USC vs UCLA (which is harder to get into?)

Transfer Students
1

<p>From what I've read, it seems that UCLA is much harder to get into than USC. The avg GPA for UCLA I've read is 3.6+, whereas I've heard that with USC it's usually 3.3/3.4+. I got these stats from Collegeboard.com though (Transfer stats only):</p>

<p>UCLA:
Applicants - 13,679
Admitted - 4,954
36.2% acceptance rate</p>

<p>USC:
Applicants - 8,131
Admitted - 2,245
27.6% acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Now I know some people may say that the applicant pool may be different, but generally (judging by what I've seen, at least) is that most people apply to both UCLA and USC (at least here at SMC). So is USC tougher to get into? I've seen most people use USC as their safety from UCLA. Or are these numbers skewed a bit? I remember that USC last year had around 2100 acceptees and 6700 applicants. It looks as if they claimed they received 1,500 more applicants this past year than from the year before. I applied to USC as a business major, and thought it was easier to get into than UCLA. However 27.6% makes it look grim, that's nearly 1 in 4 only.</p>

2

<p>"The avg GPA for UCLA I've read is 3.6+,
USC it's usually 3.3/3.4+."</p>

<p>Alright, i am not saying you are wrong, but collegeboard does not offer that claims you just said above!</p>

3

<p>the average for ucla is about 3.57 for college of letters and science.</p>

<p>but it all depends on the major. for instance biz econ, even 3.8 is not safe.</p>

4

<p>Actually, the average GPAs are about the same:</p>

<p>USC - 3.57 (as stated in the transfer guide)
UCLA - 3.56 (as stated on the 2005 UCLA transfer profile)</p>

<p>However, from what I've seen on this board, UCLA seems to be a bit more selective, but not greatly.</p>

5

<p>Sorry for not being more clear. The 3.3/3.4 (USC) & 3.6+ (UCLA) GPA's are not from collegeboard.com, they're just unofficial numbers that I've come up with based on what I've seen from reading these boards. I'm hoping that USC's numbers are inflated, as 27% does sound tough.</p>

6

<p>UCLA is harder to get into than USC. How can you even compare the two?</p>

7

<p>um.. generally speaking UCLA is a bit harder to get into than USC. However, for business / biz-econ UCLA is really tough. Average transfer is about a 3.7+ while for marshall its around 3.6</p>

8

<p>All of the above posts must be assuming that you are instate. If you are out of state UCLA is VERY hard to get into. UCLA's entering class is like 5% out of state and this includes atheletes and special interest students. UCLA is one of the hardest schools to get into from out of state.</p>

9

<p>Actually, the 5% out of state at UCLA is the number of out of state attending. They admit more like 27% of out of state but only 5% actually attend. Still, it is very hard to get in.</p>

10

<p>The reason why UCLA is the hardest school to get into from outa-state is because of the name. If I was from Idaho, I woudln't want to go outa state to a school named UC Riverside or UC Santa Cruz. UCLA sounds more interesting!</p>

<p>On subject, UCLA is generally tougher to get into than USC. A lot of the reason has to do with the prestige of UCLA and the cost. However, you can't beat USC's private school perks.</p>

11

<p>...even if you were in state you wouldn't want to attend uc riverside =)</p>

12

<p>Well... don't look down on some lower tier UCs; they deserve some credit!</p>

13

<p>The UC's are tough to get into out-of-sate but not as hard as everybody is saying. I couldn't find the numbers on UCLA, but Berkeley had a 30% acceptance rate for in state students... 2760/8889. For out-of-state students they only received 310 apps!!! They accepted 64 so that's a 20% acceptance rate. So... we see that it is tougher out-of-state with 30% to 20% acceptance chances, but far from impossible. Maybe the low amount of out-of-state apps have to do with many of the falsehoods surrounding the out-of-state acceptances.</p>

<p>Heres the link if interested:
<a href="http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/transfer.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/transfer.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

14

<p>Could it be because there are less transfer students applying for more spots? I'm not sure what the number is, but the freshman admit % is just ridiculous- lower than 36%. I think overall, UCLA has one of the toughest admit % in the country. USC has less spots open (less than half actually), but maybe the quality of the applicant pool differs as well.</p>

15

<p>I agree with bfired. Also, since UCLA is part of the UC system, you have a lot of students that don't really stand much of a chance at LA applying because its only a checkmark - and 60 bucks away. While USC you'd have to fill out a completely different form/essays.</p>

16

<p>From research and personal collegues, UCLA is harder.
My son were accepted to all 4 colleges that he applied. He chose UCLA as it is a top notch school for Clinical Psychology. He received a 4 year merit scholarships to all four schools as well. Here is his stats that may help those who are wondering. Be well rounded as much as possible not just academic. </p>

<p>GPA: 4.78
Class rank:3 out of 568
AP classes: passed all 11 AP classes -calculus
College classes: 9 units (3 three classes)
SAT: 1980
Personal Statement: Be bold and tell them what’s real in your heart. Also, they’lll know when your statement was coached by pros or teachers. For example, a 17 year old wants world peace, freedom, and democracry for all people.<br>
AP Art studio- Art works got to 1st place and displayed at the Art Exhibits.
Volunteer - Volunteer at the church, alzheimber facility, and blue cross.
Music- Take piano class
I hope this helps!!!</p>

17

<p>Please use old threads for information only, do not post and revive them.</p>

<p>If you click on a member’s name, you will be given an option to see their posting history. If you look at the OP, you will see that they were last active on CC over 7 years ago and has likely graduated long ago.</p>

<p>Closing.</p>