College Decision?

I saw one of your posts in Archinect and I would really appreciate it if you could help me make a decision.

I am a transfer student and I need to make a decision between USC and Cal Poly SLO. I am planning on attending an MArch II program after my BArch. I am from LA and USC is giving me enough scholarship to cover my living and school expenses while Cal Poly covers my tuition only. However Cal Poly gave me a third year placement while USC is a second year placement. I would really really appreciate it if you could let me know what you think. Which school will best prepare me as an architect and which one will maximize my chances of getting into a well known MArch II program like GSD or Yale. 

I know that Cal Poly has a more engineering based approach while USC has great networking and I think both are important but I really don't know which one is the most important. 

Thanks again for your time.

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I will provide some insight on how to approach the decision before you, but will NOT make it for you.

As I share with others, you must first determine what criteria are most important to you when making the decision.  For example, reputation, location, faculty, facilities, cost, etc. are possible criteria.  Once you determine the criteria, you compare each of your choices (USC and Cal Poly SLO) against your criteria.  Try to avoid comparing the two schools against each other.  As you rank each school against your criteria, you will discover which school best fits your most important criteria.  Thus, you have made your decision.

Please realize that this is not an exact science but does help you determine what is more important.

You must determine which is most important as you are the one attending the program.

Best.

Dr. Architecture