USC vs. UCLA

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I am trying to decide between usc and ucla.
I thought college visitation was the best way to understand the school, but since the schools are so big, I could not really gain the profound insights from the schools. It felt like I just swept through the superficial layer.</p>

<p>so if any of your CCers can help me :) it would be greatly appreciated</p>

<p>1) I'm majoring in bio major. how hard is it to get good grades (3.5-3.8 gpa) at each school? I know I need to study real hard--i just want some more tangible information on this.</p>

<p>2) I heard that class size at ucla and usc is really big. How hard is it to concentrate in such classes? is it really impossible to get any personal attention? I'm not really a big fan of big classes, but I think i can deal with it.. what do you guys say about this part? Are the bio classes really big too?</p>

<p>3) I heard that the percentage of people who graduate from college in 4 years at ucla is really low. Is this true for everyone? or only for true slackers? what about usc? do you guys know anything about this?</p>

<p>4) what is the common social scene at ucla and usc? how often do people "hang out" and what do they ususally do?</p>

<p>i think this is about it for now. your help is greatly appreciated. thank you!!</p>

2

<p>Hello. Did you cross-posted in the USC and UCLA forums? Anyway, I can answer a couple of your questions on UCLA: </p>

<p>1) There are a lot of pre-meds here. We have the most pre-meds in that nation (which is not to suggest that we send out the most students to medical schools). Almost all of the math/science classes you need for pre-med at UCLA are curved. I can't really give you info. about the difficulty of grading... it just depends! :( </p>

<p>2) Yeah, UCLA has huge lecture hall classes for all of the classes you need for medical school. Just sit in the front row if the number of people distracts you. It's not impossible to get personal attention. If you're worried about personal attention, perhaps USC would be a better choice for you (I don't know how the classes are at USC but I know they're smaller). So yea post on the USC forum too for advice. I've managed to get more personal attention by going to office hours of both my prof and TAs. Heck, for awhile, I stopped going to discussion for my lectures and just went to the TAs' office hours so that I could get one-on-one tutoring. I always had issues with the review sessions for the math/chem/bio classes I have taken. They were just so big and frustrating especially if you had a lot of questions (hence, go to office hours). Yes, bio-major classes (and yes bio classes themselves) are large. If you're worried about size, you probably shouldn't go to UCLA. </p>

<p>3) I don't have an answer for this. I think partially is that it's a large state university with a lot of people falling through the cracks. Plus, it's kinda hard to get your classes sometimes if you don't have priority enrollment. </p>

<p>4) At UCLA, there are all kinds of people. The frat scene is on Thursday nights. It tends to be the same type of people attending though. People go to Westwood... for those who have cars, they go wherever... Ack. I wish I could give you a better answer. There are 20-something thousand undergrads - it's not like all of them are doing similar activities every weekend.</p>

3

<p>I go to UCLA but have visited USC many times </p>

<p>UCLA Is more academic and harder to get good grades. YOu will learn more but work harder. Of courrse there's a greek party scene and all but it's not dominant. its in a nicer area BUT IS MORE INTENSE, more crowded.</p>

<p>USC is college lite, the atmosphere there is very laid back. it helps if you have money there since veerything is so expensive (whenever i visit i end up spending 5x more than i would at ucla). no one takes classes seriously and people ditch alot. party and greek scene is dominant.</p>

<p>basically, go to usc if you have money and dont want to do much work. ucla for the serious and more diverse student. class sizes ARE the same at both schools.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]

USC is college lite, the atmosphere there is very laid back. it helps if you have money there since veerything is so expensive (whenever i visit i end up spending 5x more than i would at ucla). no one takes classes seriously and people ditch alot. party and greek scene is dominant.</p>

<p>basically, go to usc if you have money and dont want to do much work. ucla for the serious and more diverse student. class sizes ARE the same at both schools.

[/quote]

oh please. are you serious? well you must be since you posted it. i go to USC and that borders on offensive to me. even IF you don't consider the honors programs at USC, i don't think it's a matter of relaxed academics so much as it is a lack of an overly competitive attitude and instead one of cooperation, something i think is very good. even in my GEs, everyone from frat guys to engineers form study groups. i have a lot of friends in Honors Physics, a class where i would imagine at an academically "intense" place like UCLA people would compete to bust the curve. however, anyone i've ever talked to in the class says they work on problem sets together, spending up to 12-13 hours several days a week collaborating on them. on top of that, the professor will often hold office hours well past 900 at night, saying his wife and kids are "understanding" (and this guy's very friendly, and a huge football fan actually, so i'd believe that he's not just ignoring them). the difference i feel is "work hard, play hard" at USC when UCLA leans more toward the "work hard." though i'd venture to say that students at USC learn the same amount as at UCLA, but we just know when to take breaks. i have more good friends at UCLA than i could count, i've visited the campus, toured it's academic facilities, talked to students, and done other research...so i'm not just arguing for the point of rivalry. i don't mean to detract from UCLA, but i do mean to say that USC is more than comparable academically, if not in the same way.</p>

<p>i don't even want to argue the more diverse student facet of your argument, but i will if it comes up.</p>

<p>many of these reasons are weighed things in favor toward USC instead of UCLA when i had to choose. the academics at both are very comparable already, yet USC still continues to rise in reputation, rankings, quality of applicants, etc.</p>

<p>i will agree that USC nickel-and-dimes everyone somewhere along the line...Odwalla juices are $3.45 whereas anywhere off campus it's about $1.60, or meals at the dining halls are roughly $10 if paid in cash. however, that's only in contrast to the fact that they can dish out grants and scholarships that, more often than not, makes their tuition at least as affordable as one at a state school like UCLA.</p>

5

<p>and to be clear, i meant that USC has more of a cooperative atmosphere instead of competitive.</p>

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<p>i agree. USC is a good school with plenty of competition and difficulty. It's just a different school from UCLA in every other way. Don't pick one school over because its easier to get grades or whatever. NOT TRUE! (never do this when picking ANY school).</p>

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<p>well phobos i suppose you are the CC minority at usc, the vast majority of your trojan buds are partying their days away, or if not partying, then screwing around/wasting time. that i hear from many people there. agaisn, its a big enough school where you can find your academic niche.</p>

<p>now it isn't a jab to say usc is academic lite. personally, i dont care for academics, and i would be fine doing less work for a good degree. usc gives a good degree, and you dont ahve ot work hard for it. pretty good deal IMO.</p>

<p>i went to ucla b/c of cost and location. if i had more money and didnt mind the campus, usc would bemy placce. party party party, get the degree, trust fund. :)</p>

8

<p><em>sigh</em></p>

<p>What else would you expect from a guy over at Cal State Westwood.... :)</p>

<p>I knew that any thread titled "USC vs. UCLA" would go downhill quickly. Quit making crap statements or else you'll be the one responsible when this thread closes, sorry.</p>

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<p>I think UCLA is a harder school, USC just happens to have more prestige.</p>

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<p>thanks everyone for the insights. and ahh obviously, usc and ucla ARE rivals. haha. but let's try to stick to the friendly words. I just wanted as many opinions as possible.</p>

<p>as of now, it seems like both are extremely good opportunities. but it seems like usc is bit easier academic life than ucla.. but it's more expensive. </p>

<p>it's true that I am leaning a little bit more toward usc but if i go, i'll be entering as a spring admit. would that be bad?</p>

<p>please continue with my previous 4 answers too :) thanks everyone!</p>

11

<p>As a springlet for USC myself, I'd think that taking CC courses in the fall would bump your GPA up for the freshman year.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
well phobos i suppose you are the CC minority at usc, the vast majority of your trojan buds are partying their days away, or if not partying, then screwing around/wasting time

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And CC isn't a waste of time? </p>

<p>To the OP: Entering in the spring isn't much different from entering in the fall. It really won't affect you much your first semester, and it becomes completely irrelevant the following fall.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
well phobos i suppose you are the CC minority at usc, the vast majority of your trojan buds are partying their days away, or if not partying, then screwing around/wasting time. that i hear from many people there. agaisn, its a big enough school where you can find your academic niche.</p>

<p>now it isn't a jab to say usc is academic lite. personally, i dont care for academics, and i would be fine doing less work for a good degree. usc gives a good degree, and you dont ahve ot work hard for it. pretty good deal IMO.</p>

<p>i went to ucla b/c of cost and location. if i had more money and didnt mind the campus, usc would bemy placce. party party party, get the degree, trust fund.

[/quote]

ok then, tell ME what most of MY "trojan buds" are doing, because you clearly know a substantial, diverse portion of the student body and i don't...</p>

<p>i honestly don't care if you "would have attended USC if you had the money" (i didn't think i could attend either, until they showed me a massive grant), but that's not the point. the point is you're ignorantly perpetuating the idea of USC as the "University of Spoiled Children," a stereotype that's long gone, but apparently unwilling to die in the minds of some UCLA students. not only does USC cull a large portion of it's students from the lower income families (and mind you not even athletes), it's beginning to/already is attracting students that are at least as competitive as students at UCLA.</p>

<p>i won't argue for a second that USC's party scene is pretty big, but in my fairly diverse experiences at USC, the Spoiled Children moniker is out of steam. even the spoiled kids here on old money and family connections have to work their asses off for their degree, to say nothing of the people without such connections. we work hard, no doubt, and absolutely nothing less. i was ambivalent before, but i'm starting not to be. don't try to tell me i'm what my friends are doing. i have far too much respect for them to say that they're not working as hard for their grades...and i certainly don't exclusively have friends in the "minority" you speak of, so i must belong to a pretty damn big "niche" then, don't i...</p>

<p>OP, for your other questions:
2) at USC, the largest classes you'll encounter will be your GEs and intro classes. my largest GE (philosophy) had maybe 150 people in it tops. regardless, my professor always talked about the discussions he had with students during his office hours. and even in that large lecture hall, he always asked questions that he sincerely wanted answers for. the same goes for my other GE last semester (art history), where my professor maybe wasn't so friendly, but made a point to go out into the lecture hall for answers. this semester for my GE, it's more of the same. and that's a great thing. intro classes like general physics have maybe 60-70 people in them, but it's easy enough to ask questions in lecture.</p>

<p>4) i think this question's been answered pretty well, but i'll reiterate/elaborate. the attitude is definitely "work hard, play hard." weekdays (up to Thursday) are quieter days, and the library is often full well past midnight. however, once Thursday hits, it starts to get exciting. you can easily find parties if you want, or you could just as easily enjoy a movie in your dorm with some floor/suitemates. and dorm/campus shenanigans are fun, like fountain hopping, taking pictures with the Petrified Log (yeah, there's one on campus haha), or going to the tops of tall buildings on campus finding the ones with the best views of Downtown (it's breathtaking at night).</p>

14

<p>thanks everyone for your input :D</p>

<p>another question popped up in my mind: would it be hard for me to fit in with people if i enter as a springlet? :( i heard springlets usually cant even dorm, so im wondering how im going to make friends.. and wouldn't people already had found their own "groups"? :( what do you think about this?</p>

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<p>bump 10 char</p>

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<p>bumpbumppp</p>

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<p>
[quote]
the vast majority of your trojan buds are partying their days away, or if not partying, then screwing around/wasting time.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah... but so do 90% of all college students. if you aren't doing any of the above, I'm guessing you should go out more.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
1) I'm majoring in bio major. how hard is it to get good grades (3.5-3.8 gpa) at each school? I know I need to study real hard--i just want some more tangible information on this.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bio is fairly hard at any top university. It's doubtful that either one is going to be appreciably different in terms of difficulty.</p>

<p>
[quote]
2) I heard that class size at ucla and usc is really big. How hard is it to concentrate in such classes? is it really impossible to get any personal attention? I'm not really a big fan of big classes, but I think i can deal with it.. what do you guys say about this part? Are the bio classes really big too?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>UCLA and USC are actually blessed with a good number of small, personable classes. Big classes can be great in some ways, because they let you focus on learning, and not what your buddy is doing. It really depends on your personality. </p>

<p>
[quote]
3) I heard that the percentage of people who graduate from college in 4 years at ucla is really low. Is this true for everyone? or only for true slackers? what about usc? do you guys know anything about this?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The four year graduation rate at UCLA is actually not that bad (statistically), and may be affected by its public nature. It's probably not due to "slackers."</p>

<p>
[quote]
4) what is the common social scene at ucla and usc? how often do people "hang out" and what do they ususally do?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>They do whatever they like. Both are in urban areas, and both are going to be diverse in their students' interests. This is like asking, "What do Californians do for fun?"</p>