<p>What does one need to be accepted to USC? How does it compare to UCLA?</p>
<p>Take a look at the profiles of admitted students for each school. That will give you some idea. But because one is private and one is a public U., there are different admissions requirements. Do some research.</p>
<p>USC: mean GPA 3.8, middle 50% SAT crit reading 640-730, middle 50% SAT math 670-760. 33,754 applicants, 25% accepted.
UCLA: average unweighted GPA of admits 3.82, SAT crit reading average 656, SAT math average 685.
Remember that there are some important differences in the admissions processes of the two schools…for example, USC reports that 21% of the last class were legacies and legacy status has no weight in the UC system. USC reports that 54% of their students are CA residents, the percentage at UCLA is mandated by state law to be much higher.</p>
<p>USC does not require any SAT II subject test, UCLA does.</p>
<p>I believe that USC does not officially consider legacy status anymore, though I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Also I think USC takes the best subsections from each sitting of the SAT, I don’t know what UCLA does.</p>
<p>And I think UCLA doesn’t consider freshman grades, whereas USC does (but still looks at improvement)</p>
<p>^^ The UCs take the best SAT scores from a single sitting rather than sections from multiple sittings. This usually translates to a deflated mean score for the UCs compared to a school that looks at multiple sittings - i.e. a 1400 would be somewhat more difficult to achieve for a single sitting school (like UC) versus multi-sitting schools (apparently like USC). I don’t know how significant this is though.</p>
<p>USC will meet 100% of need and has a reputation of being generous with grants.</p>
<p>Out if State at UCLA is tough to do and there may not be much help with the $$</p>
<p>USC is perfectly flat, great for getting around on skateboards and beach cruiser bikes. UCLA is hilly.</p>