<p>Thanks jbusc!...still waiting to hear back though...</p>
<p>Hi Decisiontime09!</p>
<p>I am a USC student in my senior year of majoring in civil and environmental engineering. I saw your post and couldn’t resist commenting. While I can’t comment on the comparison between USC and UCSD because I am an out-of-state student and have not come in much contact with UCSD engineering (although everyone I have met there is really nice) I can comment about the minors options.</p>
<p>USC encourages its students to be well rounded and thus encourages them to pursue double majors and minors. While double majoring in engineering isn’t easy it can be done (my roommate is double majoring in Mechanical engineering and Political Science and still graduating in 4 years- with some summer school and credits coming in). Minoring is a much more popular option for engineers and it is done quite often- I have friends minoring in Human Rights, Musical Theater, Business, Econ- any of the 100 minors USC has to offer. All you need to do is tell your academic adviser in the engineering school what your plan is and they will help you achieve it the best they can.</p>
<p>I have really enjoyed my time here at USC and have had no problem finding internships or anything thus far in my time at USC. USC has a career services center devoted to helping us find jobs that also hosts 2 career fairs during the year-- with almost 150 companies showing up in the fall and 80 companies in the spring solely to recruit USC engineers. </p>
<p>I hope that this helps a little bit- good luck making the decision and if you have any questions about life as a USC engineer you should check out this website and email me (My twitter feed is ALindy!)</p>
<p>[USC</a> - Viterbi School of Engineering - Viterbi Student Ambassadors](<a href=“http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/vsa/]USC”>http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/vsa/)</p>
<p>Son was accepted at both ucsd and usc in addition to 6 other engineering schools. I was sort of voting for ucsd due to the beach and the cheaper cost. He chose USC and I am paying for his decision.<br>
I have a few friends whose kids were in engineering at ucsd and were weeded out after the first semester. They felt the classes were large and it was a sink or swim attitude rather then encouraging and proactive. I would look again at the statistics of the number of kids who drop out of engineering at both schools. I can’t remember the statistics but the number was quite different. The spring break of his senior year we went around to various schools and he sat in on calculus and computer science classes at Cal Poly, UC Irvine, USC, UCSD, UCLA and made the decision himself based on the teaching, size of class, attitude of the kids etc. It really helped going to classes he already had taken.</p>
<p>Thanks, Futureholds. I think you have articulated my concerns the best in terms of public vs private. I did not quite know where to put my finger on. It is “sink or swim” attitude that may differentiate a public university from usc. </p>
<p>I am less concerned about relative rankings of USC vs UCSD. My D will be giving up UM, Ann Arbor, Georgia Tech, UiUC, etc. (all better ranked engineering schools). Difference between them and USC/UCSD is much larger than relative distance between UCSD or USC. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, my biggest concern now, is USC safety (around campus). This part bothers me more than “figurative” sink or swim in a given major at UCSD. </p>
<p>But i am switching topic now from engg focus thread.</p>
<p>In terms of locations, I like USC and UCSD best of the locations you mentioned because of the really nice S. Calif. weather. I suggest you visit these schools and look at the entire package being offered (location, academics, social fit, finances, etc.).</p>
<p>sam lee, even if what you say is true i just looked it up and the NAE membership is only .075 of the rankings. assuming what you say is true it is very strange for a university to do that but the way you phrase things it sounds as if NAE membership was half of the rankings</p>
<p>[Engineering</a> Methodology - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-graduate-schools/2008/03/26/engineering-methodology.html]Engineering”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-graduate-schools/2008/03/26/engineering-methodology.html)</p>