fit best with?</p>
<p>^^ from what you are saying…USC comes close. He is not extremely social though. Takes time to open up, but is very intuitive and informed just about any issue. He likes to talk about politics too. Can hold his own in any group.</p>
<p>My son is a computer engineer at USC. I have to say the opportunities he is experiencing as a Junior are pretty cool. He loves the place and feels the networking for future engineering jobs on the West Coast, where he wants to be, are amazing.</p>
<p>I can’t see him being happy in St Louis. Given the LA music scene and the outdoor activities he enjoys.</p>
<p>pacheight:
How about New Haven?</p>
<p>BTW: my son will be going to WashU next year. He’s smart and social, in a networking kinda way. As in, “I think I’ll join that club because my friends are on it and it sounds like fun.” (and that’s because he has tons of very diverse friends.)</p>
<p>Just for the record if you speak to most Texans they will tell you that UT and Austin are liberal. Now I know that their perspective of liberal is different from what you will find in the northeast but, although you will find bible belt conservative Christians at UT you will also find a diverse combination of perspectives. A&M is the school known for being conservative. I think it is a misrepresentation to define UT as conservative. I know conservative Texans who would not go to UT because they consider it too liberal. Considering the sheer size of UT you can count on finding whatever niche you are looking for there.</p>
<p>pixeljig–you and your s have a very good problem. 
I know quite a bit about WashU (it’s great) and even more about USC (it’s GREAT). My s had to choose between the two and there was not a bad option between them. He ultimately chose USC for strength of his major and it has turned out to be better than he could have imagined. Great creative, funny, super-intelligent and nice kids in his major. </p>
<p>He’s also found very supportive professors, and the opportunities are endless–including paid research and paid internships. Don’t know as many details about attending WashU to compare, but I do know two great students attending WashU and neither one is nerdy AT ALL. LOL. </p>
<p>Best of luck with your big decision.</p>
<p>As a parent who lives far from where her kids go to school, do not underestimate the transportation factor.
If your kid is going to be commuting from the far East, that give USC a huge boost.
I may have missed something, but why is your son thinking UT is too conservative? Has he hung out on campus?</p>
<p>"He is not extremely social though. Takes time to open up, but is very intuitive and informed just about any issue. "
He sounds like my son 4 years ago. At USC he has found so many smart friends [who are mostly in the engineering program]and is now more socially comfortable than I had ever thought was possible[ and all this despite going to only 1 football game in 4 years and not joining a frat]. And he is happy too! So don’t worry about sending a shy boy to USC. He will thrive!</p>
<p>My S is & has always been a bit “reserved.” He has really blossomed at USC and it has been a good fit for him. He never got into the party or “Greek” scene, but there are many kids like him who are happy while not overly into partying.</p>
<p>Each of these schools undoubtably do have differnt cultures. One of the nice things about a school as diverse as USC is that most of the kids I know who attend there have been able to find a nice group of kids to mesh with because it is so large & diverse.</p>
<p>We are pleased that flights in & out of LAX have been relatively inexpensive and accessible. It’s a very short $15-20 shuttle ride between campus & LAX (cheaper if you are willing to take other transportation). This does add up, since kids often go back & forth over the winter holidays at at some point in the summer, plus if you want to visit.</p>
<p>Many of the kids in engineering at USC do get nice paid options–research, internships, etc., which are helpful for later job searches and grad school. USC’s engineering department has its own placement and internship offices, as well as well-attended job fairs.</p>
<p>Sorry, don’t have experience with the other schools you’re considering. They didn’t appeal to S. He didn’t want to attend a school where weather would be cold. Not sure about the international population at either of those schools either & haven’t seen that mentioned, if that matters to your S.</p>
<p>Himom,</p>
<p>I’m asking this in case any others are interested - are there any safety concerns your S has with USC and the areas nearby that he and fellow students regularly go to? Do you feel comfortable with it?</p>
<p>Also, I know it’s fairly near the main train station, Union Station, and I thought USC had a shuttle to it. Do students use this facility to get to other parts of the greater LA area (or even to San Diego if they wanted) quite a bit?</p>
<p>Dragonmom, my son is not worried about UT being liberal/conservative… because it isn’t an issue at all. Perhaps the classification by pacheight got you confused when I chose USC as to what it offers and not to bring down the other 2 colleges.</p>
<p>At this point I am just trying to learn from other parents the pros and cons of all 3 choices that he has so I can figure out where he will be happiest for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>I’m a recent WashU engineering alum (class of 2008), although my major was Mechanical Engineering. Feel free to PM me with any questions.</p>
<p>UT is conservative and christian, come on, it’s Texas! BTW, there are an unusually high number of Texans attending USC. And as colleges go USC is considered fairly conservative, with what 30 or 40% of the student body coming from the conservative right Orange county community. For USC I think it’s a good balance, most colleges are way to liberal for a balanced view and balanced education.</p>
<p>ucla_dad, no one uses Union station from USC or UCLA, not with jet blue and southwest and three airports to choose from. and the area around SC is fine, there’s a very nice new restaurant and pub called The LAb near Galen center, the redevelopment of downtown LA has finally reached down Flower so new restaurants and shops are opening a few blocks from campus, and the hispanic community on Vermont has some of the fun restaurants that USC students frequent. Is their crime in LA, you bet! But it’s safer around the USC campus than UC Berkeley, Berkeley has violent student on student murders (2 in the last couple years) and rapes. And student on student crime at USC is very low compared to all the UC and CSU’s. Student on student crime is your number one concern…that’s where most of the serious problems happen, especially with boys, girls, and alcohol. The chances that your kid will have a crime issue with someone outside of the college community is actually pretty rare.</p>
<p>^^ Union station is too far from UCLA to be very practical but I know of some USC students who use it regularly to take the train to San Diego and I know the station and USC are pretty close to each other. I was just wondering if USC students used the train station, which also has the subway, to get around the greater LA area. It seems like the proximity to the station would be a plus for USC.</p>
<p>no one I’ve heard of uses the subway, including everyone I know in biz in LA. but I can see the train to san diego might actually be faster than flying for san diego kids. but just about everyone has a car, it’s almost cruel to send your kid to LA without a car:)</p>
<p>My S has used the train to get to San Diego to pick up a car. He didn’t give me details but is very pleased with the inexpensive DASH bus system that serves the area very cheaply ($.25 to $1 for a ride). It was very handy in the 3.5 years he had no car.</p>
<p>He has not said anything about feeling unsafe in or around USC, neither has my D & both have lived on and off campus (tho very near it). For them, it’s key not to do dumb things, like walking around “sketchy” areas, especially late at night or when not 100% yourself (e.g. drunk or otherwise impaired). </p>
<p>D admitted that only once she was mildly apprehensive when she was riding her bike & some males were crossing the street toward her & calling out to her. She rapdily biked off in a different direction & didn’t stop to chat. She and S both feel that you just need to employ the same vigilance you use in any large city, Honolulu included and you’re fine.</p>