USC vs. UCSD (another one)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Yes, another vs. thread. Please help me out, time is short.</p>

<p>I've been accepted to both the B.M. Music Industry program at USC and the Music major at UCSD.</p>

<p>At USC, the family contribution will be about $18,000</p>

<p>At UCSD, the family contribution will be about $4,000</p>

<p>The real amount that my family can pay is somewhere around $8,000.</p>

<p>USC pros:</p>

<ul>
<li>B.M. program offers internship opportunities, and is in Los Angeles, so there is a high chance of employment after graduation</li>
<li>USC has an intensive B.M. program, which means I will be really well educated in music tech and business</li>
</ul>

<p>USC cons:
- Intensive B.M. program leaves little room for minors/electives</p>

<p>UCSD pros:</p>

<ul>
<li>MUCH cheaper</li>
</ul>

<p>UCSD cons:
- Has a weaker music tech program -- basically a general B.A. music program with a couple of upper div music tech elective classes thrown in.</p>

<p>And one wildcard is that, due to the high cost of USC, my parents are making me reconsider my major completely. The logic being that, if I did something else, such as engineering (which I have no real interest in), the program at UCSD would NOT be significantly weaker than USC's. Therefore, I could attend UCSD, pay less, and not be forced to take a weaker program. The only problem is... I wouldn't be doing the major I want.</p>

<p>Basically, my parents are worried that I'll spend an arm and a leg to study Music Industry at USC, only to end up unemployment with a LOT of student loans to repay. The alternative is to go to UCSD, major in something more profitable, and pay less.</p>

<p>What do I do...?</p>

2

<p>You gotta be interested in what you do. With the workload and committment in engineering, unless you're dedicated you won't survive.</p>

<p>That said, your parents prolly know you better than anyone else(maybe even including yourself) and you have to consider their advice.</p>

<p>BTW, I think you'll still have options for taking minors and electives at USC. Even in engineering, people cram in all sorts of minors.</p>

3

<p>koushirou - my advice is DON'T do a major that your parents want you to. I learned this the hard way. It was engineering too, at Cal Poly SLO. I got bad grades in the engineering classes and it *****ed me over for life. I had all A's and a few B's in classes that I liked (poli sci, History, sociology, humanities) while I got D's and F's in engineering and related classes. Now I'm trying to transfer and my horrible engineering grades haunt me and ruin my GPA, and because of it I got denied by CAL and UCLA. I'm hoping to transfer to USC because they look more at the overall picture and personal experience etc.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
USC pros:</p>

<ul>
<li>B.M. program offers internship opportunities, and is in Los Angeles, so there is a high chance of employment after graduation</li>
<li>USC has an intensive B.M. program, which means I will be really well educated in music tech and business</li>
</ul>

<p>USC cons:
- Intensive B.M. program leaves little room for minors/electives

[/quote]
</p>

<p>First off, study what you want, NOT what your parents want. The regret will likely stay with you for a long time, since you'll constantly be wondering what could have been. </p>

<p>Secondly, you'll likely be struggling after graduation even from a great program like SC's. The music industry's not exactly in its best times right now and fresh grads will likely have to work for pennies in the beginning and work up. That is simply a harsh reality. With that said, I know a handful of people in the music industry program and they love it. They've had great internships at Sony, Capitol, etc. and everything looks dandy so far. </p>

<p>Personally, it sounds cliche but, think about what will make you happier 20 years from now. The money you saved from UCSD isn't going to make you happy that's for sure. Make a honest case to your parents and do what you love. College is one of the most pivotal periods in your life, don't base your decision on money you won't think twice about as an adult.</p>

5

<p>Go to UCSD for a year or two, then transfer to USC and major in what you want!</p>

6

<p>My undergraduate degree was civil engineering and then I went to law school because engineering wasn't really what I was interested in. The above comments on the difficulty of engineering are true. Engineering was way harder than law school. The suggestion of going to UCSD for a year or two is a good one, but don't major in engineering unless you are totally committed to it and the hard sciences are your natural strength. Major in something you are naturally good at and love doing, and minor in something practical like business.</p>

7

<p>i'm gonna pull this from my own post the College Search and Selection forum...btw, i envy you wanting to study music industry :p but alas i figured i should go for more job security with engineering. don't get me wrong, i'm not forcing myself to major in it, i'm actually pretty interested in it. so yeah, the post:</p>

<p>i faced the same exact decision between UCSD vs. USC (it was more of a problem haha). i wanted to major in electrical engineering, but for SURE my school had to have some sort of music engineering/music recording minor. UCSD came close enough with ICAM Minor and the ability to choose classes that tailor to it, but USC hit it on the nose with its Music Recording Minor. it also didnt hurt that the faculty:student ratio was 1:10, and the largest freshman classes were less than a hundred, TAs taught no classes (even the school President teaches a class) and the average class size was 25-ish.</p>

<p>i realized that no matter where i went, UCSD or USC, i would get a great education. so what if US News ranks such and such school over another...as long as they've made ANY list at some point, the school has enough repute and a strong enough program to do me well. so it came down to the following considerations:</p>

<p>during high school, i was trapped in the "AP Bubble" of friends. that's not to say i didnt make friends outside of it, but compared to the people who were in regular college prep classes, it was minimal. it didnt help that my parents were more conservative when it came to letting me go out. so social life was a pretty big issue. UCSD i knew had a rep for being geeky, and on top of that La Jolla was well removed from all the happenings (including for me, a big thing...the great music scene) of San Diego proper, requiring a car. that and i also heard the campus draaains out on weekends, leaving little to do then. USC seemed to have lots of good on campus activities, and LA and Hollywood are really a short drive or bus ride away. also, USC fostered extracurricular studies, activities, and sports while UCSD merely made them available, which says something about the interests and attitudes of the students.</p>

<p>on that note...diversity was a huge issue as well. at almost all the UC's, UCSD included, asians were the majority or near majority...being asian myself (filipino, really) and not exactly excited to be around them, that had some bearing on it. at USC, only half the students are from California, 40% out of state, and 10% international. it seemed like a great opportunity to break down any kind of walls that i lived with in my years prior.</p>

<p>and probably the most important consideration and the deal breaker...financing. without financial aid, UCSD was a clear cut decision, although i felt it was a big compromise. USC's cost was by far HUGE compared to UCSD. UCSD even gave me the Regent's Scholarship, but even for the UCs, it was small. but USC gave me the quarter-tuition Deans' Scholarship, and then almost $20k in grants. that left only $5000 for tuition. at that point, i figured i could pay that for the benefits of a private school and for the benefit of going the school that had an upper-hand on almost everything else.</p>

8

<p>no one seems to be pulling for ucsd</p>

<p>go to san diego</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
no one seems to be pulling for ucsd

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well few people are going to pull for UCSD on a USC board. The same can be said on the UCSD board unless people migrate around to comment on different schools' boards.</p>