Transfer to UCLA or USC

eddyx77
Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:15:43 +0000

b boy, I NEVER attacked you in my first post, I was just responding to what you wrote. I don’t go to Cal or UCLA (I haven’t transferred to a 4 year yet) and I’m not knocking on USC. But the original subject of this post was USC vs UCLA as a transfer and I was simply pointing out that UCLA has an overall better academic reputation. I’m sorry if you have friends who went to Cal and hated it, its always unfortunate when people have a bad experience in college, and no college is perfect. But believe me, there are plenty of people (transfers or not) who went to Cal or UCLA (or UCSD for that matter) who are thrilled that they got the opportunity to go to such a good school. Just because you are a transfer student is no reason to not take advantage of the opportunities offered by the UC schools if you feel that they will suit you. And its still not EASY to get into Cal or UCLA as a transfer, its just not quite as hard than getting in as a freshmen. The point I was making was NOT an attack on you but rather for the benefit of the OP, don’t just assume that because Cal and UCLA are publics that they don’t have a lot to offer. I already made the point about having limited access to some top professors (and by the way, USC has TAs too) and I think its a valid one. Its a matter of preference.

And finally, you can argue about the validity of college rankings all you want; to be truthful, I would be inclined to agree that they are not as important as they are made out to be. Regardless of ranking, the reputations of UCLA and Cal are very strong and should not be downplayed because of their status as publics or because of their relationship with CCCs. They have some of the most well known and respected departments in the nation in a variety of subjects (I chose psych as one example) and its not just because they have good research facility. Take a look at the number of classes offered in those departments for the undergrad. You’re not going to find that at the CSUs. For the determined and dedicated student I have no doubt that UCLA and Cal offer a limitless measure of possibilities.

As for USC, I don’t doubt that it also offers a lot to its students. But like any other school, there are plenty of people who went there who were NOT happy with their experience and it suffers from many of the same issues as the UC schools. Therefore, in my opinion, if one was choosing between UCLA and USC (assuming that they were CA residents and they were not business majors) I would advise them to choose UCLA.