The University of Southern California (StudentsReview)

How this student rated the school

Educational Quality	B-	Faculty Accessibility	B-
Useful Schoolwork	D	Excess Competition	B-
Academic Success	C-	Creativity/ Innovation	B-
Individual Value	C+	University Resource Use	B-
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty	B-	Friendliness	B+
Campus Maintenance	B-	Social Life	C+
Surrounding City	C-	Extra Curriculars	C+
Safety	C+

Describes the student body as: Describes the faculty as:

Male

Quite Bright

Lowest Rating Useful Schoolwork	D

Highest Rating Friendliness	B+

He cares more about Useful Schoolwork than the average student.

Date: Mar 29 2009
Major: Neuroscience/Cognitive Science (This Major's Salary over time)
The good:

USC is generous to students who are in need of financial assistance

there is plenty of freedom in choosing majors (up to 3) and minors (I don't know the limit)…the advisers are pretty open-minded

The bad:

depending on your major you could be doing way too much busy work (especially in science, engineering and business)

some of the criteria for grading can be absurd especially in the chemistry department (the way they determine student success is by the speed at which test questions are completely rather than on actual understanding)

if you are involved in a major with too much busy work it is difficult to find time to work with a research adviser (this is a problem for those of us hoping to get into grad school)

Major specific opinions:

neuroscience: the department is an interdisciplinary major combining mostly psychology and biology so I will review these below. Other than that the adviser is fantastic.

psychology: I didn't have any bad classes in psychology. Some were boring, but I didn't really feel any of them were a waste of time per se. The teachers in the department are dynamic and interesting but I would say no better than the teachers I had at community college and at a CSU.

chemistry: the worst classes I had at USC were in chemistry. Absolutely horrible experience which pointlessly lowered my GPA. The department has some of the most obnoxious TAs I've ever met.

biology: some of the teachers are genuinely good and are conducting really interesting research but aside from the molecular biology lab, all of the other labs I have taken so far(Bio I, Bio II, Neurobio) have absolutely nothing to do with the class and are a complete and utter waste of time. They are purported to teach research principles but I have received a far superior foundation in research from the psychology department.

East Asian Languages and Cultures: my best class is probably in Japanese 4. Of course it's a skill-based class so the teacher doesn't really waste your time and you actually feel like you're learning something (unlike many other classes I've taken at USC).

All in all I'd say really think about why you'd want to go to USC. I went there primarily because of the freedom I had in choosing my majors, but if I had the ability to move further from home and were to find a better university which gave the same amount or greater freedom I don't think I would attend USC again unless it were significantly less expensive than my other choices.

That being said, if you have to money or can get grants/scholarships you might consider USC if you think you will:

join a frat/sorority

participate in tail-gating parties

go to sporting events

compete in a sport

major in psychology, a language, engineering, business, film, or music

If you are awesome at time management, are good at working a system, don't mind putting more work into figuring out the system than actually learning, and want to have lots of social opportunities than you might like USC.

If you are like me and don't need to prove you can time manage, don't care much about working the system, don't care about your social life and really want to learn and receive a quality education in your major then you might want to look into other schools.

Good luck with your decision!

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