<p>Which school is better? Which is easier/harder to get into? I posted a similiar thread on the UCLA board and big suprise.....the majority went with UCLA as the better unversity. What do you guys think? Should any other California colleges be debated along with these two? Maybe CalState?</p>
<p>It is all preferance. My dad went to UCLA undergrad and law school and he admits that USC is now a better school. UCLA is a large, public commuter school...much like many public instate universities (UW, Umichigan, UNC) they are very hard to get into out of state. USC is a smaller, private institution that is well balanced between academics, social life, and sports. I am not biased...because i really dont care that i go to USC (sure its great...but there are tons of great schools). UCLA is great too...however i could never imagine myself attending it. However lookiung towards the future, USC has unlimited potential since it is private, highly funded, filled with international students, and is constantly striving to improve itself. UCLA will fall off and USC is gonna keep climbing ranks, to spread its reputation outside of LA.</p>
<p>Thanks. I know that i want to go to a college in California. I just don't know which one is right.</p>
<p>I was accepted to UCLA. However, I rejected UCLA and chose USC because its the better school. My friend chose USC over Berkeley. And i know a few people on this very board who chose USC over LA and Berkeley. You can yell UCLA all you want, but the fact remains that its ranking goes down year by year or remains stagnant while USC has been speeding its way up. The new ranking for 2006 comes out in August. Well shall see where the 2 schools stand.</p>
<p>I guess we will. ;)</p>
<p>At orientation, every Californian I met had been either accepted to UCLA, or rejected from UCLA, but accepted to Berkeley. (Funny, I never met anyone accepted to both) Obviously you can figure out which school they chose to attend....</p>
<p>Both schools are hard to get into. Both schools have good reputations if you are undecided. UCLA is cheaper (even for out of state) and that was a factor for me as a parent in the beginning when my son was looking at both schools. He did the junior year tour of both schools and fell in love immediately with USC even though I still liked UCLA just as much because of its reputation. As time went on, my son was right, USC was the fit for him and now I am totally sold. I was impressed by the admissions process and orientation. They did a good job at selecting truely amazing kids. If you know what you want, certain specialized areas of study are better at USC - the Cinema School, the Annenberg School that I know for sure maybe other people know other programs that are better than UCLA. I think that maybe the medical school at UCLA is better but thats grad school.
If you do the tour of both schools I am sure you will know then and there where you belong and you can't go wrong with either choice.</p>
<p>I would say that UCLA is the better school. I was accepted to both with a trustee scholarship at SC and a Regents Scholarship at UCLA. As far as admission is concerned, I think Cal, UCLA, and USC are roughly on par, however, I would give a slight edge to LA and Cal in this respect. Reputation wise, UCLA is considered better than USC, although SC has significantly improved its rep over the past few years. I think if you are admitted to both, you should definetely visit each campus and talk to students with an open mind because IMO you can't really go wrong with either. However, what tipped the scale in UCLA's favor for me was that UCLA had a significantly better location, better campus (just personal opinion), a larger breadth of courses, and more prestige and respect internationally, domestically, and locally. But in the end, it all depends on the individual and its up each person to decide which is the better fit.</p>
<p>P.S. If you are having trouble deciding between the two, always remember this : "A TROJAN is good only ONCE, but a BRUIN lasts FOREVER!" </p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p>I'll try to memorize that one. "A TROJAN is good only ONCE, but a BRUIN lasts FOREVER!"</p>
<p>no, wasn't it "a BRUINS just a number, while being a Trojans lasts a lifetime"</p>
<p>Do you have to put the trash talk in the conversation. Maybe you are joking but this kind of behaviors really tickle me off. I guess you are born a bruin because you are already mean, low-brow even before enrolling. A lot of (not all) bruins I know are ok in their professional career, but not respectable character-wise. One of my former doctors is an example among many others.</p>
<p>"A TROJAN is good only ONCE, but a BRUIN lasts FOREVER!"</p>
<p>What about being a Bruin lasts forever? A s**tty football record?</p>
<p>^^^^^funny.</p>
<p>yeah or as is widely known, "you're a bRuin for 4 years, but a Trojan for life."</p>
<p>"you're a bRuin for 4 years"</p>
<p>UCLA is a gigantic public school. More like, "You're a Bruin for 5/6 years."</p>
<p>To an extent, I'm just kidding around. I respect UCLA and think that in many aspects it's a wonderful school. Doesn't mean that many Bruins aren't still total jackasses though, of course...</p>
<p>
[quote]
"A TROJAN is good only ONCE, but a BRUIN lasts FOREVER!"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, in reality, Trojans last forever and Bruins last 4/5 years. Ever hear of the "Trojan Family"? It's pretty well known around these parts. I've never heard of a "Bruin Family"....</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm going to be shockingly honest and say that UCLA is a better school at this point - on PAPER. Why do I say that? Well UCLA is very well-rounded and they are relatively strong in the LAS dept. On the otherhand, USC's professional schools are for the most part ranked higher than UCLA's, but their LAS's are very average. Sample knows this, that's why he's pumping so much money into hiring faculty in this area. </p>
<p>With that said, I think academically USC is better. Why? Well SC's classrooms are smaller which allows profs to be more accessible. You cannot honestly say that UCLA profs are better in quality than USC's just because they are ranked 5 places higher - that's inane! UCLA has profs from the same school USC has profs. So with that constant, the more intimate and academically conducive environment IMO translates to a better education. </p>
<p>As for job prospects, I think this is where USC is MUCH better than UCLA (or any public for that matter). USC's career services is one of the top in the nation, and the vast job market in LA creates many opportunities for undergraduates. UCLA on the otherhand is too large to seek individual attention (you really have to go out and find it) and as a result many are left jobless after graduation. </p>
<p>In terms of grad school, I think UCLA has the edge because they have the long-standing reputation. IMO UC's are great feeder schools for grad schools and nothing more. The reason why I chose USC over UC's was because I wanted to go into my career directly after college. So far my decision has been correct and very fruitful.</p>
<p><i>"UCLA is a gigantic public school. More like, 'You're a Bruin for 5/6 years.'"</i></p>
<p>Heh, yeah, I did my undergrad at a UC and while I know they are some of the best schools in the country (all of them, not just cal, ucla, and ucsd), there also isn't a huge sense of connection or pride at most of them. There's some school spirit at Cal and ucla (just because they have more established athletic programs which are sometimes competitive) but nowhere close to USC. Basically, with those schools, its 4/5/6 (as you said) years and then you're done with the school. With USC, you feel the connection your whole life, and not just because of the million donor request letters you receive in the mail :-D</p>
<p>i think USC has a stronger undergrad program, but I must admit UCLA's grad programs and international reputation are stronger :( but i have no doubt that USC will attain a better grad program and reputation in the coming years</p>
<p>
[quote]
Heh, yeah, I did my undergrad at a UC and while I know they are some of the best schools in the country (all of them, not just cal, ucla, and ucsd), there also isn't a huge sense of connection or pride at most of them.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's the truth, and I hear many of my friends (most of them went to UC's) say the same thing all the time. You'll notice a lot of UC'ers come to USC for grad school, but not vice versa.</p>
<p>UCLA is a very large public University and SC a medium sized private school. I think this greatly impacts on class size and availability and while you can get out of SC in four years, may not be that easy at UCLA, but certainly can be done. </p>
<p>I think it is a toss up as to which school is now harder to get into.</p>
<p>SC has a strong alumni network and UCLA's is so-so at best. The old saying is that you're a Bruin for 4 years and a Trojan for life. Again, the SC alumni network is probably one of the best, at least throughout the SoCal region.</p>
<p>Both schools have great grad programs, I think SC is a little stronger in Film, architecture, both are strong in law and medicine. SC has pharmacy, which I don't think UCLA has. SC has an undergrad business program and UCLA has none. UCLA also does not have undergrad architecture, which you will find at SC.</p>
<p>I think you'll get a better feel of a "community" at SC, but both have large commuter populations and neither school has enough on campus housing. After freshman year, you're pretty much on your own at either. Both have fairly strong Greek systems, but I think at SC there is more influence.</p>
<p>the neighborhood around UCLA is vastly superior to that around SC. SC is pretty much an island in a rather depressed area. Both campuses are beautiful. UCLA is just too big for my taste and good luck parking there.</p>
<p>Both schools have great sports traditions, but SC's football stadium is w/i walking distance of campus and UCLA's is nearly an hour away (more 'cause of traffic than distance) at the Rose Bowl in Pasedena. Pauley Pavilion at UCLA for basketball/volleyball is quite outdated and SC is in the process of building a state of the art complex. Also Staples is just up the street from SC for Lakers, Clippers, Kings, concerts etc. Ucla is only about 20-30 minutes away though.</p>
<p>Both are great schools, but a clear distinction in terms of size, public v. private and there are particular majors that you will not find at both.</p>