USC vs. Stanford?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hello :)</p>

<p>Well I was just clicking around on CC trying to find some interesting stuff about some colleges I'm planning to apply to - from which my first two choices are USC and Stanford.</p>

<p>And well... other than some stats, I couldn't really see how those colleges were similar and different. Like, say... dorms, or general social scenes, etc. Anything about anything will be appreciated :)</p>

<p>Also, I really don't know which school I'd be more of a "match" to... I'll write down my stats below, so if you can, please leave your opinion :P</p>

<p>Grade: 11
High School Type: public school in suburban Toronto, ON, Canada
Intended major: criminology (sociology) and journalism (or creative writing)</p>

<p>Academics:
- my school doesn't offer AP or IB :( but has enriched courses for math and English.</p>

<p>GPA - (so far in gr. 11)
English (enriched) 86
Instrumental music - band 99
Chemistry 90
Physics 95
Repertoire - didn't get my mark yet... but I'm sure it's over 95.
Next semester - Anthro/Psych/Sociology, French, Instrumental music-strings, and math.</p>

<p>SAT 1: M790, W670, CR640
SAT 1 (2nd time): M740, W690, CR610 (oh nos... it dropped... probably will study again and take it again in my senior year)
SAT 2: still waiting for my math level 2 score D: nervous.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Yearbook: (grade 9, 10, 11, and hopefully next year, too!) Head of photography.
- Newspaper committee: (grade 11, and next year, and more if possible) Editor
- Jazz band: (grade 9, 10, 11, and next year, and more if possible) Bassist, pianist
- Concert band: (grade 10, 11, and next year, and more) Bassist, percussionist
- Marching band: (grade 11, and next year) percussionist</p>

<p>Volunteering:
- Hockey - student coach for my house league & summer camp.
- Peer tutoring physics, math, and music
- Habitat for Humanity
- Daily Bread Food Bank
(I know these are kind of all over the place and they don't really show my passion for writing or profiling, but just "volunteering" in itself is one of my passions :D)</p>

<p>So... yeah. It kind of changed from "USC vs. Stanford" to "chance me for both colleges" thread... but oh well ;) your replies are all valued :) Thank you in advance!</p>

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<p>I don’t really know much about USC as I’m a junior applying there myself, but I know Stanford very well as both of my parents used to work there, I spent most of my life in Palo Alto, and my high school was across the street from the campus.</p>

<p>Stanford is ridiculously hard to get into. You could be a varsity captain, have a 4.0, an extremely good SAT score (over 2300), an intern at Lockheed Martin, and still not get in. I have a theory that they like to throw up all their applications and just accept which ever ones end on the table. However, I am positive that the majority of students are true geniuses who are passionate about everything they do.</p>

<p>That said, I love Stanford and Palo Alto a lot. The atmosphere is definitely different from other places (I moved recently, and hated it). Many people who reside in Palo Alto work for tech companies like Apple or Google, and are some of the most intelligent I know. The people aren’t very snobby even though most are very well off. It does get kind of boring being a suburban town, but I never found a lack of things to do. Most involve eating downtown :). San Francisco is pretty close (45 min by car or Caltrain) and there are no shortage of things to do. Palo Alto itself tends to have a lot of middle school and high school kids swarming around. Also, most people are forced to live on campus because Palo Alto real estate is ridiculous.</p>

<p>I haven’t spent much time at USC but I love LA. The weather is warmer than that of Northern California and it’s definitely a busy, city atmosphere. The public transportation sucks in LA but I’ve heard that USC is developing some sort of metro system. I know USC is a lot easier to get into than Stanford, but it’s also a really good school with many different majors and different types of students.</p>

<p>I think the main difference between the two schools is the different academic atmosphere (USC is probably a lot more lax) and the two cities surrounding the campuses. </p>

<p>I hope this helps! I am looking to get into USC myself :slight_smile: and maybe we’ll be classmates one day! I’d love to go to Stanford but I doubt that I’d be able to get in and I’m a little sick of it. There’s a great shopping center on campus though! If you get a chance, you should take a trip visit both schools to get the feel of each one.</p>

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<p>your stats are way below what you need for stanford</p>

<p>and anyone would be a fool to attend usc instead</p>

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<p>@icy.jennie.jenje: thank you for your response :slight_smile: and yeah, who knows, maybe we’ll be classmates! I’ve visited Stanford but not USC :frowning: I might visit this summer, though.</p>

<p>@kmzizzle: I know they are but I’m working hard to improve my SAT score to at least 2200. And… well I’m fine with my stats being below Stanford’s expectations but why would you call people wanting to attend USC fools? That’s not so nice :(</p>

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<p>I think kmzizzle meant that you’d be a fool to attend usc over stanford. probably because of the gap in difficulty of getting accepted between the two schools</p>

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<p>If that’s what s/he meant, well. But does higher acceptance rate necessarily mean that it’s not as good?</p>

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<p>Well I mean really, Stanford is…Stanford. It’s hard to argue with that.</p>

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<p>Hahaha. I guess I should just give up on Stanford, then…</p>

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<p>Mmmaythe, not to discourage you, but let’s be realistic here–I don’t think anyone, however strong your credentials are, is a match for Stanford. It’s just as much a reach for someone with 4.0uw and 2400SAT while being the class president and the captain of 5 varsity teams. Like what Jennie said, much of it depends on luck, and subjective excellence is merely the minimum they ask from their students.</p>

<p>As for the comparison between the two schools, I suggest you take a look at the other post that had similar discussions going on. Both are amazing schools regardless.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/689810-usc-trustee-stanford.html?highlight=usc+stanford[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/689810-usc-trustee-stanford.html?highlight=usc+stanford&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There should be more of these around, just couldn’t find them all at this moment…take advantage of the search forum tool, and best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your response, mimizist :)</p>

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<p>No, no, don’t give up on Stanford. Two people from my school got in to Stanford with SAT’s lower than yours are right now; trust me. And lower by about 100 points. So don’t freak out too much, seriously. Stanford weighs your passion and the essays extremely heavily. (Though several people from my school who have gotten in didn’t have impressive EC’s and no real passions, so even that does not always hold true.) And I don’t think one would be a fool to choose USC over Stanford. I know some who have done it, and I can see many reasons why they would. It all depends on you and your fit with the school. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Oh god I’m so confused.</p>

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<p>^Welcome to the college application process. :)</p>

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<p>Hahaha, I guess if this is how it has to be, I gotta suck it up and test my luck :P</p>

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<p>Yes, definitely! Just apply to both, see where you get in…if you’re lucky enough to get in to both, then there would be more of a need for this thread. ;)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the encouragement - or I think it was encouragement :P</p>

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<p>It was! :)</p>

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<p>Aww thanks :slight_smile:
Awesome to have at least one person encouraging me!</p>

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<p>^ I thought I was too!
it’s okay though if you didn’t get my kindness…jk :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I was actually being pretty harsh.
In any case, welcome to the encouraging Trojan (wannabe) family =)</p>

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<p>Oh nos D: you were def. encouraging, too :stuck_out_tongue: thank you mimizist!</p>

<p>Around this time of the year in 2011, I’ll be finished with all my application… whoaa. I sometimes still feel like I’m in grade 6 or something…</p>