USC vs. UC Davis Forum

[Mroberts3]

I have been mulling several options for some time, but with my recent rejection from Berkeley I have it narrowed down to Davis or USC. On location and setting I would choose Davis far and away, but I could survive in LA. So far Davis has given me $10,000 a year in merit aid (I'm still working on Need Access so no word on other money). USC hasn't told me about money yet.

I know it doesn't make sense to ask which to choose yet, but how much more money from Davis does everyone think it would take to make the choice even money? That is, I would prefer Davis, but how much money should I get to offset the employment prospects?

FWIW the tuition will be about the same over the course of three years when factoring in the UC tuition hikes.

Edit: Also, I'm not interested in biglaw (but minimizing debt is essential if I'll end up with a 50k job).

[redginseng]

Anything less than half tuition at UCD, choose USC.

It's USC! Legendary Trojan network.

I honestly think that USC will be better than UCLA within 10 years.

[Mroberts3]

Anything less than half tuition at UCD, choose USC.

It's USC! Legendary Trojan network.

I honestly think that USC will be better than UCLA within 10 years.

I have heard good things about the Trojan network, and I hope it lives up to the hype. One thing though is that 75% of USC grads go into private practice. Will that hurt me if I'm looking for gov't/clerkship or PI? I mean, how can an alumni network help you if you are looking for jobs in a different sector?

[redginseng]

Alumni network would need when you cannot find job on your own. I don't think you would need alumni network if you are looking for jobs in IP or government

[eth3n]

This is biased since im at UCD, but there are a few cool things going on at Davis...

We are completing a new building (huge) this spring and should be open for fall...
We got a HUGE increase in applications this year (21.6 percent compared to national average of 6.1 percent)
We did pretty damn well on CA spring bar this year:
Boalt - 93.2% (6)
Stanford - 92.8% (3)
USC - 90.8% (18)
Davis - 89.1% (35)
Hastings - 86.1% (39) [=P]

I seriously doubt we will gain any ground, but for a TTT we are likely not gonna lose any ground in the rankings this year.

Of course COL can be very low if you don't want a grad student palace, and then there is the quality of life/atmosphere etc.

---

Of course its bullshit to suggest Davis will give you better job opportunities by the straight-up numbers. However we are a huge PI school if you are serious about that road.

In regards to money, Davis doesn't do a substantial amount of merit-based aid, but they do a TON of need-based aid. Davis also has a decent LRAP.

If it was me, I would probably take USC just for the security, but Davis is a great school, and we basically own Sac (DA/DOJ/AG), I'm sure with effort you could make moves in SF.

[darknightbegins]

Anything less than half tuition at UCD, choose USC.

It's USC! Legendary Trojan network.

I honestly think that USC will be better than UCLA within 10 years.

+1

[bayareadunks]

I am also very interested in this question. Although I haven't received my Davis acceptance yet, it's probably the only other school I'll get into unless I get lucky and break the T-14 somehow.

[BobMunson]

USC. There's no comparison; even with full tuition at Davis it's just not close at all. Your career prospects are infinitely better coming from a top 20 school with a national reputation (Over the past 13 years or so, USC is consistently ranked between 15-18 in US News, and their median private sector salary is 160k). I just don't see any kind of argument you can make for Davis over SC. You'll earn your way out of debt really quickly from USC.

[ec2xs]

I thought this thread would be about which school takes the longest...