Tell me about USC?
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Anonymous
Very few take close to half the class from their home state, or even more than a third. USC is an outlier and that’s fine. It’s useful info for potential applicants because state of residency does affect admissions odds. |
Anonymous
| Why the unnecessary question mark? |
Anonymous
My DC is at USC. This is the most accurate description. To the other PP. Greek is big if you want it, but it’s cool if you don’t. DC isn’t Greek, not their thing, has a great social life, joined a club that has 500 members. So everyone finds their niche. I would say classes were large in the first year (not first two), with GE lectures being 100-150 kids. Marshall classes have always been 30-50. Applied analytics classes are 15-25. So once you’re in your major, the class sizes are very manageable. DC really connected with one professor who helped with a LOR for an internship. Another thing to consider… USC is very generous with IB and AP Credit and the GE requirements are covered / taken care of easily. Most of DC’s friends have the option of graduating at least a semester early or they just do another major. Alumni network starts working for the kids while in undergrad, there is a lot of pay it forward by alumni even the young ones. DC was set up with an alumni mentor who graduated 5 years prior, in a niche industry and they went to dinner, then were able to do a shadow day with them, DC thinks the whole experience is pretty cool. |
Anonymous
| Go Gamecocks! |
Anonymous
We looked at USC for engineering. It is a good school for that, particularly for aerospace. It's a big feeder for SpaceX. As many have said, the campus is beautiful. The weather is great. The school is increasingly diverse, but the rich kids do remain unusually prominent. I'm sure the Greek scene is ridiculous. Sororities will presumably be paying a lot of attention to a girl's purse. But the school is much bigger than its old U of Spoiled Kids moniker. You will get a good education at USC, particularly in engineering. The big football scene leads to school spirit. The post-graduation networking is outstanding, especially on the West Coast. It's like Notre Dame in the Midwest. Almost cult like. Downside is that leaving campus requires some planning. It's not exactly surrounded by a wonderful neighborhood where you can wander late at night in search of a pizza or a college dive bar. To see the rest of LA is going to require a lot of Ubering. Even though USC is better than it used to be, middle class kids will still feel a little self conscious. There is a lot of money at USC and students do tend to flash the bling. Our DC is super down to Earth with a highly evolved BS detector. USC was not the right space for him. But I'm sure it is for many. A lot of positives to it. |
Anonymous
What does this mean? |
Anonymous
DP maybe the PP meant more consumerist/materialistic as opposed to ‘BS detector’. |
Anonymous
What is a gamecock? Sc are Trojans. |
Anonymous
Silly reference to Univ of South Carolina |
Anonymous
True and my sister went there. Avoid. Great marketing. USC was the first private to break $90K a year and you will be surrounded by shallow Californians. I attended the law school for a semester and hated it. Too close to watts and Compton. horrible air quality. I am not impressed but I hand it to USC to come from a very bad reputation years ago (everyone who could went to UCLA or Stanford) into what it is today. But I am not impressed. and as a former Californian you have to pay me to fly into the hell that is LAX now. no way i would my send my kids there. |
Anonymous
USC is often UCLA's rejects choice. The stats bear this out. For a public university with an affordable tuition, UCLA isn't too shabby compared to USC in terms of engineering, wall street, silicon valley placements. |
Anonymous
I think for my kid, an out of state NMF who qualifies for need based aid, USC would be cheaper. |
Anonymous
| Posted this on another thread but might want to look at this article that just came out about USCs cut backs of OOS. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-01-19/uc-enrolls-record-number-of-california-undergrads-in-fall-2023-cuts-out-of-state-students?fbclid=IwAR0ZNouxTKyl-6u_OPAWOavdyBq127YO1of-AGoFZv5oQ6UAr2Ea_WZH5KU_aem_ATt9a-PH3TXwAFhVsWlqmk9VunzWbr_HIfRZpI4inLDL7TpUknA_MRa8GwHcnowFgTA |
Anonymous
USC is not a UC. |
Anonymous
Yes. It would be. Private schools with large endowments are always much more affordable than OOS publics for highly accomplished middle class students. |