USC, UCLA, or UPenn?

College Search & Selection
21

Three great options. USC is fine as is UCLA.

I understand & appreciate the desire for more pleasant weather.

If this was a discussion about graduate school, then the recommendations would be based on different factors, but this is a discussion about three of the best undergraduate schools in the world.

If all were equal in cost, then I would suggest UCLA or USC because you want a change from the east coast & you want better weather. Of course, Penn is Ivy League and, like it or not, that is valuable nationwide.

22

Penn does have the better football program. But they just lost their starting QB today, Tommy Stevens, to the transfer portal. Oops, my mistake. That’s Penn State that lost their QB today. Not Penn. I get them mixed up. :smiley: :

23

Regardless of a certain sports league, as a parent, a private offers so much more value than a large public: housing, advising, research opportunities, faculty interaction, etc.

24

@bluebayou My visit was kind of anticlimactic :frowning: though I’m sure there are plenty of other students who had a great time. Maybe I’m projecting. I think a main concern of mine with Penn is that there are so many discrete programs within the school (BFS, Huntsman, etc.) that the student body just seems bound to be cliquey

25

also, a slightly related issue: how would you guys say UChicago and UPenn compare? I was waitlisted at the former, and plan to send in a LOCI very soon…only thing keeping me from doing so right now is the possibility that, if by some miracle I do get accepted off the waitlist and I choose UChicago, I won’t be happy there. So the choice between Penn and UChicago would be a very difficult one for me, much more difficult that choosing between USC/UCLA/Penn

26

So it seems you like penny the best so far. So that is a great. And solid choice of course.

Chicago is a different cat than penn. if you like penn, I would pay the deposit and don’t look back.

27

@privatebanker sure, it’s different, but that’s precisely why i like it

28

Chicago is awesome, but not for the faint-at-hear and warm it is not.

a young woman (from SoCal) with whom I work is a Penn grad (Sociology) in Arts & Sciences and she had a blast in Phlly. Agree with pb send in your deposit and go buy a sweatshirt.

29

I was thinking as I was reading this that I don’t know in what alternate universe this guy lives, but then you clarified and fixed things. It’s true though, I heard from a friend I was talking to one time who said that so-and-so received a scholarship to an Ivy League school, Penn State. I stated excitedly with a straight face, “Good for him!” Then later I broke the news to my friend that it was probably the University of Pennsylvania.

Really, though, OP, you wouldn’t be able to see either USC or UCLA until after May 1st. Just send in your deposit to Penn. Thinking about (edit: keeping) the other two viable would only result in some sort of sunk cost.

30

Penn is the move. Better prestige and much stronger faculty and student body. If you are super into LA and parties and care less about your education you should go to the others. Don’t get me wrong, they are all great schools. All three are among the best in the US. But Penn is among the best in the world. Do not miss your chance at the Ivy League if price isn’t a factor.