Yes, more people apply to UCLA than any other school in the nation. And yes, it is a highly prestigious, highly competitive university with a beautiful campus. That said, the administrators at UCLA need to strive to improve it by all means. And as crazy as it may seem, in doing so they can take a few pointers from our crosstown rivals.
Now, I hate the USC Trojans as much as the next Bruin ““ from their pompous scarlet attitude to their greedy yellow personalities. That said, it is hard to argue with successful results, and frankly, they have had them. Over the last twenty years, USC has risen up the collegiate academic rankings from a third-rate institution for troubled rich kids to a ““ gasp ““ respected university that is only two spots behind UCLA in the U.S. News and World Report list of top colleges.
While some may argue this is solely due to the fact that USC’s endowment fund is more than three times that of UCLA, the truth is that the Trojans have always had wealthy alumni, with even wealthier parents of alumni. In reality, their ascent up the collegiate rankings is derived from a structural approach that is vastly different, and in many ways more practical, than the expansive liberal arts mentality we have here.
For example, students can only get into the UCLA film school their junior year, with an acceptance rate that is often below 10 percent. In comparison, the more prestigious ‘SC film school accepts students straight out of high school, with an acceptance rate of around 20 percent. For being the lesser of the two famous Los Angeles film schools, one would think that the UCLA film school wouldn’t be the more exclusive. Additionally, at ‘SC there is far less attention put on General Education requirements and more allowance for students to take required film classes as early as freshman year.
Likewise, UCLA has no real undergraduate business department, with the only management-oriented major available being Business Economics where more of the focus is on economics. Conversely, USC ““ along with several universities around the nation ““ offers a business degree from a business department.
Nick Pezeshki, a second-year business student at USC, said, “Coming out of high school, I could have gone to UCLA or USC. But knowing I didn’t have the money for graduate school, the idea of graduation from an actual school of business with a major in business allured me to ‘SC. I don’t want to waste time with non-practical classes. Taking courses as soon as freshman year in real-world subjects like entrepreneurship, marketing, management and finance gives a great advantage when applying to jobs and internships, over students who have simply taken some econ classes.” Though USC is often given an arrogant reputation, its courses prove to be more practical.
“Taking classes with the same students for four years allows me to build a good network that I think will ultimately help me get a job as soon as I graduate, which is clearly any student’s main goal,” Pezeshki added. There is a far greater need in the working world for businessmen than economics-men. UCLA needs to start making the necessary adjustments.
In upholding a strict liberal-arts philosophy, UCLA has lost sight of the fact that a main point in higher learning is to give students practical skills they can use in their careers after college. With no majors offered in journalism or advertising, UCLA students have no way of learning skills applicable to several real-world fields.
Being successful in this world has become more and more competitive, and for many UCLA College students, life after college offers no employment better than their summer jobs. Prospective competitive students are catching on to this fact and it ultimately detracts from the university as a whole, with students who are looking for real-world knowledge opting to go elsewhere.
To be fair, there is a method to UCLA’s economics-based philosophy. Visiting economics Professor Bruce Brown said, “Undergraduate economics majors are statistically shown to get their MBAs more often than undergraduate business majors. And with an MBA, larger income is generally reflected.”
Essentially, the Business Economics major’s only purpose is to get students ready for graduate school. And this method in no way encourages or teaches students looking into starting their own business.
Alas, while USC is a private school not even half the size of UCLA, the school has done well by allowing students to focus less on GEs and more on their respective majors. Because of this approach, it has made itself a more desirable and competitive university.
Seeing that I am a Bruin, and that the idea of USC ever being ahead in any rankings disgusts me, I respectfully ask that the College administrators take notice and start making our curriculum more applicable to the real world.
If shocked and appalled, e-mail Bromberg at bromberg@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.