Is UCLA or USC harder to get into for business majors?

USC is typically harder to get into specifically for business, while UCLA is usually harder overall as a university. The key reason is that USC’s Marshall School of Business admits students directly into a very popular undergraduate business program, so applicants are competing for a defined set of business spots from the start. UCLA does not offer a traditional undergraduate business major in the same way, which changes the comparison a lot.

At UCLA, the closest undergraduate path is usually Business Economics in the College of Letters and Science, plus options like Economics or related majors. That means you are not applying to a separate undergraduate business school with direct freshman admission the way you would at USC Marshall. So if your goal is specifically “business” as a major title and preprofessional path, USC tends to be the more difficult target.

Another important difference is how admissions are structured. USC is a private university and its business program has a strong national applicant pool, including many students applying specifically for Marshall because they want internships, finance, consulting, or entrepreneurship access from day one. UCLA draws huge interest too, but students interested in business often enter through a broader academic route rather than a direct admit business program.

In practical terms, people usually talk about this comparison as UCLA being tougher in the broad admissions sense, but USC Marshall being tougher in the business-major sense. So if you are asking only about getting in for business, the usual answer is USC.