UCLA vs. USC

Dreaming of attending college in sunny Los Angeles, California? If you’ve been doing your homework on universities in southern California, chances are you’ve read about the perennial rivalry between UCLA and USC, which has probably left you wondering: which school is better, UCLA or USC? While there’s no simple answer, there are a number of key differences that are important to keep in mind as you prepare to apply to college. Let’s get into it.

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PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC

*Please note: We are reporting the 2023 rankings provided by U.S. News & World Report for the sake of comparison, not as an endorsement of their ranking factors or calculations.

USC – Private Research University

Established in 1880, a mere thirty years after California became the 30^th state, USC is the oldest private research university in the western United States. Over its nearly 150-year history, USC has celebrated 24 Nobel Prize-, MacArthur grant-, and National Medal-winning faculty members and made a name for itself among the nation’s premier higher education institutions. U.S. News & World Report ranks USC #25 among National Universities, #30 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, and #8 in Undergraduate Business Programs (more on that below).

UCLA – “Public Ivy”

UCLA, located just over ten miles west of USC and situated between the ritzy Brentwood and Beverly Hills neighborhoods of west L.A., is largely considered the nation’s top public university, as reflected by a prestigious #1 ranking among Top Public Schools by U.S. News & World Report. With nearly 100,000 in-state applicants alone in the most recent admissions cycle, UCLA is the most-applied-to in-state school of all the University of California campuses, which is hardly surprising given the university’s informal status as a “public Ivy.” Beyond its #1 Top Public School ranking, UCLA also ranks #20 among National Universities, #16 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, and has a remarkable roster of award-winning faculty to rival that of USC, with eight Nobel Laureates, a Fields Medal, fifteen MacArthur Fellows, three Pulitzers, and a Turing Award, among others.

ACADEMIC RIGOR

The exceptional faculties and bountiful resources of both UCLA and USC foster a general spirit of academic excellence and curiosity that is reflected by the universities’ comprehensive breadth of academic offerings.

UCLA’s College of Letters & Science, home to over 85% of UCLA undergraduates, comprises four academic divisions — Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Life Sciences — and over 100 majors. The university’s further 12 professional schools, including the high-ranking Samueli School of Engineering, the School of Nursing, and the Luskin School of Public Affairs, round out the university’s offerings at a total 125 majors. Many courses of study at UCLA require or encourage a final Capstone project, which may comprise honors theses, internships, laboratory work, or other individual or team-based projects. Among undergraduates, approximately 25% of students who received their bachelor’s degrees in 2022 majored in the social sciences, 15% in the biological/life sciences, and 10% in psychology, which gives applicants a good sense of student interests.

USC’s 23 schools, including the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Marshall School of Business, the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and the School of Cinematic Arts, offer a similarly impressive array of majors. While UCLA skews toward the social sciences, biological sciences, and psychology, at USC, 21% of bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2022 were in business/marketing: undergraduates in the popular Marshall School of Business study business within the context of a wide array of disciplines, from communication to cinematic arts to finance. After business/marketing, the next most popular areas of study at USC were visual or performing arts and the social sciences (11% each), with communication/journalism coming in close behind at 9%.

Students at both UCLA and USC have the opportunity to perform research alongside renowned faculty. At UCLA, the Undergraduate Research Center pairs undergraduate students with faculty across the university’s myriad research institutes, including the interdisciplinary Institute for Technology, Law & Policy and the Center for Research in Engineering, Media, and Performance, among others, fostering active participation in projects that have real-world impact. At USC, the research landscape open to undergraduates includes an Alzheimer Disease Research Center, Center for City Design, Center for Computational Modeling of Cancer, and Polish Music Center, among many, many others.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

All of these opportunities, of course, come at a price: UCLA’s estimated undergraduate student costs for 2023-24 is $38,517 for California residents living on campus but $71,091 for non-California-residents living on campus (which includes $32,574 in supplemental out-of-state tuition). USC’s estimated 2023-24 price tag for students living on campus is even higher: a whopping $90,921 ($66,640 of which is tuition).

Nevertheless, UCLA and USC are committed to providing financial assistance to students and families for whom the cost of attending would create undue hardship: USC meets 100 percent of USC-determined financial need, with 100% of families earning less than $80,000 per year attending tuition-free; UCLA’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan similarly covers the cost of tuition for families earning below $80,000 per year.

STUDENT BODY STATS

With starry accolades and reputations for academic excellence, competition at UCLA and USC is unsurprisingly fierce. Of 149,815 total first-time, first-year (degree-seeking) students who applied to enroll at UCLA in Fall 2022, 12,844 (8.5%) were admitted (including wait-listed students who were subsequently offered admission). Of 69,062 total first-time, first-year (degree-seeking) students who applied to enroll at USC in the same admissions cycle, 8,304 (12%) earned coveted spots in the Class of 2026.

At UCLA, admitted students are invited to join an undergraduate student body of 32,423 students (according to the 22-23 Common Data Set), 9% of whom are international students. Of the remaining 29,462 undergraduates, approximately 24% are Hispanic/Latino, just under 4% are Black or African American (non-Hispanic), 32% Asian (non-Hispanic), and a modest 13.6% come from out of state.

At USC, admitted students may matriculate into an undergraduate student body of 20,699 students (according to the 22-23 Common Data Set), 13% of whom are international students. Of the remaining 17,897 undergraduates, approximately 20% are Hispanic/Latino, 7% are Black or African American (non-Hispanic), 28% Asian (non-Hispanic), and 39% from out of state.

While the total student body size at both UCLA and USC are comparable (47,832 students at UCLA and 48,945 at USC), the ratio of undergraduates to graduate students is skewed more generously toward undergraduates at UCLA: UCLA undergraduates comprise 68% of the total student body, while USC undergraduates comprise a much more modest 42% of the total student body.

APPLYING TO UCLA VS. USC

Ready to apply to UCLA or USC? Let’s figure out what you’ll need.

The Deadlines

Students applying to USC may do so via the Common App, with an application timeline of January 15th as the Regular Decision deadline (Dec. 1 priority deadline for certain schools and for consideration for USC Merit Scholarships) and November 1st as the Early Action (non-binding, non-restrictive) deadline. (Early Action may not be available to students applying for majors that require portfolios or auditions.)

Students applying to UCLA must apply via the UC Application (used by all University of California campuses). The deadline for applications is November 30th. There is no Early Action or Early Decision option.

At UCLA, students may opt to defer admission for one year; at USC, deferment is not permitted.

The Academic Profile

With 8.5% and 12% acceptance rates, respectively, it’s no surprise UCLA and USC consistently attract applicants with impressive academic profiles: 59.1% of students who enrolled at UCLA in Fall 2022 had a 4.0 GPA (34% had a GPA of between 3.75-3.99), compared with 31.77% at USC (and 51.77% at 3.75-3.99). UCLA is test-blind, but at USC the middle 50% of SAT composite scores for students enrolled in Fall 2022 ranged from 1460-1540 (710-760 verbal and 740-790 Math) and the middle 50% of ACT composite from 32-35 (with ACT English and Reading sections being slightly more competitive over the Math and Science).

The Application Essays

If your GPA and test scores put you in-range at UCLA or USC, you’ve got a leg up, but it’s crucial that your essay responses help you stand out from the crowd. UCLA’s “Personal Insight” questions on the UC App emphasize “leadership experience,” “innovative thinking,” community, and academics — a reflection of the university’s ethos (and a good indication of the students they’re planning to admit each new class year!). USC includes a number of “grab-bag” questions on their application, asking applicants to describe themselves in three words, share their dream job, the theme song of their life, and so forth. Don’t let these questions fool you, though: USC is deeply committed to identifying students who will contribute positively to its community. Note the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences’ supplemental question, for example: “Many of us have at least one issue or passion that we care deeply about — a topic on which we would love to share our opinions and insights in hopes of sparking intense interest and continued conversation. If you had ten minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your talk be about?”

Don’t underestimate the free response questions; use them to make your mark.

WRAPPING UP

The college application process is certainly no La-La Land of surfing and sunshine. At times, it can even feel like you’re being hit by wave after wave in an unrelenting ocean of stats, facts, essays, and stress. At Top Tier Admissions, we guide students through the process, so the next time you ask the question “which is a better fit for me, UCLA or USC?” you’ll have someone to lift you back onto your surfboard so you can ride the wave into your next adventure.