USC vs. Santa Clara

<p>Hi all. My little sister was accepted to both Santa Clara and USC earlier this month, and she's having trouble deciding between the two. From talking to her, I think she would be more excited to go to USC, but she's worried about the cost. She has received financial aid from both schools, and it looks like at USC she would have to get around $13,000 a year in loans, whereas at Santa Clara she would only need to take out $5,000 a year. If any current students could talk about their experiences with engineering at either school, she would really appreciate it. Specifically, she's curious about the quality of the departments, availability of research/internships, undergraduate atmosphere, and career prospects. Thanks in advance for the help!</p>

<p>Are you from California and are you familiar with either school? Might be too early to know, but would she want to stay in Norcal or Socal after graduating? They are very different in atmosphere, but both solid private schools. SCU has a great reputation in the Bay Area, as USC does in socal. Hopefully a student chimes in since you are looking for their perspective. I am really familiar with both schools from an atmosphere and parent perspective - know a lot of students at both schools.</p>

<p>Santa Clara feels much smaller-- both in number of students and the campus. Completely different feel than USC. Both are good for engineering and we know successful graduates of both schools who are working in SV tech. Many of the Santa Clara student we know are commuters and went to the Catholic high schools in the bay area. </p>

<p>My son is deciding between Santa Clara, USC and Cal Poly for engineering. </p>

<p>His brother is a fourth year EE major at Santa Clara, and we’ve been impressed with the small class sizes and individual attention he can get if he asks for it. Most students live on campus for a year or two, then share rental houses within walking distance of the campus. The engineering school has close relationships with many tech companies in Silicon Valley, and it’s easy to get internships. </p>

<p>USC has a bigger engineering school, more grad students, but also more engineering majors are offered. USC has more interesting humanities offerings, PAC 12 sports, and seems more Greek-oriented.</p>

<p>Cal Poly has a nice, small town vibe, and a well regarded engineering school.</p>

<p>We’re going to Explore USC tomorrow, and another Cal Poly visit Friday.</p>

<p>It’s going to be a tough choice, but he’s leaning toward Santa Clara.</p>

<p>We had those last year with UCLA thrown in the mix so I know what you are going through. Great choices to have! Does he know which discipline in engineering? SCU is structured differently for CS, from what I recall, there is CS and CE together, then straight CS is in the math department. Cal Poly was crossed off because he wanted flexibility to move within engineering easily and/or double major without consequences and ease getting classes needed. I like that he can do what he finds interests him without penalty. I would think you have that at SCU as well as USC. Some just really like the vibe at CP. Good luck!</p>

<p>Our son was fortunate to have to choose between Cal Poly SLO, USC, and Santa Clara for engineering. He chose SCU; he’s now a junior majoring in computer science and engineering (formerly known as computer engineering). I think he is well placed in Silicon Valley for employment upon graduation, but I’m quite sure he would have done well if he had gone to either of the other two schools. In the end his decision was based on wanting a smaller campus, proximity to SV, and living in NorCal (we are Americans living overseas).</p>

<p>Thank you everyone for the wonderful replies. It sounds like many people have had great engineering experiences at both schools, which is reassuring. Right now my sister is mostly interested in either aerospace or astronautical engineering, although she’s well aware that her interests are likely to evolve once she’s in college. From the input here it sounds like she definitely has a tough choice ahead of her, but she’s fortunate to have two great options :)</p>

<p>You mention that she is planning $13,000 in loans for her first year - she will only be eligible for a $5,500 Stafford loan - are your parents planning to take out the additional $7,500 in loans? It is unlikely your sister will qualify for that additional amount on her own without a cosigner.</p>

<p>sorry to jump in here but I was looking at roughly the same amt in loans. Is that a manageable amt over the course of 4 yrs(52K?)</p>