UW or USC

[yaypharming]

I am super excited to have been accepted into these 2 schools...but now I have a tough decision to make (and soon). What do people here think about these schools? Here are my personal pros and cons:

USC
pros:
-in socal, where I live now and would probably want to work in the future
-the Trojan family and all its connections
-I have friends at usc and family here
cons:
-I've heard a lot of bad things from current students about usc and its curriculum issues lately
-students seemed more stressed out/depressed at the interview than at other schools I visited
-and cost.

UW
pros:
-cheaper (assuming I can get in state residency the second year)
-might be easier to get rotation sites
-small class size
-my impression of UW was a lot better on interview day; faculty seemed nicer and more engaged in the interview, and my student tour guide seemed happyish
cons:
-weather
-I literally know no one in Seattle
-not being able to come back to CA as easily if I decide to do that

Also for out of state uw students, how easy was it to get in state residency status? Does everyone get it after one year?

Thanks for reading!! I hope I can get some insight from uw students here since I have only really talked to usc people.

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USC
pros:
-in socal, where I live now and would probably want to work in the future
-the Trojan family and all its connections
-I have friends at usc and family here
You should go to USC if you think that pursuing an already saturated field by going to the most expensive school in the nation
so that you can work at the most saturated state in the nation is a good idea.

cons:
-I've heard a lot of bad things from current students about usc and its curriculum issues lately
-students seemed more stressed out/depressed at the interview than at other schools I visited
-and cost.
USC will cost you 40oK, the students are stressed because they will spend their entire lives paying back this debt.
No amount of connections will help you with that kind of debt and the level of saturation in California.

UW
pros:
-cheaper (assuming I can get in state residency the second year)
-might be easier to get rotation sites
-small class size
-my impression of UW was a lot better on interview day; faculty seemed nicer and more engaged in the interview, and my student tour guide seemed happyish
Getting in state tuition at UW is very difficult so there is no guarantee that you will get it. Expect at least 2 years of paying out of state tuition, if not all 4 years.
If your goal is to work in California then realize nobody knows anything about UW there, so expect a harder time landing a job.

cons:
-weather
-I literally know no one in Seattle
-not being able to come back to CA as easily if I decide to do that
Washington has depressing weather and not having your family there with you, along with a smaller class size, means you will make less friends and not
have as much support. Then again, as you said USC students were more stressed and UW was more friendly, so maybe you'll be happier in Seattle anyway.

Also for out of state uw students, how easy was it to get in state residency status? Does everyone get it after one year?
No, it is difficult to get in state at UW, unless you get married to a resident of washington.
Marrying someone to reduce your student loan debt, romantic.

Thanks for reading!! I hope I can get some insight from uw students here since I have only really talked to usc people.