@shaneman. . . I had a long back-and-forth conversation on the UCLA board with a USC supporter, so I’ll offer a defense of UCLA here on USC’s.
Virtually no one hates his/her life at UCLA: the air is cleaner; the beach is closer at only five miles away (as the crow flies); the campus is safe®; there are much better places to eat, much better places to shop and watch a movie, all these as well as on campus; and as you would say wrt USC, life is similarly incredibly good in Westwood. Why would they wish to rather be at USC in its box of a school surrounded by four or five big boulevards?
The academics at UCLA are extremely tough though, tougher than USC. But despite it being on the accelerated quarter system and its rigor, there’s a spirit of collaboration among the students, as well as the courses being designed to foster it.
USC does not have “the most attractive student body ever.” When I go to campus there, I don’t see the attractiveness that is seen at your frat parties. Part of this is because they farm in women from other campuses and put USC gear on them; a lot of it is a front. Part of it too is because USC has more grad students than undergrad in its 48,000 enrollment, so the attraction factor is way overstated and it’s not evident in campus visits.
Edit: As far as connections, the only place where this works is for business; it’s not going to work for grad placement in medicine, law, or even business school. USC has great connections for bus & commerce, but UCLA has student run clubs that do quite well also and help with internships and recruitment.
Anyway, since you mentioned UCLA, my ears perked up and I had to answer. Otherwise, all the best; continue on.