Cal vs. USC

caltech?

They'll be pretty close. USC's got the proximity and strong alumni association. Cal's alumni association might be strong at their business school and not so much at the Econ dept, though plenty of strong Econ students get banking jobs at bulge brackets.

But in terms of cost, especially if you're a CA resident, Cal wins hands down. USC is ridiculous.

Berkeley has a stronger academic reputation but you might not meet as many billionaire scions in your dorm.

cal cant touch so cal. southern cal = usc nor cal / other places = cal

If you live at home in LA and commute to USC, then sure, it evens out, but if you pay for your rooms, Cal has to be the cheaper choice. It's a public school, and I know costs have been going up recently, but not nearly to USC's levels.

I think Berkeley is ranked higher than USC in almost every reputational department, so I'd pick it. USC places relatively well into i-banking too (especially out of Marshall), and may be a more logical choice for SoCal, but contrary to what LAWM said, plenty of Cal students find jobs in SoCal. Half of students at Berkeley are from Southern California, so it makes sense for some of them to want to return to work in LA.

Why are you doing Econ at USC? Why not Marshall? Give us some more background... Are you a college senior? Or a transfer student?

If you want to be in LA, your best bet is USC obviously. You can network with the guys in LA at all the networking/info sessions SC has. If you have a 3.7+ you can easily land a gig at a top firm with the right networking/resume/interview skills. SC dominated the summer analysts in LA throughout all the BB's (mostly including BarCap, UBS, and MS)

If you wanna stay in Southern California, then listen to people's opinions above. Otherwise, Cal. No doubt.