FIRST IMPRESSIONS ON CAMPUS: What were yours? - Page 3

tocollege · 10-17-2009, 01:42 PM

Haha! Oh, sorry, Eiffel! By the time I was deciding where to go, UCLA had dropped to my #3 choice. My top two were UCB (I loved the location near San Francisco) and USC. USC gave me a Presidential scholarship plus a big grant (yes binks, they "threw away" a grant on me!) so it actually cost a bit less than a UC for me. I ended up deciding on USC because of Thematic Option. I liked the idea of small classes and personal attention for GE, as compared to the huge first-year GEs at UCB.

I was very unsure at the time if I made the right decision. NO doubts now. The opportunities are endless here. I love USC!

mdcissp · 10-17-2009, 10:54 PM

Binks: Watch your language, "USC alumni network is bull..." This is simply not true. The UCLA alumni network is fantastic and a selling point of the school, particularly in today's economy when networking is very important to help find a job. My husband's first job after graduating USC Engineering was via USC alumni during an era when Engineering jobs were few and hard to find. There is tremendous loyalty to USC. Yes...other universities have alumni networks, but I hear that the USC alumni network is alive and working. Just read on College Confidential about kids whose parents spent $50,000. X 4 years (i.e. $200,000) for prestigious Ivy league type of schools and whose graduates are looking for jobs in this terrible economy. For some people, USC alumni network is a selling point to help land a job.

mdcissp · 10-17-2009, 10:55 PM

Correction: The USC alumni network is fantastic.

binks09 · 10-17-2009, 11:37 PM

^^^ Sorry, I should of expanded... yes the USC alumni network is strong, just like any others, but the "feelings" I got was that the USC alumni network was a guaranteed job and that this "special notion" was only available at USC... basically, if you go to USC, you get a good job (easily!), if you go else where, good luck! ---thats just the kinda vibe I got IMHO

tocollege · 10-18-2009, 12:16 AM

binks has never had a way with words, but I think you are being too hard on him. Just like the other applicants posting here and on the "obsessed" thread he really, really wanted to go to USC. He was good enough to be accepted and he was stoked. Then he found out he couldn't go and he was really, really disappointed and kind of mad. In his situation, he couln't get mad at his parents, so he vented to cc with some negative posts about USC (one in particular bruised my feelings). Some of the enthusiastic post-ers here now will feel the same way next Spring if they are rejected or don't get the aid they feel they need.

But here he is now, still hanging around the USC forum. Talking about graduate school at USC. Saying (in his binks-way) nice things about USC. Even though he is at one of USC's biggest rivals. He still doesn't have a way with words, but he sounds a bit like a Trojan to me.

Fight on, binks!

mdcissp · 10-18-2009, 12:16 AM

Binks: If you are a California in-state student, and did not get great financial/merit aid at USC, then UCLA is a great choice in a wonderful location. I think UCLA has the better location and USC has smaller classes plus a strong alumni network. In today's terrible economy, alumni network is a help, but nothing is a guarantee.

Also: sorry your father is so sick.

mdcissp · 10-18-2009, 12:24 AM

There are going to be a lot of disappointments on the college search/acceptance time. However, I truly believe that the kids end up in great schools as long as they take advantage of all of the wonderful resources available. Every university has something special going for it as long as you look for the good qualities.

Columbia_Student · 10-18-2009, 01:11 AM

I've heard from a friend who went to UCLA for undergrad and USC for MBA. The USC Alumni network is 100 times better than UCLA. The alumni contribution % for USC is like 60% vs 13% for UCLA confirms this.

mmorey · 10-18-2009, 12:50 PM

I walked onto campus, and it was weird because I could envision myself there, which had not happened at any other school I visited!

Columbia_Student · 10-18-2009, 05:19 PM

Correction regarding post #38
I found the link that hawkette posted in the College search & selection, it's 40% alumni giving for USC and 13% for UCLA.

Measuring strength of alumni network

Quote:

% Alumni Giving , Private National University

60.7% , Princeton
50.9% , Dartmouth
49.7% , Notre Dame
41.2% , Yale
39.7% , Harvard
39.2% , Duke
39.1% , USC
39.0% , Brown
38.7% , U Penn
37.3% , MIT
36.6% , Emory
35.9% , Columbia
35.4% , Wash U
34.7% , Johns Hopkins
34.5% , Stanford
33.5% , Rice
32.7% , U Chicago
32.0% , Cornell
31.9% , Wake Forest
31.8% , Brandeis
31.8% , Lehigh
31.3% , Northwestern
31.1% , Caltech
27.6% , Georgetown
24.2% , Vanderbilt
23.5% , Tufts
23.3% , Boston College
22.3% , Fordham
21.9% , Yeshiva
20.1% , Carnegie Mellon
19.5% , BYU
19.2% , Tulane
18.8% , U Miami
18.5% , Case Western
18.1% , Syracuse
17.9% , U Rochester
16.7% , SMU
16.6% , Worcester
16.4% , Rensselaer
11.5% , Pepperdine
10.6% , NYU
9.8% , George Washington
8.7% , Boston University

% Alumni Giving , State University

28.9% , GEORGIA TECH
28.1% , CLEMSON
23.1% , U VIRGINIA
22.3% , U N CAROLINA
21.7% , WILLIAM & MARY
19.7% , PENN STATE
18.5% , U CONNECTICUT
18.4% , VIRGINIA TECH
17.9% , UC S BARBARA
17.6% , U WASHINGTON
17.3% , U MICHIGAN
17.2% , U FLORIDA
16.2% , TEXAS A&M
15.7% , OHIO STATE
15.7% , PURDUE
15.5% , U TEXAS
15.3% , MICHIGAN ST
15.1% , RUTGERS
15.0% , INDIANA U
14.7% , U PITTSBURGH
14.7% , U MINNESOTA
14.1% , U ILLINOIS
14.0% , U GEORGIA
13.6% , UCLA
13.1% , UC BERKELEY
12.9% , U IOWA
12.6% , U WISCONSIN
11.7% , UC IRVINE
11.7% , U MARYLAND
11.2% , UC DAVIS
10.2% , UC S CRUZ
9.9% , U DELAWARE
7.1% , UC SAN DIEGO