USC v. UT v. SMU v. Texas A&M

College Search & Selection
1

<p>First I'm an international student, which makes it infinitely harder to get money from schools, so I'm very thankful for where I am now. </p>

<p>I was offered the Trustee scholarship from USC, which is full-tuition, leaving about $15,000 each year to pay. They offer no financial aid to internationals. However, the word is that there are other scholarships available for sophomores and up+. I was accepted into their Freshman Science Honors and still waiting for Thematic Options. </p>

<p>I was accepted into the UT Dean Scholars and Engineering Honors. I only get about $3000-4000 a year from NMF. I also get about $3,000 a year from Engineering, that is if I attend, which I really don't want to. Dean Scholars also has from $1000-10,000 in continuing student scholarships that i can apply to as a sophomore. I would pay in-state tuition as I'm a legal resident. Essentially I have to pay the same amount as USC, if not more to go to UT, if I decide to go under Dean Scholars, which I strongly prefer over Engineering. </p>

<p>I was offered a full-ride to SMU, which would only leave me books to pay, and I can cover that w/ the NMF $2,500 scholarship, so essentially it's free. Honors program is essentially guaranteed by being a scholarship kid. </p>

<p>I received approx $65,000 total from TAMU, with in-state tuition, which leaves about $3000-4000 that I have to pay each year. Honors is guaranteed. </p>

<p>Transportation is not a problem for me since my dad works for a major airline, which means huge discounts on airfare. </p>

<p>I'm planning to study in biology, concentration on human biology, and double-major if possible in international relations, concentration in US-East Asia relations. </p>

<p>I'm leaning very strongly towards USC, b/c of its breadth of academic opportunities. If I choose UT Dean Scholars, I'm essentially locked into the natural sciences b/c I heard it would very difficult to get into Plan II and double major there. TAMU is basically good for pre-med and engineering, but nothing else, and I don't want to lock myself into that either. SMU is obviously the most financially smart choice, but its programs are rather mediocre. </p>

<p>I'm looking for a place to experience, learn, and grow as a person, but also to get into to grad/med/law school. I still haven't decided if I want to do pre-med or pre-law, since I have an interest in both. </p>

<p>My predicament is that USC or UT is obviously better for the prestige/med/law school placement, but it would cost more. TAMU/SMU is more financially smart but rather mediocre education. </p>

<p>My parents can afford the $15,000 a year and are willing to. However, they will have to sacrifice a lot for that price, meaning that if we buy a house, we would have about $500 leftover each month after house and college payments, a rather scary thought. My parents are also considering just not buying a house at all, but renting an apartment is about the same price these days as monthly house payments, so that only alleviate $100-400 a month. I don't want my parents to spend each month for the next 4 years and 3-4 more for grad/med/law school scratching the bottom of their moneybags just so I can go to where I want to, but USC really appeals to me. </p>

<p>What do you think?
^______________^</p>

2

<p>I would take SMU off the list. It just isn't as good as the others, even with the money. I agree that UT or USC are the top choices. If your parents are really OK with the money, go with USC. Texas is great, of course, and remember that med school admissions is very numbers-based and the prestige of your undergraduate school isn't that important.</p>

3

<p>^bump^
little feedback. sigh...</p>

4

<p>Where do you want to live after graduation? If you're thinking west coast, then definitely USC. They're alumni network is famous. If you want to live in Texas, then either UT or A&M. If you're wanting to live in Dallas (and only Dallas), then SMU.</p>

5

<p>I'm going to Guess you're from the Philippines,
well USC and UT are going to have the most Filipinos...or even if your not filipino...Asians in general.
Aside from race, if you're truly financially squeezed, SMU is the way to go. It is not as prestigious as UT or USC. But it ranked 67 in the US according to US News and world Report.
The Campus is nice though, I live in Dallas.
USC used to be the SMU of the USA. It has become more prestigious though, and both SMU and USC are going to be more upper class students.
i would go to UT if I had the money, USC is ranked higher, but I personally think UT is better for engineering.
A&M is good too, but I would stick with either USC, UT, or SMU (purely due to the money).
SMU itself is not very asian, but the surrounding areas (Northwest Dallas county, Southern Collin County, Southeastern Denton County, and Eastern Tarrent County...AKA the certain areas around the metropolitan area you will get to know if you go) can be strongly asian.
It is really up to you, Personally I would try and go to UT, and if you plan to stay on the west coast...plan to pay out of the nose for you expenses...USC would be a 2nd, SMU a 3rd..and A&M 4th...</p>

6

<p>lol. i'm curious as to how you guessed i'm a filipino, b/c i'm really a Chinese.
i'm a hopeless boyband fangirl. lol.
so USC means a lot more access to Krn/Ch/Jp concerts.
last Christmas, Jay Chou held his concert @ USC Galen Center, which is just super super cool. </p>

<p>I also live in Dallas, and I feel no great love for it.
I'm really interested in international relations, and engineering will definitely not be my pursued major. </p>

<p>Overall, USC is really a super great fit, but sigh....the money! money!
seriously, i find myself in a rather ridiculous situation b/c on the USC board, the trustee is generally a huge financially relief, whileas I'm actually complaining about how little money i got. sigh...</p>

7

<p>bump again^^
i'd like more opinions.
^_____^</p>

8

<p>How is SMU's Honors program? Have you done much research on it? I don't know much about the school but I just saw the test scores and I am surprised it's actually higher than I thought and it's about the same as UT Austin, despite the fact UT is well-known.</p>

<p>Is housing gauranteed for 4 years at USC? Is not, your expense could potentially go up due to high rent in LA and you may even need a car in that case which would further drives up the cost significantly.</p>

<p>Also, if you are planning to go to law/med schools, the cost for that could be a lot higher than the cost of going to UT/USC now, unless you plan to go to the programs in your state of residence, which would bring you back to Texas.</p>

<p>In your situation, I'd give SMU a serious thought.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
and double-major if possible in international relations, concentration in US-East Asia relations.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>USC is in LA so there are a lot of Asians here, fit in with your major. I beleive USC has lots of internationals as well.</p>

10

<p>to Sam Lee.
The honors i'm referring to is their University Honors, which is kinda like USC's TO Program, but a little less difficult.
They offer some pretty cool classes, and the caliber of students I've met during my scholarship interv visit weren't disappointing.
However, the campus, while nice and peaceful, can also be described as quite dead.
Though I found the director of the President's Scholar program to be quite intellectual and concerned for students, I just didn't get that feeling from the President of SMU himself. From the school overall, I just got this feel of almost false vanity. Wiki had SMU colors as "harvard red and yale blue," which didn't impress me at all. </p>

<p>USC only guarantees housing for the first year, and sophomore year is pretty easy too. Their apartments are actually somewhat cheaper than dorms, but that's w/o utilities. There's almost no way that I will be getting a car b/c I already hate driving in Dallas, and we have polite drivers. Roads in LA are too frightening. </p>

<p>I probably will be back in-state for grad school, but I'm also considering UCLA/Berkeley for possib grad school. How hard is it to get residency in Cal as an international? For TX, it was 3 years. </p>

<p>Thanks for your reply though, made me think twice about SMU. ^___________^</p>

11

<p>I am not sure about residency of UCLA/Berkeley but I do know for UCLA MBA (I checked before), the tuition was 27K in-state last time I checked. They don't really give much discount for in-state residents when it comes to MBA programs. I don't know anything about the law/med school programs however.</p>

<p>As for what you said about apartments being cheaper than dorms, are you referring to some USC-affiliated apartment buildings that I don't know about? In general, the rent here has a huge range, depending on the area but nothing is cheap.</p>

12

<p>For UT Law, the instate is around $38k, while for OOS, it's about $54k.
so i'm assuming there's a large difference. </p>

<p>For the apartments, yea, they're the USC owned apartments. I have heard good/bad stories abt renting apartments around USC, so it varies on luck.</p>

13

<p>This may helps, I got this from
The</a> University of Southern California School of Law (Gould)</p>

<p>
[quote]
A cheaper alternative for California residents is archrival UCLA Law School, which has in-state tuition around $28,000 and out-of-state tuition for just over $37,000. UCLA Law School also allows non-residents to get residency in one year, thus those looking at USC Law School should also consider applying to UCLA Law School.

[/quote]
</p>

14

<p>Actually, the 27K (may actually be 28K according to post above) is in-stae tuition only. So if you add r&b, it's gonna be even more than UT.</p>

<p>So it looks like professional programs, at least the ones we mentioned, aren't cheap even for in-state. So I guess this gives you more reason to consider SMU.</p>

15

<p>ok. just researched.
apparently in-state tuition is off limits since I hold an alien visa.
If I go to USC, and attend UT Law, I will be paying OOS for the first year, and can get in-state for the rest of the 2-3 years.</p>

<p>i'm going to be in debt for grad school either way, b/c no way my parents can pay for all that. it just varies on how much.</p>

16

<p>USC actually guarantees housing freshman and sophomore year now</p>

17

<p>You can borrow loans for grad school, so it's not like you can't go to those schools at all. But as an international holding an alien visa, you will have to borrow that from banks, not from the US govt. </p>

<p>Or you can save that 60K by going to SMU and use that for your grad school.</p>

18

<p>The overall campus culture is so different at UT, A&M and SMU that I have a hard time seeing someone fitting in at all three places. I guess the fierce rivalry between A&M and UT usually prevents people from applying to both. I was just wondering if you were seeing yourself as participating in campus-wide activities (football games mainly) and traditions or if you would just be studying and socializing with other Asian students? (not that either is a bad thing) I think feeling like you fit in and being happy socially is also important to success in college.</p>

19

<p>lulupony wrote: "lol. i'm curious as to how you guessed i'm a filipino, b/c i'm really a Chinese." </p>

<p>I've never met an english speaking pilipina/o who didn't quickly point out that they're actually Chinese :)</p>

<p>As to your question, if you feel <em>that</em> strongly about USC, the $15,000 per year is probably worth it. There is of course a much stronger asian community in Los Angleles than Dallas. That is why the UC campuses range from 42% to 55% Asian (they disallowed race balancing in the CA ligislature about four years ago, which impacted downward the Asian acceptance % figures, so it's about 90% stats and 10% life challenges that makes up the admissions formula now).</p>

<p>You could probably work about 12-15 hours per week and more during the summer to repay about $5,000 - $7,000 of that $15,000 hit to your parents. I worked 15 hours per week on campus through college. You'd be surprised how much time fills up with social things you really aren't that excited about when you're not working a little during the week and on the weekend. You could also try becoming an RA in the dorms which pays very well but is also a huge time commitment. I'm just saying there are ways to put a dent in that $15,000 differential.</p>

20

<p>To DunninLA.</p>

<p>hahaha.
really, I'm not filipino. I'm from mainland China. lol. </p>

<p>and thanks for your advice, I'm definitely considering on-campus jobs.
How much time commitment is RA.
The financial officer I met during reception said about 10-15 hrs/wk.
Will it seriously detract from my time since i'm pre-med/law student w/ possible double major?</p>