Congrats on having such great options. Money is hard to come by in grad school so 1/2 tuition is certainly something to be proud of.

That said, I'd push for Marshall on account of its history, prestige and connections. I think the name and network is worth the difference in price but the quality of education I'm sure would be comparable (I've heard generally good things about Merage).

I was very impressed by Marshall as an applicant and chose it over some "big" names. You should reach out to current students and deeply consider the industry you want to go into. I would suggest letting Marshall know about your offer (it couldn't hurt) but would presume UCI's small size and lower rank to be enough for them not to counter (especially this late in the application season). Let us know how your research goes. If USC excites you as much as it has for me, I look forward to calling you a classmate…..

Fight on!

Thanks for the input! I will definitely be talking to some former students and researching outcomes over the next few days. Also, it might be worth mentioning that a $60K scholarship from UCI covers most of the tuition because I'm a California resident (In-State Tuition: $77K). That's what makes this such a hard decision.

don't think it's all that close of a decision. I used to work for a firm in the OC that hired interns from Merage and the caliber of students was definitely not up to par. I'd say they're not even close but rankings may say otherwise.

Even though USC has been sliding all over the place in terms of rankings I'd say it's still one of the most powerful and best degrees you can get if you want to work and live in SoCal. I've been reaching out to alums that are in the industry I am interested in and the overwhelming support and quick response have been impressive.

I agree that the USC name and degree definitely hold a lot of weight in SoCal.

Yikes full tuition i hard to turn down but I think USC is in a different tier than UCI in a number of regards. I know Merage has a lot going for it, but it still has a ways to go. Maybe share you financial situation with USC? It is probably too late for aid.

What is it you're hoping to do after? Think carefully about the difference in name and placement between the schools in understanding your end point w/ o w/o debt.

Nothing beats the Trojan Network though