<p>Oh wow, even in southern CA, UVA is more prestigious. SC is just known as a spoiled rich kid school, and many consider their academics only a by-product of the football team. Honestly, the people at UVA will just generally be smarter (it definitely isn’t uncommon for people at SC to be known for “buying” themselves in). In Southern CA, SC is behind UCLA, Pomona, and probably even Claremont McKenna and UCSD in terms of academic prestige. It lacks the “wow” factor that Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Pomona, and UVA all share. Unless you’re into the whole “party like a rock star” thing, around here it isn’t as impressive as its ranking indicates (I’m sure someone will disagree, this is just through my experiences and after knowing many people who’ve attended).</p>
<p>SC is a fun environment, but the area immediately around campus is very, very sketchy (3rd highest crime rate in US), so if you want a college town do NOT go there.</p>
<p>If you’re smart enough to get into SC Marshall already, I think you can probably handle UVA business.</p>
<p>So I guess in this case I’d choose UVA, even if SC gave me a full-ride.</p>
<p>And UVA is WAY more pretty than USC (and I won’t be attending either, in case you’re wondering ;))</p>
<p>good luck!</p>