The University of Southern California

Date: Mar 15 2005
Major: Computer Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
USC is a great school to have graduated from. The good/bad thing about it is that the diversity is too much (I dont mean ethnic diversity). This is the thing holding USC back from being Ivy-like.

USC has too many stereotypes, many of which are untrue. What I mean by this is that there is a good mix of smart ambitious successful students - as well as students who do not fit into that category. So while there is a good 40% of students who are highly competitive and motivated and will do very well for themselves, there is a large group that are not like this. These slackers are the ones that are holding back the success of USC.

The good thing is as a student you cannot go wrong with going here as long as you want to suceed. I personally like that atmosphere - where you can do your work and hence learn from some of the best teachers of any university (USC has good professor recruiting) and yet live in a relaxed social environment. As an engineer I did not want to go to an MIT or Stanford where I would be sacrificing some of my social life to only end up getting the same job as someone who went to a more relaxed school like USC. (Not to say that MIT or Stanford students don't have A social life.)

Point is, the presence of

not-the-best-students

doesn't make USC a bad school, it is just holding it back (in terms of rankings) from being a really really good school.

Academically it is a good top tier school, but not the best - at least not yet. Overall, I would say I would go back again and again (which I already did!)

AND - there are many erroneous myths about USC - for instance that all the students are rich. If you think this then you have not been to the campus or you are just blinded by jealousy.