Are you considering USC as a potential school? Or, perhaps you are curious about where this well-known school ranks – after all, you have probably heard quite a few people bragging about going here.
Well, here is a breakdown of the ranking of the school as well as a description of its top programs:
Is USC a Prestigious University?
Times Higher Education ranks the University of Southern California as the 19th best university in the US and the 69th top university on a global scale – as the college is being compared to hundreds of other schools, this ranking is quite high.
Is UCLA or USC More Prestigious?
USC and UCLA have always had a crosstown rivalry. However, which of these schools comes out on top?
As far as ranking goes, UCLA does have the advantage. In the US, it is ranked as the 27th top university. More impressively, though, it is considered to be the 20th top university in the world.
On paper, UCLA may be the more prestigious option, but the public university isn’t the best in every way. USC is known for its much smaller class size, a better teacher-to-student ratio, and closer personal attention to students.
What’s more, the USC sports program is more impressive and has been known to trump UCLA on several occasions.
Is USC an Ivy League School?
No, USC isn’t an Ivy League school although you would be forgiven for thinking that it is.
Like Ivy League schools, USC has a very low acceptance rate – only about 12 percent of applicants get in. The university is also known for its incredible professors, high research output, and academic standing throughout the world. It has some pretty famous alumni too!
What Programs is USC Known For?
The programs at USC fall into six categories – Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and Management.
One of the things that USC has been known for is its film degrees. This is due to the fact that the school has prestigious alumni such as Judd Apatow. However, under the current dean, the school has also gained traction as having top programs for communication and multimedia.
The highest-ranked undergraduate programs are Game and Simulation Development, Real Estate, Accounting, International Business, and Engineering.
As for the most popular programs, business and marketing are one of the most heavily enrolled programs. Following this is social sciences, and visual and performing arts. Communication and journalism as well as engineering are fairly popular too.
What Is It Like to Attend USC?
Most people report a positive experience from their time at USC.
Due to their smaller classroom sizes, high attention from teachers, and plenty of resources, the school has a high graduation rate. Students are given the opportunity to pass their classes and graduate from the university with distinction.
Of course, it isn’t all about work. USC is a fun school to attend as well.
For one thing, it has a high international student population. It is a great place to meet people from around the world and learn about new experiences.
The school is also known for its vivid Greek life. Men can join fraternities while women can join sororities. Not only does this include a lot of different activities and events but it is a great way to form networks that will last a lifetime.
As USC has a great sports program, their teams are highly competitive and tend to do quite well. This makes attending games a fun and traditional activity. This is also followed by various traditions and tailgating, making it quite the event of the semester.
What are the Advantages of Graduating from USC?
One of the main benefits of attending USC is that you will have the distinction of graduating from one of the most elite universities in the nation as well as the world.
This speaks very highly of your academic abilities. It shows graduate students as well as potential employers that you are intelligent and resourceful. After all, you have to be accepted at a university with such a low acceptance rate.
This isn’t just a presumption either – the school has the facts to back it up.
In 2021, 82 percent of USC graduates were employed within 4 months of graduating. 88 percent of postgraduate students received offers of employment within 4 months of completing their degree.
As an added bonus, it appears that employers are also willing to pay USC graduates a higher amount of money as well.
Several years after graduating from USC, marketing managers made an average of over $70,000 a year. Mechanical engineers made close to $80,000 a year and software engineers made over $110,000 a year.
Is USC an Expensive University?
As a private university, USC is one of the more expensive schools that you can go to. The tuition fees there are a little over $60,000. As the national average is around $41,000 USC ranks as being quite a bit higher.
There is also the sticker price to think about. Once you consider living and other expenses, the cost of USC is closer to $80,000.
There is an upside to these numbers. For one thing, USC is a need-blind school. This means that they do not look into a student’s financial status before accepting them into school. As such, it doesn’t matter how much money your family has, you have just as much of a chance of getting in like anybody else.
Students are also eligible for loans and aid. Once these are taken into consideration, students may end up paying a little closer to $40,000 in tuition and other fees.
Of course, most people consider this to be a good investment, considering the earning potential for graduates. For many people, this outweighs the current costs of going to USC.
Is USC a Top-Tier School?
Yes, USC is considered to be an elite school – in national rankings, it comes in the top 30th list of the best universities while on a global scale it is in the top 70th – this makes this one of the most sought after schools in the world.
