University of Southern California Top Questions

No, not all students are rich. Many are on some type of financial aid.

No, not all students are rich. Many are on some type of financial aid.

USC is stereotyped as the school for "rich, white kids" but it really isn't. USC's student body is just as diverse as other institutions in the country. In fact, it has one of the highest percentages of international students. People from all kinds of backgrounds and cultures can be seen around campus. It's what makes USC really great!

However, both stereotypes are very limiting and misleading. While USC does embrace its sports culture, the school also boasts its already strong and still growing academic strength. Music is also popular here, with weekly live music on campus, and aspiring musicians holding events throughout the year. Visions and Voices hosts a plethora of arts, music, and literary events, with world-renowned speakers, artists, musicians, and authors. USC Spectrum is another organization that hosts a number of art/music-related events. The stereotype that USC is filled with rich and spoiled kids is completely false and misleading. While the school does have a number of well-off students, there is definitely not a "rich-society" culture. In any class, you can find students from all walks of life. I've personally met students that were very well-off and students who were depending entirely on financial aid. With almost 3,000 students matriculating each year, it's impossible to have a homogenous student population. You can find people from all walks of life here.

USC's student body is so diverse that representatives of every stereotype out there can be found but overall, the best way to categorize Trojans is: 1) Loyal 2) Intelligent 3) Passionate 4) Driven

Wealth is taken to a new level at USC. While obviously not everyone hails from a Fortune 500 family, there are way more rich kids, many of whom are spoiled, than I imagined. As far as apathy, I'd say that we are actually a relatively politically active campus. A large chunk of students get involved with groups such as CALPIRG, CCU, etc. and do some great projects. There are others who can't even stay awake in their Social Issues class, let alone join a grassroots movement.

Spoiled:To a certain extent this is true. You can see some kids driving in daddy's brand new mercedes or bimmer with LV bags. But every school has rich spoiled people, since USC is an expensive private school there are probably more, but there are also many people here who come from well to do backgrounds who are down to earth. The school has also been trying to attract diversity from race to economic background. USC currently has the most international students out of any US university. One thing that I have noticed is that many of the undergrads who are from overseas tend to be relatively wealthier than domestic students, some are spoiled some are very hard working. Expensive: Yes it's something like 55k/yr now? but if you don't have enough money or are really smart the school will give you money to come here. Ghetto: Yes, it's not as nice as westwood but it's never really been an issue (for me anyways)

Mostly yes, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It always shocks me that the kids on my floor will all go out and have a good time, but Sunday afternoons and school nights (except Thursdays, when everyone goes out) are always pretty quiet in the dorms, with everyone diligently working on school. Plus, people really are beautiful! Also, there are definitely some very privileged students here, but few flaunt it, and there are greater numbers of students on scholarship or from more modest households.

Not at all. I`m not going to say that there is NOBODY who is rich and stuck up, but honestly on the whole I have met very few people who portray these characteristics, and because it is such a small percentage- you can just choose not to hang out with them. As for everyone being from California- not true. I think the percentage is like 51{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}/49{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} but you don't really notice it. Most of my friends are from all over the country- again, there are so many people that you can choose who you hang out with. And as for going home on weekends, campus is never really completely dead (except for the weekender!), but yeah- sometimes people go home, but they are always friendly and will welcome you into their homes, and not everyone goes home at the same time so you don't really notice it nearly as much as I thought I would.

The neighborhood is, in fact, as bad as you think; in spite of the fact that the administration has been promoting the fact that the area around campus has become more gentrified in recent years, crime directly surrounding campus is still pretty high. As for the stereotype of rich, bratty kids, it varies--USC is very diverse and has students of all different backgrounds, but the "spoiled children" are definitely a visible part of the community, if not the majority.