<p>I'm a high school junior from Massachusetts and probably won't be able to get out to visit either unless I get accepted to check which ever out before making a decision (I'm looking at schools around me too). I was wondering if some of you could tell me pros/cons of both. </p>
<p>Which is more competitive?
Better dorms, location?
Better marketing program?
Better communications program?
Better financial aid?
Better alumni connections?
Etc.</p>
<p>Thank you :)</p>
<p>You’re OOS for UCLA…expect to pay full freight or close to it. The UCs don’t give much aid to OOS students. They rely heavily on Cal Grants and such and those are for instate students.</p>
<p>USC meets need…but they decide what your need is. They may decide that you have no need or little need. Find out what your determined need might be and find out how much your parents might pay.</p>
<p>Both have strong networking/alums, but USC is likely better in that area.</p>
<p>Hi, thank you for your reply! I actually was able to talk to a representative from UC San Diego at a college fair who said all UC’s actually give a good amount of money to out of state students because they want diversity on campus, but thank you for your help. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>UCLA
USC (maybe?)
UCLA (it’s extremely competitive gpa wise)
USC
USC</p>
<p>M2CK is right. Don’t expect to get much aid from a top UC like UCLA. UCLA is already voted the most economically diverse elite university in the country (determined by the number of pell grant recipients), is the most applied to school in the country,and has a highly diverse student body. But its a public school and they’re mostly concerned with the students in their state. If you want to go there, especially as an out-of-state student, either have rich parents, or be prepared to put yourself in some debt.</p>
<p>I remember reading about one OOS student in our newpaper who said that she was glad that she came to UCLA, but was bitter about the 40k in debt she incurred. (and remember, that’s NOT including interest.)</p>
<p>USC is more likely to give you better FA since apparently they’ve heavily funded it recently. However, neither will give you much if your family makes too much money and they feel your family can meet your need.</p>
<p>Xkait…</p>
<p>To OOS students, the UCs will typically ONLY give need-based aid “up to” the cost of instate.</p>
<p>So, if you have an EFC of $15k, then you’d get about $15k in aid, because the instate COA is about $30k…so you’d be gapped for the remaining $20k. </p>
<p>Maybe that rep thinks getting $15k or so of aid is a lot, but for many people it’s not because the cost is $50k OOS. And the aid that is given includes loans and work study…it’s not a bunch of big grants.</p>
<p>Calif is broke, the UCs are struggling. They’re not giving boatloads of money to OOS students… They want OOS students to pay.</p>