Stereotypes of UCLA and USC? (Pasadena, Redondo Beach: apartment, violent crime, dorms)

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by NJ Chutzpah

USC is quite well known throughout the country

wasnt USC ranked higher in US News college rankings (if those things mean anything)

how bad is the USC nabe?

if the nabe is horrible where do the kids hang out

UCLA is ranked 25 and USC is ranked 27.

[vegaspilgrim]

I'm going to USC for a one year master's program. I would only suggest attending USC if you plan on living in a nicer area of LA and driving to school every day; if you're looking for a college town atmosphere where you live around campus and hang out in the college neighborhood and exploring, this place ain't it. The USC campus, once you go off beyond the immediate student housing area, is surrounded by gangland on all four sides. Unfortunately, a lot of that trash bleeds into the student area as well.I live right across the street from the school and hate this neighborhood. There's only so many police beat emails I can get of armed robberies of pedestrians right where I live, some of them one or two blocks away, before I don't feel safe any more. I actually just missed being a victim of an armed robbery by about 20 minutes; I was at the library that night, walking back (around 9:00) through the same exact intersection where someone was mugged just 20 minutes earlier, as I found at the next day. This neighborhood is no joke.

The school is a good school, however I think there are many public schools that are just as good. USC does have a number of top notch programs though that I think set it apart from UCLA and other good schools. USC girls are pretty damn good looking though, whoever says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about. USC Trojans absolutely blow away the Bruins when it comes to football; which is pretty much a fact, regardless of which team's loyalty you share.

[EscapeCalifornia]

With as much money as USC has, I don't know why they don't buy up enough land for student housing, build a 15' wall around everything, and put an on/off ramp from the 110 into the compound. The crappy area they're in has got to scare off a lot of potential students.

[NJ Chutzpah]

if USC is more snobby, then why would they send their kids to live in such a shady nabe?

heck the USC surrounding area seems like a good place to invest in

close to a major Univ starving for some college life and atmosphere, and pretty cheap investment properties due to poverty

anyways back to topic

Is it kind of like the "local univ" of SoCal?

Would you say that USC is the school that LA HS Grads go to when they are just average, normal kid?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by NJ Chutzpah

if USC is more snobby, then why would they send their kids to live in such a shady nabe?

heck the USC surrounding area seems like a good place to invest in

close to a major Univ starving for some college life and atmosphere, and pretty cheap investment properties due to poverty

anyways back to topic

Is it kind of like the "local univ" of SoCal?

Would you say that USC is the school that LA HS Grads go to when they are just average, normal kid?

Yes, average, normal, kids with rich parents or the ability to catch a football.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by NJ Chutzpah

if USC is more snobby, then why would they send their kids to live in such a shady nabe?

heck the USC surrounding area seems like a good place to invest in

close to a major Univ starving for some college life and atmosphere, and pretty cheap investment properties due to poverty

anyways back to topic

Is it kind of like the "local univ" of SoCal?

Would you say that USC is the school that LA HS Grads go to when they are just average, normal kid?

Probably one of the Cal States-- Northridge, Fullerton, Long Beach, Cal Poly SLO, San Diego state...

[asielen]

This thread is very biased. UCLA and USC are both great schools for different reasons.

The neighborhood around USC is not as bad as people make it out to be. But it really depends on the person. Some people always walk around like tourists even if they have lived in a place their whole lives. If that is you, then you will probably have problems. If you can take care of yourself then you will be fine. However, I wouldn’t live too close to campus unless you are an undergrad. Most of the housing in the area is keyed towards the undergrad experience.

UCLA is not always harder to get into. I know many people who applied to both and some got rejected from USC and made it into UCLA and vice versa. The admissions offices look for different things. UCLA focuses more on tests and grades (as do all UCs). USC likes to look at activities and things you did in addition to school, (in addition to grades) You can not buy your way into USC, that’s a myth and typically people get financial aid. Sometimes the financial aid makes it cheaper than a UC sometimes it doesn't, depends on the situation. Neither school is easy to get into at all.

The people at USC are no more snobby than at UCLA, you get snobby people both places. However, consider the location of both. Snobby people and street smarts don't mix well. At USC you have to look out for yourself, UCLA is in Westwood and close to Beverly Hills and Bel Air...


And to debunk some other myths:
UCLA:
Everything said mostly true.

USC:
Lousy location, surrounded by crime ridden neighborhood.
--Location is great if you have a car. There is crime though.
Old campus
--Not sure about this. It is older than UCLA, but take a walk through it, its not rundown.
Expensive
--Yes, but offers a lot of financial aid.
Not too widely recognized outside of CA
--For something’s perhaps, but the professional schools are
More people with snobby attitudes (trust fund kids, etc.)
--Again, snobby doesn't mix well with bad neighborhoods, don't you think people with money would rather send their kids to a school in a nice neighborhood. USC has a mix of everything.
Conservative/republican, mainly
--Used to be true, until the last election democrats dominated at USC
Nicer looking cheerleaders, but the female student body at UCLA is better
--This is relative, fantastic at both schools
More tightly knit business network in So Cal
--No argument
Easy to get into (as long as you can afford it)
--Nope. Money doesn't matter till after you are already in. I hear this rumor so many times, yet no one has any evidence of it. Sure if your family has a building named after them then maybe, but that’s the same as UCLA or really any school.


Really being hired by a good large financial firm or law firm or anything else isn’t about the degree its about the experience the person has. The degree is of course required but once you get to that level there is so much more that is important.

A note on USC fans. Most USC fans you will meet have no connection to the school. Since the team has been doing well people have jumped on the USC bandwagon. USC students and UCLA students are typically nice aside from the rivalry between the two schools.


And about this:
"I'm hoping to go to a school that has friendly, welcoming students who are tolerant of diversity (I've heard before that USC is somewhat racist?), and while party people aren't too bad... I'd prefer a more academic environment (not that big a factor, it's not like this is UCSD)."

Wow USC racist? Hardly. There is a very diverse population on both campuses.

It is however a very lively campus. Not so much parties, there are those at both. But USC is very alive I guess you could say. USC as a whole tends to be a bit more spirited, not that UCLA isn't. UCLA has a very active campus, its just there are more people at UCLA who just want to get their degree and get out. USC tends to encourage people to do things outside of class and even within school, take classes from extremely different subjects just to get a better view on things.



The biggest deciding factor should be what you plan to major in.

[killer2021]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

On with the stereotypes:

UCLA = University of Caucasians Living among Asians
UCLA = University of Chinese Living Abroad

USC = University of Spoiled Children

lol was gonna say the same thing.

I say USC is better though, just based on costs.

UCLA is like a BMW

USC is like a ferrari

Both teach you the same thing, just one looks better.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by NJ Chutzpah

Would you say that USC is the school that LA HS Grads go to when they are just average, normal kid?

No. That would be UCLA.

Remember that all U.C. schools are easier to get into than the USCs and Stanfords of the world. The "stereotypes" of each school really is about the same with maybe UCLA having more of a "party" atmosphere. Being born and raised in Los Angeles it gave me many years to decide on which school I would want to go to and by the time I was in 11th grade my heart was set on USC. The only problem was that I got into Stanford and ended up going there instead.

[Freezer41]

Originally Posted by DaBeez

No. That would be UCLA.

No way.. "average" students don't get into UCLA. Average students will end up in the CSU system