<p>Hey guys! I'm not deciding between these schools but my friend is. I already committed to USC Marshall so I'm not a troll, either. Please take my questions seriously :) I am posting this in both school's forums so that I can get opinions from both sides.</p>
<p>He was accepted to USC for Industrial and Systems Engineering, under which he would be on the 'Information Systems' track. However, he was also admitted to CMU's Information Systems program (one of the best in the country).</p>
<p>I'll break it down for you: The academics are comparable at both schools, but CMU probably has an edge over USC with regards to information systems. What are your opinions on the academics at each school? Class sizes should be relatively similar. CMU, however, has an accelerated IS undergrad degree + MBA program that he's interested in. Getting an MBA is something that he probably wants to do in the future. In terms of a career, he wants to manage and implement technology for companies. Which program is best for his career choice? I saw a ranking with Viterbi as 10th or 11th (can't remember) overall but how is the department he was accepted to in particular? </p>
<p>Now the main problem he has with CMU is the social life. USC has a phenomenal social life compared to CMU (at least from what he has heard). There are, simply put, not enough girls at CMU. Plus, there are a TON of beautiful girls at USC and CMU isn't so lucky. He likes the strong school spirit at USC and the opportunity to meet people through sporting events (football, etc.). He also likes the more relaxed atmosphere at USC as compared to the uptight, competitive atmosphere at CMU. Can anyone corroborate or shoot down these views? Which school has the social life he's looking for?</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to read through all of that and answer honestly! :D</p>
<p>If he’s more interested in the “hard-core”, engineering track then the choice would have to be CMU. On the other hand, he will probably have a more enjoyable and pleasant experience at USC. It’s really up to him; I suggest that he just follow what his gut feeling is, because that may be the ultimate determinant in this case.</p>
<p>We all know he’s talking about Southern California vs Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>P.S. in the original post, he said he committed to USC Marshall, which is of course the business school at Southern California. And he obviously isn’t going to compare Central Michigan University to So Cal.</p>
<p>^Yeah…your investigative skills aren’t really impressive are they?</p>
<p>To OP: Tell him to visit. It’s all about vibes. Nothing we say will change his mind. It’s all about visiting (talking to students, attending a lecture, going to a party if he’s into that, etc).</p>
<p>As kobudnik said, there are plenty of clues on the OP that indicates the OP is talking about USC, aka University of Southern California, and CMU, aka Carnegie Mellon University (Central Michigan obviously doesn’t have a recognizable Information System Program). </p>
<p>There are plenty of Harvard bound students on this board. You might want to consider giving off an intelligent impression here.
That said, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Let’s not make it a big deal than it already is.</p>
<p>USC sounds pretty tempting to me, especially if the long-term goal is management. CMU is pretty hard core, and the social scene is going to be nothing compared to USC.</p>