TLApeyandlucas14

Admitted and Visitted both schools & interested in business admin program. here are my thoughts so far.

Berk is ranked #3 and USC #9ish (flexible depending on what standards). USC is double the cost but it is not guaranteed to get into Berk's Haas school of biz for jr/sr years. berk is notorious for its "competitive" students--is this a real issue or mostly myth? both have good study abroad programs & same recruitment/job opps after graduation (IF u are admitted to haas).

USC campus is gorgeous b/c of buildings, friendly atmosphere, great weather. Seems hard to get around tho outside of the school b/c of LA traffic and area (although i am unfamliar with it b/c im from norcal)...seems u need a car to get around from USC. but the campus was amazing. lots of students studying and tanning outside, enjoying the warm weather.

Berk is older bldgs, more trees, not as friendly appearing. Area around it is nice (berk has lots of cool food places & u can hop on bart to go san francisco to hang/shop/club). dorming is all OFF campus so it will be difficult walkin to school every morning. campus is very spaced apart too making it difficult to get from one end to the other (barely any parking for students).

HELP. any thoughts on cal or usc for business undergrad? id also like to know if ppl know how USC kids get around LA, how difficult is it getting into haas (stats/examples maybe?), and if berkeley is at all a fun place to be? i may be biased but it just seems like a dull campus. not enough of a good social scene.

flutterfly_28

bump... i'm curious about this too

bcp05

as far as business goes, berkeley is much much better. we have better faculty and job opportunities. if you have self confidence in yourself and dont stray the course too badly, you will get into haas. usc, gorgeous? maybe if you dont ever wonder off campus. the surrounding area is absolutely terrible. as far as the off campus dorms go, i lived in unit 3 and usually never walked more than 5 minutes to my morning class. i would normally roll out of bed 10 minutes before they are supposed to start (we have berkeley time here meaning everything starts 10 minutes after its listed time) and would make it on time easily. the campus isnt really spaced out as it seems because as a freshman youll find most of your classes are grouped around sather gate, usually in dwinelle and wheeler.

calrule

That's what my brother always tell me! I thought he was just saying that because he's always late to things when he comes back home.

mowgli2008

i'm from socal, and yes the traffic is terrible. you will def need a car if you plan on going anywhere off campus though. The USC area get pretty bad but as long as you don't walk alone at night you should be ok for the most part. There are a bunch of things to do in LA so there's no possible way you will bored on a fri/sat night.

Berkeley parking is practically nonexistent but you don't really need it with the bart plus there are a lot of places to hang/eat/shop right around berkeley. Also about housing, "offcampus" really isnt the right word. Units 1 is literally just on block away from the official campus. The other freshman housing is also super close to campus.

It mainly just depends on which atmosphere you prefer and what type of bus. program you want.

cantstopdancin52

hey im wondering about this too
i was given the trustee (full tuition) scholarship at usc
and invited to a couple of honors programs
basically the assistant dean called me and told me that i was the best student who did the scholarship interviews
for the business school at least

im from the bay area
cal is about 30 min from my house... = bad
but
clearly its a better school

is it worth it though?

StarryNights

Do you have a scholarship{Regents} from Cal?


Personally, I would choose USC in that case. USC has much smaller classes, better atmosphere... and is a private and has one of the best networks of Alumni in the country.

jonnyBRAVO

I am deciding between haas and ucla (not exactly business school). Haas kills usc so I would not even consider it. Haas is up there with the top ivys so that would be a better comparison. USC is ranks 9-30 depending on the source and what aspect in business you are going for. The school ranks 30 by its self. I might choose UCLA as I have heard going to Haas for graduate school (MBA) is easier if you apply from ucla than from berkeley (go figure). I also feel ucla will be an easier route to obtain good grades (usc would to) and in the end GPA is more important than the school you go to. Yes, so I am very indecisive.

business_bear

came across this board while distracting myself from a paper. I am a current berkeley business major who was considering going to marshall. Being in a similar situation, I advise you take a moment to figure out what your career goals are, what you value in peers, and the learning environment you prefer (it's early but important).

Berkeley (Haas)
Pros:
- Great accounting and finance programs
- nicest building on campus (we have a mini-campus as opposed to one building or floor)
- strong alumni networks in Bay Area, SoCal, and East Coast
- all elite firms recruit at Berkeley (bulge bracket banks, Big 4 accounting, and McKinsey/Bain/BCG)
- SF is financial hub of West Coast and Silicon Valley is the tech/venture capital/biotech heartland of U.S.
- Classwork is group-project driven and students are very driven

Con:
- you apply after two years, so it's a gamble
- two year program rushes you through courses
- faculty is a mixed-bag
- huge intro classes (200+ in intro accounting, econ, and finance)
- students are hyper-competitive and grades/gpa > learning
- MBA program gets preference, undergrad program not paid attention to much
- it lowered in Businessweek rankings this year and from what I see, the quality is going down slightly

USC (Marshall)
Pro:
- 4 year program so you have strong business foundation
- Great accounting program
- Great alumni network, though mostly in SoCal
- Smaller classes I assume
- from what I remember, the technology was really up-to-date and the building itself was nice
- great international and media-related tracks (I got into their cinema-television business track, but I felt like it was too restrictive)

Cons:
- USC has no brand name outside of SoCal (unless it's in the context of sports) so if you want to work on East Coast, you have a higher chance coming from Haas (although I have a family friend working at Goldman in NY who went to SC)
- Maybe I'm generalizing, but the caliber of students you're going to meet are nowhere near the ones you'll meet at Berkeley/Haas
- For business jobs in LA-area, accounting and consulting are strong but finance is poor (UBS LA is dying, Goldman LA is consolidating to SF, and only Credit Suisse LA has any pull). Most firms recruit from UCLA, Caltech, and Claremont/Pomona - not really USC.

Again, it's best to talk to students in programs at the school to get a better idea.