<p>Long story short, I was fortunate enough to get into all 3 schools and have to make a decision pretty soon. I'm planning on majoring in polisci and going on to law school after I get my bachelors. I'm also a big football guy and realize that all 3 schools, especially USC and ND have exceptional football tradition.</p>
<p>I'd appreciate any input on my current dilemma.</p>
<p>I'd pick UVA if finances aren't an issue because I think it's a stronger school academically and I've heard some horror stories about USC (University for Spoiled Children)</p>
<p>Another vote for UVA. Their football program is not that bad either, they usually make a bowl game, and have had some great players come out of there (chris long just got drafted 2nd overall this year). I am an east coast guy though, so I may be a little biased. I would hate living in Indiana though, so I would say UVA, USC, and Notre Dame in that order, but its all up to you. Decide what you want out of the experience.</p>
<p>I have to vote UVA as well. Charlottesville is supposed to be great. Notre Dame probably has the most history and name recognition, but South Bend is a pretty crusty place. I'm not a big fan of the west coast so no to USC. Plus there's the whole cost of living issue.</p>
<p>Go USC. California sun, beautiful girls, a great football scene, and excellent academics to boot. What more could you ask for?</p>
<p>Where are you coming from?</p>
<p>terms of academics
UVA, USC, ND
terms of partying
USC USC USC</p>
<p>I'm from SoCal, but I've wanted out for a long time. The one thing that USC does offer me is a chance to stay close to home and hang out with my friends, many of whom attend UCLA. But I've always had a desire to experience the rest of the country. So I guess that kind of sets up the dilemma of should I play it safe at USC or should I take a chance at ND or UVA. </p>
<p>Geography aside, what does everyone think about the academic reputation of each school? Getting into law school is a pretty big deal to my parents which by default means that it's a pretty big deal to me. Does anyone know which school would offer me the best chance of getting into a decent law school after my bachelors?</p>
<p>UVA without a doubt. It's not likely that your undergraduate school is going to play a huge part in your law school apps but UVA is a better school academically than USC.</p>
<p>There's PLENTY of beautiful girls in Charlottseville too, and they don't share the reputation of USC girls who are stereotyped as being rich and stuck up. I'm not trying to slag off USC but I've heard this from a lot of people who have lived in the are or attended there so I think it's pretty safe to say that it's at least somewhat true.</p>
<p>there's nothing wrong with getting bought dinner for a change!</p>
<p>IsaacDelarge - Your getting ALOT of bias comments on this issue. I am from Virginia, I got into USC and UVA, I have a lot of friends from UVa. But I am choosing to go to USC since it has a professional degree in architecture (B.Arch 5 year program, UVa = 4 year, Pre-professional) , and the location of USC is amazing (specifically for an architecture student) Down-town LA, neglecting south central. </p>
<p>What are your priorities? </p>
<p>If you think the social scene is different between UVa and USC. It actually is very similar, the only difference is that USC is more on the posh side, and UVa is on the preppy/old money side (you'll see the sun hats and shirt/ties at the football games, ), i.e. - they both have a "hidden" financial-status scene there. So its basically new money and old money. Don't get me wrong, youll have down to earth people there, like at any other university, but the former "financial-status" is quite evident. The mentalities are quite different, people in LA are laid back and take things slow, people usually from D.C., NYC, "we"... "like to get business done". </p>
<p>Location: UVa is located in Charlottesville, and the surrounding areas are very nice, calm, and its actually a lively-old-town, not like it's rival, Virginia Tech, with Blacksburg (sorry hokies). UVa is about 3.5-4 hours from D.C. - depending on the traffic, once you hit northern Virginia, the traffic organization is horrid. Take the metros around DC, they are so clean but horrible fare fee. Yes, USC's location is quite bleak, but this is normal in any big city university, nothing surprising - only to people who lived in perfect suburbs their whole lives. </p>
<p>Academics - This TRULY depends on what you want to study. I see how people compare UCLA and USC so many times with academics, but they never go into-detail with certain majors and how USC excels in some majors compared to UCLA ..AND.. vice-versa. UVa and USC, holistically, are VERY exquisite schools in academics. If I could give one great advice about UV'a academics, they tend to emphasize on the leadership side of your major, they teach you how to be a leader - i.e. managers, owners, etc. And not number crunchers or amazing workers which isn't a good OR bad thing, depends on the students emphasis. Since your major is political science, UVa would be an advantage, Your not that far from DC - you should always utilize your location with your career. I am not sure about UVa's political science program - I have some friends that are doing international relations, and they love it at UVa. </p>
<p>Someone on this post said that your undergraduate major doesn't matter for law school apps. On the contrary. It Surely does. Law schools love (maybe love is an over-statement, how about, "REALLY like") people who had majors that contain a lot of problem solving, like engineering, mathematics, sciences - because the essence of law, other than being an amazing communicator, is solving a problem (define "problem" how-ever you like).</p>
<p>Overall, both the schools balance Out. If you want to experience East Coast, go to UVa. I don't blame you, to experience a different "culture" (yes, USA has different cultures), its quite necessary. Me Moving to LA was partly because of your reason- "experience the other parts of the country" (paraphrased a tad bit). But Take into affect, a lot of the great law school programs are in the east coast, so you'll probably spend about the same amount of money (if you don't get great fin. aid) - if you stay in SC or UVa and you'll most-likely experience the east-coast, either way - undergrad or law. </p>
<p>Again, they're both excellent schools. And the schools name can only take you so far WHEN your applying for a professional degree. You need to back your self with your capabilities and what you can contribute to that school. </p>
<p>I am tired, its 2 Am right now in the east-coast. PM me if you have any other questions. </p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>EDIT: I have no idea about Notre Dame. Prestigious school, nice architecture program, but that's about it for me.</p>
<p>sunsetsam: Thanks for taking the time to write that last post, great stuff. I'm definitely leaning UVA since, like you said, it's so near to DC which would be great for me since I love politics. </p>
<p>Anyone have any comments on ND? It seems like everyone's either for UVA or USC, which is cool. But I'd really like to make as informed a decision as possible.</p>
<p>Notre Dame may be the most selective of the three universities, definitely considered as prestigious as the other schools, and the students are really into the football scene. I think for law school it really depends on where you think you can get a higher GPA... I don't think one school will have any advantage at all over the others.</p>
<p>You obviously took a chance at applying to UVA and Notre Dame so I think you pretty much have already made up your mind. Go take a chance, you don't want to regret it.
On another note, personally I don't think South Bend offers much I have lived there before and although ND football is big there and the school is good you may be bored at times. But keep in mind ND does well in other athletics. Plus how can you simply choose one ND vs USC, that's one of the biggest football rivalries of all time and you're thinking about both.
Financially it would probably be best to go USC but you obviously have a great opportunity and probably will get disant aid awards at any of them.</p>
<p>I would like to chime in and help you out a bit. Some of my comment "credentials":</p>
<h1>1. I am from D.C./NoVA (3.4 miles to the river). My high school sends 20+ kids to UVA every year.</h1>
<h1>2. I lived in L.A. recently for a year- first with 2 of my best friends (both USC kids, BME and B.A./M.A. in Econ) and then with 6 USC architectural students in a 10,000 square foot downtown loft, which was basically next door to the USC campus.</h1>
<h1>3. I have hung out extensively in Charlottesville. Several best friends went there, one has a house in C-ville and is in his 4th year of med school there. My TV is in his living room.</h1>
<p>Bear in mind that I am in no way biased one way or the other. I didn't go to either of these schools myself, so this is my outside/inside perspective based on my interactions with the schools through my friends.</p>
<hr>
<p>Head-to-Head Comparo:</p>
<p>-Overall, they attract students of similar quality (they both admitted you, for example). </p>
<p>-Both are very Greek. </p>
<p>-Both schools have a large share of "rich" kids. </p>
<p>-Both have a rep for being a little shallow- as mentioned, D.C. is very "east coast" in this manner (Ralph Lauren Polo, J.Crew, driving mocs, 'ha-ha-ha, I'm going to law school" ;] ) while USC is very "west coast" (expensive cars, designer sunglasses, boutique clothing, surf labels). </p>
<p>-Athough different, both schools offer pretty nice weather. As you already know, SoCal climate is great- but it can get pretty monotonous and a little boring. Charlottesville has 4 Seasons (you'll see Fall/Winter/Spring). Fall is awesome here, and Spring is usually very nice as well. Winters aren't amazing, but are relatively short and pretty mild (usually temps between 30<em>-50</em>, compared to say... ND's 0<em>-30</em>). So they both offer something unique, but both are pretty solid in this area. </p>
<p>-Both campuses are pretty spectacular, but UVA's is safer. </p>
<p>-The UVA student gym (which is essentially brand new) absolutely dominates the USC student gym. </p>
<p>-The housing situation also seemed much cooler at UVA. EXAMPLE: My USC friends were always b!tching about what WASN'T available, while UVA now has laundry facilities that you can monitor online, so you know when machines are open, or your laundry is finished (so you never have to go check on it).</p>
<hr>
<p>I would like to take a second to correct some misnomers from a previous posters comments, and add some thoughts:</p>
<p>-It takes me 2 hours and 15 minutes to drive, according to all posted speed limits, from D.C. to Charlottesville, and vice-versa. 4 hours? That's crazy talk.</p>
<p>-The D.C. Metro costs $1.10 for most one-way fares around the city. Wow, how unbelievably expensive...</p>
<p>-Claims assuming USC is the better "party school" is bogus. The UVA party scene is pretty huge. The "work hard, play hard" mantra absolutely ENCAPSULATES UVA. I partied with a ton of USC kids and found the whole scene to be super overrated (more on this later). The girls there were also overrated, in my esteemed opinion. I would say that the girls at UVA easily compete with those at USC, and are less ditzy to boot.</p>
<p>The primary reason that the USC party scene is lame is because USC is in a big city. This means that after your first several semesters, friends more or less group off and melt into L.A. on the weekends. This sucks, unless you like hanging with the same 3 people all of the time. UVA, on the other hand, is located smack dab in what basically amounts to a college town, so there's more more community, and you will have a much more "college-y/campus-y" experience. </p>
<p>Last random point: L.A. traffic is the worst invention in the history of my life. C-ville? No problem.</p>
<hr>
<p>Ultimately, I would advocate for adventure. There's a whole world out there waiting to be explored dude, and you've already done your SoCal thing. Quit being a Towny and have a new life experience. </p>
<p>For this reason, if you were from the East Coast, I would probably be suggesting USC... Oh yeah, except for your "major" (hehe) reason for going to school in the first place: Don't forget that UVA has one of the premier undergrad PolySci/IR programs in the nation, close to or on par with the Ivies, Stanford, UChicago, and Georgetown. </p>
<p>If I was you, I would consider trying to visit all three in person. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is the best way to get a feel for what the next several years will be like. </p>
<p>P.S. A bit on Notre Dame: </p>
<p>-Don't forget that Notre Dame football sucks the big one these days, and I doubt that that will change overnight. Going to a football school for that very reason and having to suffer through losing efforts can be a big deflater. </p>
<p>-Additionally, football (even when it's good) only runs the first semester. Then you're stuck in South Bend for another semester.</p>
<p>-The winters are long and extremely cold.</p>
<p>-Got Catholic?</p>
<p>Damn, BaitSwitch, you've pretty much convinced me to attend UVA. I totally get your points on SoCal chicks (rich, a bit shallow, etc.) and SoCal scene (worst traffic ever, boring weather). At this point I'm pretty sure that I ain't gonna be headed for USC, but I'm still not sure I want to reject ND. I've heard that ND kicks ass in alumni networking and it's pretty good name for job placement. I'm not sure that UVA holds that same kind of prestige.</p>
<p>I realize that's how it came across. I'm just merely pointing out my observations, so PLEASE make your own decision. As Ben Stein wisely said... everyone will offer you advise on what you should do, but ultimately your opinion is the only one that matters, because its your life, and none of those people will ever have to live with any of the advise that they are giving.</p>
<p>I would definitely say VISIT, VISIT, VISIT. Convince your parents that it's worth the money not to go in to this decision blindly.</p>
<p>Is there a significant cost difference between the three? Is cost even an issue for your family? </p>
<p>As far as prestige goes, I would argue that all three are equal, as they are all within 7 places of one another in the U.S. News rankings. For employment, I would argue the same- except that it's all about location, location, location. Employers are much more comfortable with the familiar. Thus a USC degree in SoCal and the West Coast in general will be valuable. Notre Dame will be like this in the Mid-West and with anybody who is Catholic. UVA is a stronger name on the East Coast, and particularly in Washington (DC). For this reason, and because UVA is the oldest of the three, I would wager it will likely be the most well-received (relatively speaking) by high-caliber law schools, as the large majority of them are located in the North-East.</p>
<p>"L.A. traffic is the worst invention in the history of my life."</p>
<p>BAHAHAHAH! Awesome Bait&Switch. </p>
<p>Yeah mean, Me too. I got accepted to both UVa and USC. Is it just me or is there a ton of Northern Virginians going to USC this year..?? </p>
<p>IssacDelarge, I'm still torn mein! Not sure which to choose. Those high 5's will have to wait.</p>
<p>I'm from NoVa, for those who don't hablo.</p>
<p>"The D.C. Metro costs $1.10 for most one-way fares around the city. Wow, how unbelievably expensive..."</p>
<p>It's trivial, but the least expensive fare is actually $1.35 (during peak times, which is practically all the time) and it can cost up to $3.25 ish --it's killing me each way everyday this summer.</p>
<p>in terms of academic rep...UVA is the clear first choice. </p>
<p>And if you want out of SoCal, don't be afraid to try it! You'll be able to hang out with your HS friends whenever you come back home for breaks. I was a bit nervous about moving far away from home, but I'm SO glad I did it.</p>
<p>I need to clear somethings up, because some other posters misinterpreted mine. </p>
<p>When I said that the DC metro fare fees suck, I did not state it was expensive, I was trying to state HOW you can use the fare fees. For example, in NYC, you can buy a monthly fare fee at a set price and have UNLIMITED access to the metro in that month, something DC metro does NOT have. In DC, you buy a metro card, put a specif amount of money in it, and keep using the card until the money runs out and re-deposit. </p>
<p>The plus about DC's metro, it is VERY clean. Not only the Metro, but DC in general, is very clean. Not all of it of course, you do have the projects. But in comparison to NYC, DC is spotless.</p>
<p>Also, about the traffic. You can get to DC in 2 - 3 hours. But Virginia has one of the worst traffic systems. So if you hit 395 or 495 during rush hour, your going to see LA traffic in the east coast. Another note, you may get to DC in 2 hours or so, but finding a parking space and can be a LARGE pain. The best thing is go to DC in the weekends. I would prefer metro because, the parking is free in the metro garages, and the metro isn't as jam packed, unless there is a special event. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, these issues are common in any urban area, and really shouldn't alarm you. </p>
<p>And yes, it's really weird that a number of people form VA are going to USC. I thought I was the only one.</p>