<p>The big thing is that my parents make enough to not qualify for any financial aid but not enough to put me through USC without using up their retirement funds or taking out huge loans and seconds on their mortgage. Since tuition this year, I heard, is supposed to be around 47k and increase 2k each subsequent year, I'm looking at a difference between roughly 200k and 80k. I didn't receive any of the scholarships I applied for and having a part-time job while in school won't alleviate the cost. So...I was wondering if any of you think the pros of USC (small class sizes, being able to know the professors, the Trojan family etc.) is worth the extra money, especially for only undergrad. Thanks for anyones time in reading this.</p>
<p>There are a lot of Pros to USC, that you can find if you do searches on this CC website. </p>
<p>With that stated, my nephew goes to UCSB, and very much enjoys the school. It is a larger school, and class sizes will be somewhat larger. He enjoyed his first year in the dorms, and is enjoying his second year in an apartment with some fellow UCSB students. The area is great, right next to the beach, with great weather. I have heard that UCSB passed UC Davis this past year, in ratings, and selectivitiy. I guess my point being that UCSB is not a second class school. USC does rank higher for the major that my son is pursuing, but it does cost about twice as much as UCSB. (23k -vs 47k).</p>
<p>If you can somehow come up with the money, I would say that it could be worth it. However, if you can not, or choose not to, then you should not feel bad about going to UCSB. In fact, if you go to the UCSB threads on this website, and search for the "Rejected" posts, you will surely see that there are many who had UCSB as their 1st choice, and did not get in, and are very dissapointed. </p>
<p>It is very important that YOU are HAPPY where you go to college. And you WILL BE. Once you start, at a college, you will make friends in the dorms, you will have good times, you will obtain a degree from a highly rated school (whichever one that you choose).</p>
<p>Best wishes to you.</p>
<p>As a parent of a USC student, a strong supporter of the institution, and one who can pay the full fare let me tell you what I think. We're from Virginia. My son only applied to USC for one thing--film. He was also admitted to UVA and VT(in-state), UNC (OOS, but still much cheaper than USC), and Toronto. Honestly, if he had not been admitted into the CNTV program we would have been hard pressed to send him to USC. We have the pre-paid tuition plan in Virginia. If he had gone to UVA (he would not have gone to Tech), the cost of four years of college there would have been roughly equivalent to one year at USC. Chapel Hill, where he probably would have gone (his mother and I met each other there in grad school), would still have been much cheaper than USC.</p>
<p>So unless you were admitted into one of USC's world class programs, I would advise you, given the facts you have presented, to go to UCSB. Do not ask your parents to go into their retirement funds. It's no fun being poor at any time. It's even less fun being financially strapped when you're old.</p>
<p>One other option to consider is you can always go to USC for grad school or transfer in after completing some terms at less expensive UCSB. For us, USC is actually cheaper than the UCs because we're out-of-state & son got a nice 1/2 tuition scholarship from USC as a NMF. Son will be studying engineering & I've been very impressed so far by the school.</p>
<p>I am having the exact same dilema. I got into the CNTV film production at usc and didnt get into the cheaper good UC schools ie ucla or berkeley. Now I have to decide between digging into my parents retirement savings...taking loans.... or going to UCSB. I have no idea if it is worth it, but I hope to find out by May 1st
good luck</p>
<p>if you got into CNTV film production- i'd say go to USC. its definitely worth it.</p>
<p>I agree w/ sarahjhansen. CNTV is world-class. You really can't get any better.</p>
<p>how about viterbi? is it worth it? I have to pay $6600 to UCSD and roughly $12000 to USC. I am majoring in Chemical eng. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Does Marshall count as WORLD CLASS? Having trouble paying the difference too... painful decision...</p>
<p>We are in a similar place money-wise as the original poster -- except my daughter was rejected by USC, got into UCSB, which is where she is planning on going. Now the question is whether to pursue a transfer -- she's interested in print journalism, would be seeking Annenberg -- would it be worth it in this field? I know in the areas of film, broadcast, it is, but what about print? My sister-in-law is a USC grad, so she could set up one of those June meetings to prepare to apply for transfer. (I've read about them in other threads here, although my daughter's letter didn't mention it.)</p>