I got into USC and UMich, but I don’t know which one is better. I’m still waiting for my financial aid packages, so I’m not sure about the costs to attend both schools. I love pharmaceutical science more than biochemistry, but biochemistry is easier to find a job since it’s a more broad field. I want to go to pharmacy school. If I can’t get into pharmacy school, I would go to graduate school. Basically my undergraduate degree doesn’t matter.
Here are my comparisons between two schools.
UMich
Major: Pharmaceutical Science
Pros:
Academically stronger
College of Pharmacy is ranked #3 in the US
Better school image
Love my major very much
Cons:
Cold Weather (I live in Texas, so I’m worry about the cold and long winter)
Large school, bigger class sizes
Need to take more extra classes for pharmacy schools since a few more prerequisites are in not my major requirement
College of Pharmacy is more like a graduate school, they only offer one undergraduate program and accepted only 28 students. I feel like we don’t get as many resources as LSA, which has a large student group.
Not that easy to find a job- I must get a PhD if I want to be a pharmaceutical scientist. If I want to get a job after graduation, biochemistry would be better.
USC
Major: Biochemistry
Pros:
Good Connections
Location- I like California very much. I love Asian food and being around with other Asians (I’m Asian)
Nice Weather
More job opportunities
Resources- USC is a rich school, I guess they offer more resources?
Easier to find a job as a biochemistry major
Relatively fewer extra classes need to take for pharmacy schools
Smaller class sizes
Cons:
Low ranking of Chemistry (around 50 in the US News)
School image is not good- Although USC is a good school, it is known for having many rich kids and easy to get in if you have money (poor impression)
In general, I love the academic strength of UMich, and I love the social life in California. Although academic strength is my first priority, I can’t give up the happy social life in California. Which school should I choose?
Michigan has the edge academically, but USC is good too.
In terms of the weather, you’ll learn to stay warm in the winter. Snowball fights are fun and if you’ve never gone skiing (cross-country or downhill) or snowmobiling, both are fun. Ice fishing can be fun too, though mostly you just sit in a tent and do what you like to pass the time. You check your line every 20 or so minutes and go back to the tent. Anyway, fall and spring are wonderful (generally) in the Midwest, and summers are ok. Fall foliage is lovely. There are four seasons versus just one in southern CA.
In terms of fun, Michigan will offer plenty of social opportunities. The advantage USC has is the city of LA and all of its cultural/food/entertainment opportunities. Detroit is fairly close to Ann Arbor and has those “big city” attractions too, but USC is in Los Angeles.
You were right when you said that academic fit is the most important fit area. Second is probably cost.
my personal preference is based on what your major is. For majors like medicine + other majors that will require grad school level of training I would go to the school with a better social life because you can get the prestige in grad school (most of the time your test GMAT and test scores matter a lot more than where you attended)
you should go to the school with better prestige if you are only planning on finishing your bachelors and going to work afterwards.
[I’m a business major so my priority is on the social scene just because no matter where you attend, if you’re decently good at human interaction and have the connections you’ll make it in business]
Lol! I am at the exact same dilemma as you! In fact, I just made a discussion on here about it hahhah. Best of luck and since these are both great schools, i dont think you can make a wrong decision
“you should go to the school with better prestige if you are only planning on finishing your bachelors and going to work afterwards.”
Assuming that you are not going into investment banking, I strongly disagree with this statement. For pretty nearly anything else, “prestige” is not going to matter when you are dealing with universities which are as strong as Michigan and USC. These are both very good universities.
Assuming that the cost is about the same, I would decide based on what they each offer in the areas that you want to study, and based on where you want to go. If the cost is significantly different, I would go to the one where you can graduate without debt.
It is interesting that you would rank UMich above USC. We are talking about undergraduates here. USC acceptance rate is 16% while UMich is 28%. The difference is substantial. In my opinion they are not in the same league. It is true that UMich may have better graduate school reputation. But we are talking about undergraduate education here. The reason people want to go to selective schools, in addition to the prestige, is because of potential peers. It is safe to say that peers of selective schools are more intellectually competitive. USC did have a “rich kids” school reputation, most of that rumors came out of UCLA. But USC is more selective than UCLA now (16% vs 18% in acceptance rate).
Acceptance rates are heavily skewed by universities aggressively marketing to teenagers to try to get them to apply, even if they have no chance of getting in. I would not pay any attention to acceptance rates. I would pay even less attention to USNWR rankings, particularly when comparing UMich, USC, and UCLA.
There will be plenty of smart and highly motivated potential peers at any of these schools.
^ Indeed, @awang, admit rates can be heavily gamed. Note that USC graduates almost 5000 a year while they take in only 3000 freshmen in the fall. Taking a ton of transfers (rather than freshmen) certainly would make their fall freshmen admit rate go down.
Granted, UMich takes in a ton of transfers as well, but that just shows you that trying to judge by admit rate is silly.