Which school USC/UCSB/UCDavis

madhuri

New member
Hi All,
I am a long time lurker on this site and enjoy all the knowledge base that this site provides. We have to make decision about  the undergrad school for my only son. We are renting in Irvine and he was in Uni High. Somehow he did not get UCI, any way that was not
his first choice either. He wants to engineering and got acceptance from USC, UCSB and UC Davis. It's very hard to make a choice, but I know he prefers USC out of these. For us we were mentally prepared to support him for UC system expenses, but now if it's USC it's exactly double the cost. Our permanent residency is in pending status so he can not apply to many scholorships. I am not sure how much fin.aid we can get. We are originally from India and don't have in-depth knowledge about this as we did not study here.
I see there are many here from USC, I am trying to figure is it really worth spending almost 3 times the tuition cost at USC for under-grad school? I know it's worth spending money on grad school at USC. I would really appreciate, any insights or opinions from all the experts.
 
madhuri said:
Hi All,
I am a long time lurker on this site and enjoy all the knowledge base that this site provides. We have to make decision about  the undergrad school for my only son. We are renting in Irvine and he was in Uni High. Somehow he did not get UCI, any way that was not
his first choice either. He wants to engineering and got acceptance from USC, UCSB and UC Davis. It's very hard to make a choice, but I know he prefers USC out of these. For us we were mentally prepared to support him for UC system expenses, but now if it's USC it's exactly double the cost. Our permanent residency is in pending status so he can not apply to many scholorships. I am not sure how much fin.aid we can get. We are originally from India and don't have in-depth knowledge about this as we did not study here.
I see there are many here from USC, I am trying to figure is it really worth spending almost 3 times the tuition cost at USC for under-grad school? I know it's worth spending money on grad school at USC. I would really appreciate, any insights or opinions from all the experts.
USC has the best alum network of any school on the west coast.  That being said, it may make sense to go to one of the UC schools for the undergrad studies to save a bit on tuition (I went to UCLA first) and then head to the best grad school that he can get into regardless of cost (because they'll all cost about the same).  Has he applied for financial aid (i.e. FAFSA)?  The fear of your son or you guys getting stuck with a huge amount of student loans is the big downside on going to USC.
 
This may just be me but I would consider community college (Irvine Valley, OCC) for 1 or 2 years and then transfer to UCI... or even USC.

While he may miss out on integrating into a "real" college for his first 2 years, you will find that the curriculum for frosh/soph courses are basically the same across schools and the difference comes in upper level classes.

A relative of mine didn't get into UCI either but is taking courses at IVC and will transfer because it's easier to get into UCI that way.

As you said, for grad school, the brand name of USC is probably more important, but for 4-5 year college education in engineering, most UC colleges are fine. This also depends on what career goal your son has after college. Some firms may prefer USC bachelor degrees over UC ones.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
This may just be me but I would consider community college (Irvine Valley, OCC) for 1 or 2 years and then transfer to UCI... or even USC.

While he may miss out on integrating into a "real" college for his first 2 years, you will find that the curriculum for frosh/soph courses are basically the same across schools and the difference comes in upper level classes.

A relative of mine didn't get into UCI either but is taking courses at IVC and will transfer because it's easier to get into UCI that way.

As you said, for grad school, the brand name of USC is probably more important, but for 4-5 year college education in engineering, most UC colleges are fine. This also depends on what career goal your son has after college. Some firms may prefer USC bachelor degrees over UC ones.
I've heard that UCI limits the number of kids it accepts from Irvine high schools so that the school has a bit more diversity (not sure if it's 100% true though).
 
in my opinion it depends on how the recruiting for that major is done at a particular school. For example, i went to usc for accounting because it was a top 5 accounting school in the country and is the main feeder school (along with UCLA) for the big 4 accounting firms for Los Angeles.

So if USC engineering is a feeder school for certain engineering companies/firms then the extra expense may be worth it.
 
I had faced a similar decision as you are now when I was picking school (between all the UCs from Riverside to Berkely). Decided on UCLA (hence my user name  :D and finished in electrical engineering. Thinking about going back for a master (non-engineering) but we shall see.

Community college is a good and increasingly popular choice that many take now. I knew people in my classes that took this route and are some of the top students. But I absolutely value the importance of living on campus, in the dorms, mingling with your peers and most important of all, growing up. If you guys would like to support him, I would definitely recommend living on campus for the first year or 2 at a university. I think it's one of the most important experiences I gained in college.

Which field of engineering does your son want to pursue? Have you guys visited any of those 3 campuses you mentioned?
 
qwerty said:
in my opinion it depends on how the recruiting for that major is done at a particular school. For example, i went to usc for accounting because it was a top 5 accounting school in the country and is the main feeder school (along with UCLA) for the big 4 accounting firms for Los Angeles.

So if USC engineering is a feeder school for certain engineering companies/firms then the extra expense may be worth it.

For electrical, mechanical, and computer science, a lot go into aerospace (as I did right when I graduated), in El Segundo/Manhattan Beach. Other companies in Irvine recruit as well but aerospace and Silicon Valley companies (like Cisco and Intel) always had more presence at those job fairs.
 
First off, welcome and congratulations to your son.

If I were in your shoes I'd want to know the answer to these questions (as qwerty and IHO had similarly mentioned above)
What type of engineering?
What is the end result (type of employment) that your son has as his goal?


If you have an answer to these questions, you can look up rankings and placement programs and the direction you take may be clearer.

If you don't have an answer to these questions, and your son is just going to college because that is what he's expected to do, the direction you take would be clearer, as well.

Good luck,
-IrvineRealtor
 
Thank you all for taking the time to respond!

My son applied to all 3 of these schools for Mechanical Engineering as his first choice major.
He was accepted to both USC and UC Davis for that, while UCSB allowed him admission to his second choice
major of Computer Science. At this point, UCSB is not too appealing to him, and his first
choice of these three is definitely USC--financial aid permitting.

As far as career goals, he is very interested in aerospace engineering, but with our current immigration status,
he will not have abundant job opportunities, as most jobs in that field are involved with defense contracts
which require citizenship. So for now he has decided to select mechanical engineering to keep his options open
so that he might pick a more specific major (maybe even aerospace) for Grad school.

I hope that answers your questions.
 
Besides that, another question I had is:

Assuming that my son goes to USC, if we were to move a little bit north (even if he does end up living on campus),
do any of you know of any cities closer to LA  that are comparable (obviously the school district is no longer a factor) to
Irvine? We haven't lived in this area for a great amount of time, so we don't know.

Thanks again!
 
USC surrounding is very dangerous.  There are no cities that resembles Irvine.  San Marino would be my first choice if I had to live out there.  I don't know your son, but if he is anything like most high school Seniors, he'll probably change his major like 3 times while in college.  Living in Orange County, it is really easy to get brain washed into thinking USC is a great school.  Don't believe the hype or else you will be paying for it.  Stanford is the only private school I would pay in California. 
 
Noma said:
USC surrounding is very dangerous.  There are no cities that resembles Irvine.  San Marino would be my first choice if I had to live out there.  I don't know your son, but if he is anything like most high school Seniors, he'll probably change his major like 3 times while in college.  Living in Orange County, it is really easy to get brain washed into thinking USC is a great school.  Don't believe the hype or else you will be paying for it.  Stanford is the only private school I would pay in California. 
Who's trying to brain wash anyone into thinking USC is a great school?  USC is a very good school with a GREAT alumni network.  There are USC alums in every industry in Southern California, especially Orange County.
 
For certain majors USC is better. USC Accounting > Stanford Accounting (not sure if stanford even has an acctng degree actually)
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
Noma said:
USC surrounding is very dangerous.  There are no cities that resembles Irvine.  San Marino would be my first choice if I had to live out there.  I don't know your son, but if he is anything like most high school Seniors, he'll probably change his major like 3 times while in college.  Living in Orange County, it is really easy to get brain washed into thinking USC is a great school.  Don't believe the hype or else you will be paying for it.  Stanford is the only private school I would pay in California. 
Who's trying to brain wash anyone into thinking USC is a great school?  USC is a very good school with a GREAT alumni network.  There are USC alums in every industry in Southern California, especially Orange County.
Have you not noticed all the USC flags that people put on their houses?  It's like I get it, you paid a lot for your education and you value USC because of it.  Also, I don't remember seeing a UCLA store at South Coast. 

The alumni is great if you are white and join a Fraternity.  More added cost IMO.  Why not just work hard in school and go to Cal or UCLA?  Let your brains get you to places, not the $100k+ education to buy you some friends.
 
qwerty said:
For certain majors USC is better. USC Accounting > Stanford Accounting (not sure if stanford even has an acctng degree actually)
People good with numbers would not go to USC unless it's on daddy's dime ;)
 
Noma said:
The alumni is great if you are white and join a Fraternity.  More added cost IMO.  Why not just work hard in school and go to Cal or UCLA?  Let your brains get you to places, not the $100k+ education to buy you some friends.

Spoken like a person who didnt go to USC. I was not in a frat and the alumni network has benefited me.  In the real world, working hard is no guarantee you will go places. Sometimes who you know (or the school they went to) helps.  Life is not fair, working hard does not guarantee anything. Im sure you will give me an example, maybe even yourself, of how hard work paid off to get you places. Good for you. There isnt always a pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow for all the hard workers. in the corporate world its all about who you know and how much they like you.
 
Noma said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Noma said:
USC surrounding is very dangerous.  There are no cities that resembles Irvine.  San Marino would be my first choice if I had to live out there.  I don't know your son, but if he is anything like most high school Seniors, he'll probably change his major like 3 times while in college.  Living in Orange County, it is really easy to get brain washed into thinking USC is a great school.  Don't believe the hype or else you will be paying for it.  Stanford is the only private school I would pay in California. 
Who's trying to brain wash anyone into thinking USC is a great school?  USC is a very good school with a GREAT alumni network.  There are USC alums in every industry in Southern California, especially Orange County.
Have you not noticed all the USC flags that people put on their houses?  It's like I get it, you paid a lot for your education and you value USC because of it.  Also, I don't remember seeing a UCLA store at South Coast. 

The alumni is great if you are white and join a Fraternity.  More added cost IMO.  Why not just work hard in school and go to Cal or UCLA?  Let your brains get you to places, not the $100k+ education to buy you some friends.
And what's wrong with showing a little pride in the alma mater that you attended?  I actually went to UCLA for my undergrad studies because I did work hard (got to Cal as well) so I can speak to how their alumni network compares to the USC alumni network....IT DOESN'T.  I didn't join any frat at when I was at USC and I certainly didn't "buy" any of the friends that I made while I was going there. 
 
Noma said:
qwerty said:
For certain majors USC is better. USC Accounting > Stanford Accounting (not sure if stanford even has an acctng degree actually)
People good with numbers would not go to USC unless it's on daddy's dime ;)
You sure about that?  Last time I checked I'm still paying for my USC grad school studies and not my parents.  ;)
 
qwerty said:
Noma said:
The alumni is great if you are white and join a Fraternity.  More added cost IMO.  Why not just work hard in school and go to Cal or UCLA?  Let your brains get you to places, not the $100k+ education to buy you some friends.

Spoken like a person who didnt go to USC. I was not in a frat and the alumni network has benefited me.  In the real world, working hard is no guarantee you will go places. Sometimes who you know (or the school they went to) helps.  Life is not fair, working hard does not guarantee anything. Im sure you will give me an example, maybe even yourself, of how hard work paid off to get you places. Good for you. There isnt always a pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow for all the hard workers. in the corporate world its all about who you know and how much they like you.
Well said.  Who you know and if they like you > if you work hard and/or you are very smart
 
I like the 2 year JC then transfer route, makes more sense and in the end you still have the "insert desired name" diploma on your wall.  As for missing out on college experience, living in dorms just taught me how to order pizza and take out..  I don't recollect anything useful coming out of it.. oh wait.. finding vomit in the dorm sinks on Sun. mornings.. nice. 

Send your adult kids overseas in study abroad programs if you really want to expand their knowledge.  I have more memories of my 2 months in Japan during my 2nd year in college then all of college itself. 
 
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