USC vs. Washington University in St. Louis

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I've been accepted at a few different schools and I've narrowed it down to either USC or Wash U, most likely majoring in engineering. I really like both schools and am probably leaning towards USC, but wanted to see what others thought. One of my main problems with Wash U is the stereotype that students are kind of work crazy. I've always done well in school, but I'm not the type to spend a lot of time on my work and Wash U seemed a little too work intensive for me. USC just seemed to have a better balance of things/better overall academic atmosphere. Any opinions on this?</p>

2

<p>I can't really say anything about Wash U, but I would say that the people at my school that are considering it are all really chill people, but do tend to be all work, little play. The people considering USC are all smart and work hard, but will settle for somewhat lower grades if that means they can have a socially good time. Obviously those kids alone aren't really a good way of judging an entire school, but it's something I've noticed.</p>

3

<p>I agree with that. I'm going to USC for engineering, maybe I'll see you there!</p>

4

<p>wash u is also in some suburban area. however, i would still choose wash u for its prestige, well, unless the major you're choosing is pretty crap over there. otherwise, i guess you can easily transfer to sc if you really don't like wash u.</p>

5

<p>"i would still choose wash u for its prestige"</p>

<p>there is NONE</p>

<p>as much as I don't like USC I would still pick it for the many alumni connections that you'll get there</p>

6

<p>dude wash u st louis is top 20. ranked 11th or something, it's just a little below ivy leagues! what do you mean none?
but that's true about alumni connections.</p>

7

<p>neither ivy leauges nor the wr rankings should be considered as your sole determination for prestige</p>

<p>For example, stanford is more prestigious than WAshu even though its not an ivy. Washu has only very recently had low selectivity(in the 1990's the admit rate was 75%). They did this by encouraging lots of people to apply and then waitlisting those who had a decent shot at other schools. They play with their numbers to get their selectivity rating lower and they have an inferiority complex which causes them to do so.</p>

8

<p>haha usc did that too tho......................=p</p>

<p>well i guess it depends on many other ppl and on the major too. for example, i would probably choose like, nyu business over a not so good ivy league's business school. but if it's a major that's good in both wash u and usc, i'd choose wash u.</p>

9

<p>Yes, but how good is engineering at WashU?</p>

10

<p>depends what type of engineering are you looking at. i took this from US news:</p>

<p>Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate) </p>

<p>Rank/School Peer
assessment
score
(5.0 = highest)
1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology 4.9
2. Stanford University (CA) 4.8
3. University of California–Berkeley * 4.7
4. California Institute of Technology 4.6
U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign * 4.6
6. Georgia Institute of Technology * 4.5
7. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor * 4.4
8. Carnegie Mellon University (PA) 4.3
Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)* 4.3
10. Cornell University (NY) 4.2
University of Texas–Austin * 4.2
12. Princeton University (NJ) 4.1
13. Johns Hopkins University (MD) 4.0
Northwestern University (IL) 4.0
Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison * 4.0
16. Pennsylvania State U.–University Park * 3.9
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY) 3.9
Texas A&M Univ.–College Station * 3.9
19. Rice University (TX) 3.8
Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities * 3.8
Virginia Tech * 3.8
22. Duke University (NC) 3.7
Univ. of California–Los Angeles * 3.7
Univ. of California–San Diego * 3.7
Univ. of Maryland–College Park * 3.7
Univ. of Southern California 3.7
University of Washington * 3.7
28. Columbia University (NY) 3.6
Harvard University (MA) 3.6
Ohio State University–Columbus * 3.6
University of California–Davis * 3.6
University of Pennsylvania 3.6
33. Case Western Reserve Univ. (OH) 3.5
Iowa State University * 3.5
North Carolina State U.–Raleigh * 3.5
Univ. of California–Santa Barbara * 3.5
University of Colorado–Boulder * 3.5
University of Virginia * 3.5
39. Arizona State University * 3.4
Brown University (RI) 3.4
Michigan State University * 3.4
University of Arizona * 3.4
University of Florida * 3.4
University of Notre Dame (IN) 3.4
Vanderbilt University (TN) 3.4
Washington University in St. Louis 3.4
47. Dartmouth College (NH) 3.3
Lehigh University (PA) 3.3
Yale University (CT) 3.3
50. Colorado School of Mines * 3.2
Drexel University (PA) 3.2
Rutgers–New Brunswick (NJ)* 3.2
University of California–Irvine * 3.2
University of Missouri–Rolla * 3.2
Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA) 3.2
56. Illinois Institute of Technology 3.1
Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY) 3.1
University of Delaware * 3.1
Univ. of Massachusetts–Amherst * 3.1
60. Auburn University (AL)* 3.0
Boston University 3.0
Clemson University (SC)* 3.0
Colorado State University * 3.0
Kansas State University * 3.0
Michigan Technological University * 3.0
Northeastern University (MA) 3.0
SUNY–Stony Brook * 3.0
University at Buffalo–SUNY * 3.0
University of Illinois–Chicago * 3.0
University of Iowa * 3.0
University of Pittsburgh * 3.0
University of Tennessee * 3.0
University of Utah * 3.0
74. Oregon State University * 2.9
Polytechnic University (NY) 2.9
Syracuse University (NY) 2.9
Tufts University (MA) 2.9
Tulane University (LA) 2.9
University of Cincinnati * 2.9
University of Kansas * 2.9
Washington State University * 2.9
82. Brigham Young Univ.–Provo (UT) 2.8
Clarkson University (NY) 2.8
New Jersey Inst. of Technology * 2.8
Oklahoma State University * 2.8
University of Connecticut * 2.8
Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln * 2.8
University of New Mexico * 2.8
U. of North Carolina–Charlotte * 2.8
University of Oklahoma * 2.8
University of Rochester (NY) 2.8
92. Louisiana State U.–Baton Rouge * 2.7
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) 2.7
Texas Tech University * 2.7
University of Alabama * 2.7
University of Houston * 2.7
University of Kentucky * 2.7
Univ. of Missouri–Columbia * 2.7
99. George Washington University (DC) 2.6
Mississippi State University * 2.6
San Diego State University * 2.6
Southern Methodist University (TX) 2.6
Univ. of California–Riverside * 2.6
Univ. of California–Santa Cruz * 2.6
University of Miami (FL) 2.6
University of Rhode Island * 2.6
University of Texas–Arlington * 2.6
Utah State University * 2.6
Wayne State University (MI)* 2.6
West Virginia University * 2.6
111. CUNY–City College * 2.5
Marquette University (WI) 2.5
New Mexico State University * 2.5
Ohio University * 2.5
S.D. School of Mines and Tech. * 2.5
SUNY–Binghamton * 2.5
Temple University (PA)* 2.5
University of Alabama–Birmingham * 2.5
University of Alabama–Huntsville * 2.5
University of Arkansas * 2.5
University of Central Florida * 2.5
University of New Hampshire * 2.5
Univ. of South Carolina–Columbia * 2.5
University of Texas–Dallas * 2.5
University of Vermont * 2.5
Univ. of Wisconsin–Milwaukee * 2.5 </p>

<p>USC is 22nd and UWL is 39.
i'd say go for USC then!
you'll have more fun here too. haha</p>

11

<p>oh and USC is ranked 7th for graduate engineering!! =)</p>

12

<p>(above Caltech)</p>

13

<p>Yea but that ranking is bogus. It's all about money if you look at the methodology. One good way to tell if the ranking means much is to cross-examine the departmental rankings and USC has no department ranked in top-10. How can you have a graduate program ranked #7 overall but none of its departments is in the top-10? Now it doesn't take genius to know something is just dead wrong.</p>

14

<p>haha who cares, the more money the college has, the more it will flourish, a good college mainly needs prestige, good teachers and good facilities. you can get all that with money. i mean i'm sure there are a lot of differences and there are small liberal arts colleges that are really good. well usc isn't compared with a lot of the liberal arts because usc is in the list that offers doctorate engineering and most if not all liberal arts colleges only offer up to masters in engineering. thus it doesn't compare with it. well usc is ranked 22nd for undergrad engineering and it jumped to 7th for grad, obviously they've placed more emphasis on it. many unis have better postgrad than undergrad or vice versa. like upenn's undergrad business is 1st but for grad, harvard takes over and upenn is only like 3rd. </p>

<p>and usc is 9th for business undergrad...and top film school...what do you mean no department ranked in top 10?</p>

<p>PLUS this guy is asking to choose between wash u and usc. so i'm telling him the rankings for usc is better. i mean it's just hard to decide whcih college is better in general because if you ask for a personal experience, people will tell you otherwise and it may be biased, plus individual differences plays a role. AND how many people have actually been to USC AND wash u for engineering? so the only way really is by ranking, otherwise the environment, and the vibe you get from both unis.</p>

15

<p>btw, USC just got a brand new Engineering building.......i'm still not sure what it's for, it seems to almost be an HQ of sorts, but it's pretty sweet, it has a Cafe (which is pretty cool if you arent part of the nearby dorm cafeteria and dont want to drag yourself to the student union, which i've seen many do with much disconent) and is very swanky and high tech looking, it's called Tudor hall.</p>

<p>just thought i'd throw that in.</p>

<p>when i was first applying i was an engineering major for comp. sci and i was looking between Wash U and USC. I ended up going to USC (albeit Wash U turned me down, i never really thought about where i ranked it personally, i thought it was "ok" when i visited it, i remember being just a little underwhelmed and not totally minding not being accepted there).</p>

<p>I hear really good things about the USC engineering program, i had even though the undergrad was in the top 10, i suppose i was mistaken about that.</p>

<p>i obviously go to USC btw, but i'm not an engineering student anymore and i'm not a very biased person like some others are, even still though i think i'd reccomend it for you.</p>

16

<p>nymph,</p>

<p>I mean no ENGINEERING department ranked in the top-10 (like chemE, civil...etc). That's what I mean odd about USC's rank. Well, a school ranked in 30th can jump into top-5 in one year if some team win huge funding for just ONE project in ONE department. That's how the annual research funding impact the ranking. I think USC won something big in EE dept or some project relating to homeland security.</p>

17

<p>"Well, a school ranked in 30th can jump into top-5 in one year if some team win huge funding for just ONE project in ONE department. "</p>

<p>I suggest you read over the ranking methodologies once more, with a little more attention. Financial resources ar eindeed a part of the equation, but a minor part, and certainly not something that could constitute that you describe.</p>

18

<p>Okay, I was exaggerating. But to call funding/prof "minor part" is an understatment on your part.</p>

<p>In reality, "overall" ranking means very little to anyone applying to graduate engineering program. They look at departmental ranking, NOT overall ranking.</p>