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USC Vs. UCL

arkbar

I'm going to go ahead and say that it's had waaay more influence on the fields of geography,sociology and economics than UCL.

The University of Leipzig or the University of Bologne has had more influence on History, Sociology and Anthropology than a number of great modern universities but you don't read about either of them as being one of the top world universities.

Reply 41

c0co

12

fibiso

haha. they have the most number of nobel prizes!

Good to know! I'm clearly not up to date on my Nobel Prize knowledge...

Reply 42

pharmakos

8

arkbar

I'm going to go ahead and say that it's had waaay more influence on the fields of geography,sociology and economics than UCL.

For Economics, yes, Chicago certainly beats UCL.

For geography, there's no comparison between the two: Chicago's Geographical Studies programme has only 5 faculty members, whereas UCL's has at least 35 members. UCL's geography dept is also one of the only 3 depts in the UK that have been awarded double 5*.

For sociology, there's no comparison b/w the two as well, simply because UCL doesn't offer degrees in sociology.

Reply 43

pharmakos

8

chrissy909

I've never really heard too much about UChicago, whereas UCL as one of the leading institutions in the University of London might have more of an international scope. It's hard to give UCL an American equivalent but I would probably say a university like NYU because they're solid a city based university.
I'm speaking from point of view as an American who lives in London.

When NYU was established in 1831, it was actually modeled after UCL to be non-denominational. But overall UCL is academically superior to NYU, as seen in every world unis rankings.

Reply 44

ravi21

OP

Does anybody have an idea about general class sizes at UCL?

America > London

chrissy909

I've never really heard too much about UChicago, whereas UCL as one of the leading institutions in the University of London might have more of an international scope. It's hard to give UCL an American equivalent but I would probably say a university like NYU because they're solid a city based university.
I'm speaking from point of view as an American who lives in London.

Chicago is something of an outlier. It has a distinguished intellectual tradition but does not fit neatly into any category. I'd say UCL is a better uni than NYU though.

Reply 47

dismal_laundry

15

BriXton

America > London

One's a subcontinent, one's a city, what's your point?

Reply 48

dismal_laundry

15

ravi21

Does anybody have an idea about general class sizes at UCL?

It really depends on your course- In my departments, the class sizes are small, usually < 20, sometimes < 10.

Reply 49

arkbar

12

For geography, there's no comparison between the two: Chicago's Geographical Studies programme has only 5 faculty members, whereas UCL's has at least 35 members. UCL's geography dept is also one of the only 3 depts in the UK that have been awarded double 5*.

I didn't say it was better, I just said it had been more influential in the past. Next time someone comes up with a 'UCL school of geography' let me know.

Reply 50

c0co

12

ravi21

Does anybody have an idea about general class sizes at UCL?

Depends on your subject. I generally have been 8-12 people in my seminar classes. It's so great because we get taught by our professors in seminar groups rather than post-grad students and are apparently one of the last uni's to still do so.

Reply 51

President_Ben

15

chrissy909

Depends on your subject. I generally have been 8-12 people in my seminar classes. It's so great because we get taught by our professors in seminar groups rather than post-grad students and are apparently one of the last uni's to still do so.

Varies with course and modules.

Become much less common since UCL doubled the number of students in it from 10 years ago.

And look how few new buildings there have been in those 10 years...

chrissy909

Haha my dad went to Northwestern and applied for UCL/LSE and didn't get in.

Long time ago though, no?

chrissy909

I've never really heard too much about UChicago

If modern Economics was born out of 3 universities, Chicago is one of them. The other two being Cambridge and LSE.

Reply 52

pharmakos

8

arkbar

I didn't say it was better, I just said it had been more influential in the past. Next time someone comes up with a 'UCL school of geography' let me know.

Forive my ignorance. Please show me the source of the Chicago School of Geography. I've only heard of that the "Chicago School" applies to economics and sociology.

Reply 53

Onearmedbandit

17

I thought this thread was supposed to be about the respective merits of UCL and USC?

Reply 54

arkbar

12

Forive my ignorance. Please show me the source of the Chicago School of Geography.

A good piece by a very good USC professor is:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/la_school/studies/
Edit: I should point out that the school of geography is very similar to the school of urban sociology.

Reply 55

Young_Gun

President_Ben

If modern Economics was born out of 3 universities, Chicago is one of them. The other two being Cambridge and LSE.

A very succinct description :biggrin:

Reply 56

Ch3

I believe this 'ghetto mentality' to which you refer, will only influence you if you decide to remain within the confines of your current social circle [which i assume is all your wonderful friends joining you at UCL :-p] .

I also think you don't respect UCL as a university because of the amount of people you know who were offered places (people whom you consider not academically capable). Whereas you noticed alot of people rejected from 2nd rate US universities. I'd like to venture a theory that it was more due to your academic background - CIS doesn't translate its transcripts well towards American universities as it is more geared towards sending students to the UK. As a result, a lot of capable candidates were rejected from US universities they clearly deserved to be in. UK focuses solely on academics for international students ; so all students getting 8A's at GCE , 4 A's at A/S are differentiated based on their personal statement. which clearly isn't fair.. but thats how life goes.

I'd say UCL's a better university(in a completely different league).. but for your personality and certain personal reasons.. go to USC if you think its better for you.

Reply 57

2nd_slip

9

Cant you start at say USC and then transfer to UCLA or somewhere else which is top notch?

Reply 58

Tomber

13

President_Ben

If modern Economics was born out of 3 universities, Chicago is one of them. The other two being Cambridge and LSE.

Economics? Pah, U.Chicago is known for a reason.....

Reply 59

Col. Zoopypants

1

Original post by Aimless2007

This might be a bit too optimistic. I might be on a par with Emory or Vander or something along these lines. I don't really think that most ppl would put UChicago and UCL in the same tier.

Not a single major ranking would agree with you. All of the top three rankings (Jiao Tong, Times, QS) have UCL in the top 20 in the world. QS has it at 7 for goodness sake. Times has it above Columbia. I don't know who "most people" are but academics, and clearly ranking organizations, would consider "lower ivy" to be a bit pessimistic with respect to categorizing the quality of UCL. Where are you getting your information?

USC Vs. UCL

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