Transfer Student: Berkeley Econ or USC Marshall

I applied to transfer after one year at my current college and I have been accepted into UC Berkeley in Pre-Economics as a junior transfer student. I have also been accepted into USC Marshall as a sophomore transfer student. Which school should I attend if I want to go into Investment Banking or Big 4 TAS or MBB.

I feel that being a junior transfer student would not give me enough time to network and find compared to spending 3 years at USC. Is Berkeley that much better than USC. Also I want to get an MBA possibly from USC in the future.

If I were able to stay at Cal for 3 years, then which would be the better choice.

If you could please give any information about the pros and cons of each school in terms of prestige, finding a job/internships, etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

9 Comments
 

I'm thinking that b-school (USC Marshall) will be helpful for you to enter IB early. Berkeley is also a solid brand though--pays off in the long run.

Besides, I'd like to point out that UC Berkeley's MBA is in a higher tier than USC Marshall's MBA..... but you only have USC Marshall offers and no offer from Haas to compare with...

 

I have no preference between nor cal and so cal. The problem with Berkeley is that I heard they really want students to transfer in two years, which I feel would be bad if I were to do I banking, whereas USC I could take three years to graduate which I want to do.

 
"SCTrojan1"

I have no preference between nor cal and so cal. The problem with Berkeley is that I heard they really want students to transfer in two years, which I feel would be bad if I were to do I banking, whereas USC I could take three years to graduate which I want to do.

it's too reasonable for Berkeley to ask for 2 years. You can't expect Berkeley to take your CC credits to prepare for upper-level classes....and you may already face a deficiency as an incoming student at either USC or Berkeley......but they see that you have enough talents to catch up

 

Berkeley. You'll very likely be allowed to stay the full 3 years.

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USC for the network. While Cal might have better rankings it doesn't have the networking powerhouse that USC has. Also, since USC is private and you are an undergrad, the vast majority of your peers and friends will come from wealthy families with often powerful connections. This can be very powerful in securing internships and jobs.

 

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