University of Southern California Top Questions

I feel that it is a big misconception that USC is not academically challenging, but that is not the case. I am on merit scholarship, but I still find all my courses academically stimulating, and I have to put in a great deal of work in order to get good grades. It is definitely possible to get As here, but it is certainly not easy. Many students here study much more than it may appear, although this is not the case for everyone. General education courses tend to be larger, lecture style classes that are more impersonal, but if you go to office hours and put in the extra effort, most professors are very friendly. However, many of the upper level courses within one's major are much more personal. I am a print journalism major within the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and this is a main reason I decided to come here. The classes are small, about 20 people but sometimes less, and professors definitely know their students names. Annenberg is very well-respected, as are USC's other professional schools, including Viterbi School for Engineering and Marshall School of Business.

Since USC is a "small" school, you really have the opportunity to connect with your professors. At a big school like UCLA, you are just one of tens of thousands of undergrads, and it is much more difficult to stand out. For example, lecture sizes for general education classes at USC rarely exceed 100, while at UCLA, most have about 300 kids in them! At USC, you never have to wonder about if you are going to have a seat in class, or if your professor knows who you are. Once you get into your major classes, the average class ratio is like 15:1, student to professor, and when your professor is able to know you and your work, this has obvious advantages. But don't think that getting into USC is easy! The average GPA of high school coming into USC is about a 4.2, so you have to be the best of the best to get in here. USC does not accept mediocrity! Also, USC is a private school, which has many advantages of its own. For one, classes are guaranteed; you never have to stress about not getting into a class that you need to graduate. This cannot be said of any of the UC schools, as their classes are often threatened by over-enrollment and state budget cuts. That's also something that you should consider in applying to college. USC offers a variety of unique classes, like one I am in right now called Cinema Symposium. In this class, we screen movies before they debut (this term we saw "Drive", "The Descendants", "Tintin", "Hugo", and "Like Crazy" before they came out), and then we have a Q&A session with an actor, or a member of the production staff. Another popular class is called the LA Experience, where the class goes on trips throughout LA to experience things that the city is iconic for. These are just two of dozens of classes that USC offers that provide unique experiences. As far as required classes go, the courses here are by no means easy! You really have to work hard for an A, as most professors feel that if you knew how to do the work already, you wouldn't be in college. This is especially true in my school, the Annenberg school for Journalism. All of my professors are Emmy Award-winning reporters or producers, so I am getting a top-notch education from people who have actually worked in the field. Furthermore, USC uses technology in the classroom that each respective industry uses every day. For example, the editing software we use to make our news packages is the same software that ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN use. And, they teach us everything today that will help us get hired tomorrow. Many employers have said that this gives SC kids an advantage over others, because we already know how to use things and they don't have to train us as much. As a matter of fact, when job fairs are held in LA, the UCLA kids get mad because the Trojans get way more jobs than they, the Bruins. So basically, if you want to live and work in LA, you absolutely should go to USC.

Since USC is a "small" school, you really have the opportunity to connect with your professors. At a big school like UCLA, you are just one of tens of thousands of undergrads, and it is much more difficult to stand out. For example, lecture sizes for general education classes at USC rarely exceed 100, while at UCLA, most have about 300 kids in them! At USC, you never have to wonder about if you are going to have a seat in class, or if your professor knows who you are. Once you get into your major classes, the average class ratio is like 15:1, student to professor, and when your professor is able to know you and your work, this has obvious advantages. But don't think that getting into USC is easy! The average GPA of high school coming into USC is about a 4.2, so you have to be the best of the best to get in here. USC does not accept mediocrity! Also, USC is a private school, which has many advantages of its own. For one, classes are guaranteed; you never have to stress about not getting into a class that you need to graduate. This cannot be said of any of the UC schools, as their classes are often threatened by over-enrollment and state budget cuts. That's also something that you should consider in applying to college. USC offers a variety of unique classes, like one I am in right now called Cinema Symposium. In this class, we screen movies before they debut (this term we saw "Drive", "The Descendants", "Tintin", "Hugo", and "Like Crazy" before they came out), and then we have a Q&A session with an actor, or a member of the production staff. Another popular class is called the LA Experience, where the class goes on trips throughout LA to experience things that the city is iconic for. These are just two of dozens of classes that USC offers that provide unique experiences. As far as required classes go, the courses here are by no means easy! You really have to work hard for an A, as most professors feel that if you knew how to do the work already, you wouldn't be in college. This is especially true in my school, the Annenberg school for Journalism. All of my professors are Emmy Award-winning reporters or producers, so I am getting a top-notch education from people who have actually worked in the field. Furthermore, USC uses technology in the classroom that each respective industry uses every day. For example, the editing software we use to make our news packages is the same software that ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN use. And, they teach us everything today that will help us get hired tomorrow. Many employers have said that this gives SC kids an advantage over others, because we already know how to use things and they don't have to train us as much. As a matter of fact, when job fairs are held in LA, the UCLA kids get mad because the Trojans get way more jobs than they, the Bruins. So basically, if you want to live and work in LA, you absolutely should go to USC.

Academics at my school are challenging but extremely rewarding. Professors will know your name in the smaller classes, but if you want to be known in the larger lectures, you have to speak up. If you are scared to talk in those huge classes though, no worries, you will always have a discussion section where you can ask questions and talk out difficult concepts with a TA, teaching assistant. My favorite classes are those in my major, Communication. I learn about entertainment, music, philosophy, race and class and so much more. I feel that what I am learning in class is making me so much more aware of the world around me and I love it. My least favorite class was again, a general elective course, and this one was about science- specifically astronomy (not my thing). I felt that the class was not only very hard for me, but had so much information I got lost in the stars. On the bright side, I still did well in the class. Study, study, study! Studying is extremely important to succeed at USC, and the libraries will be packed when midterms and finals come around- so go early to make sure you get a good spot! Students are definitely competitive here so you will need to work hard to keep up with everyone else. The education at USC, I would say, is geared for a job. You definitely learn just for the love of learning, but everything that you take in can be applied in real life. At least that is how I feel about the Comm major. You work hard both inside and outside of class. They hope that when you get out of school, you have the experience and knowledge you need to go out and be successful.

Most of my professors know my name. It's harder with big lectures, but you'd have to be the one to make the effort to get to know the professors. All of the professors in my upper division classes know my name. I have many favorite classes at USC, and in one of them, I and another student choreographed a modern dance peace as a creative interpretation of a future political message. It was pretty awesome. In another class, we'd discuss the psychological and social aspects of dying, which aren't a topic much discussed. It was very educational and enlightening, and I have gained new respect for the value and integrity of human life as well as the ending of human life. The amount of studying depends drastically by the student and by the major. It really all depends. Class participation is very common, especially among smaller classes. One of my class was about 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} student discussion. Students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Most students you'd meet at USC are smart, driven, and thoughtful. I was a pre-med student, and I can say that while students here are definitely competitive, they are also very willing to work with each other. I would say that the competition here is very friendly, which is very different from some of the cutting-throat competition stories I'd hear from else where. I've taken a class on sailing at USC. It was awesome. I'd learned old navigation techniques as well as going on an overnight sailing trip, where I actually got to man the sails. Experience of a lifetime. My major is Human Development and Aging, health science track, in the School of Gerontology. We focus on the study of aging, particularly the biological process of aging. In my major, we'd also have a breadth in discipline, crossing sociology, policy, and psychology. It's a great inter-disciplinary major with plenty of hands-on experience. I spend a lot of time with professors outside of class due to my current research. In addition, I also spend time talking with professors after class. Most of them are very friendly and love to talk to students. USC is definitely demanding more academically from its students, and I feel it is appropriate considering the rising academic standard at the school. USC is traditionally known for being a professional school, with many of its more well-established departments geared towards getting a job, such as cinema and engineering. However, the school has been raising efforts to establish liberal arts studies, especially with the recent endowment for the Dornsife College. The general education honors program (Thematic Options) is also a great program focused on critical thinking and liberal arts.

USC is full of brilliant, caring professors. Whereas this does not describe every USC professor, most are superb. And even though many people bemoan the General Education requirements, they are flexible enough that you more often than not will be able to find a class you enjoy in a category you may not be fond of at first glance. Within the GE classes as well as all of the classes I took for my majors (Communication and French), there was a concerted effort on the part of the professors to get to know their students and offer them valuable learning experiences that both contribute to personal and professional growth. This engenders a cooperative, challenging, and stimulating in-class experience that translates to work and interactions outside of the classroom as well.

Accessible professors who are always willing to answer questions (even during lecture). Fascinating classes. Tons of work. Students are willing to help each other, (unlike at UCLA). However, some students don't really seem to care about learning and are more interested in greek life, partying, other inconsequential shit.

Majors: There are so many majors at USC that cater to your future aspirations for instance it is probably one of the only universities in the country that have business administration,finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, journalism, communications, engineering (any), architecture, art, public policy, computer science, film...(etc etc you get the point) available as majors in one university. One of the reasons why USC remains so popular today is because there are many majors that are tailored for careers that they want to enter once they graduate. many students participate in research, all you have to do is ask! professors love it when you help them out, it also a resume booster. Professors:Many of the professors have made it a point to learn everybody's names, if you participate frequently and go to office hours they will definitely get to know you. If you sit in the back and never talk or participate they won't know you. BE AN ACTIVE LEARNER! The quality of lectures depends on the quality of a professor's teaching abilities, some are good some are bad just like any university. IMO and experience most professors enjoy teaching and want to get to know you. You don't have to go to lectures (most professors don't really care if you go at all) but it is helpful since they give you hints about midterms. TAs: I have to take a lot of math classes as a part of my major requirement and for that you really need to be on top of your shit. Discussions are very helpful, all of my math TAs have been wonderful and really know their stuff, if i'm ever in a jam they can help me out, same with Econ TAs. However for some other classes I feel like Discussions are a complete bore and waste of time and you're always looking at the time, the worst is when they take attendance, in that case you have to be there whehter you like it or not. Smart people vary from major to major, i think there are some majors that have a high percent of highly capable people who are hardworking and will likely be successful (think science,math, engineering and other specialty majors) other majors are a complete joke and honestly I don't take them seriously, sorry guys! YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN! GEs: While I like learning about a wide range of topics I think the lower level requirements outside of your major (such as Writing 140 & 340 and other GE requirements) are a waste of time and money. Grading: I hear that USC gives out relatively higher grades than other schools such as UC berkeley. This is both good and bad. Potential employers or grad school admissions might see a high GPA and are a more likely to accept/hire you, on the other hand they might know about USCs grading and thus be less likelier to hire you.

Professors do know your name here! Even as a first year undergrad, you'll have small classes and get to know your professors. In larger classes, the TAs will know your name from discussion sections, and the professor will know you if you speak up in lectures. Students have intellectual conversations outside of class. People will talk about philosophy, religion, politics, social issues, etc. over dinner or in the quad between classes. Students are driven but not necessarily overtly competitive. There's a general consensus that we're all smart kids--after all, we all got in--and now we're working harder for ourselves rather than to outdo other people as we might have done in high school. The GEs are really varied and some seem kind of strange, but overall, they're good. They let you experience a lot of different topics, but don't take up too many credits; you still have plenty of time to double major and graduate in four years. Students here are definitely focused on an end goal, even as freshmen, whether that be law school or med school, grad school, or a good position in a desired career field. People here expect to be taken seriously upon graduation, and they expect to be successful.

There are very few HUGE classes at USC, and the ones that are have smaller discussion sections that allow you to get to know your TA better. These larger classes will pretty much only be for your General Education requirements, or your intro classes. Once you are done with them, your classes are all pretty small. The teachers are all very dedicated and passionate about what they teach, and all more than willing to talk to you after class or in office hours. The topics of classes are interesting as well, such as The End Of The World:Armageddon Stories, or a class fully on the Beatles!