<p>I applied to USC as a safety school and I was accepted a week or so ago with a presidential scholarship because I am a National Merit Finalist. I hear that USC is fairly Asian friendly and is a pretty good school, plus it is on the west coast (I live in Washington State). But how accurate is its ranking as #27 by the newsweek top universities ranking website? Does anyone know if its undergraduate biomedical engineering program is good or bad? (that is where I got accepted into, as I plan to become a doctor/internist) Is USC really a prestigious school? Because all of my parents' friends look down on USC as a school "for losers." But of course they are your stereotypical "go to Harvard if you can" Asian parents. I just refuse to believe that USC is a school "for losers" and I think it is in fact one of the best schools in the USA and a great school for Asians. Somebody please tell me I'm right lol.</p>
<p>Your absolutely right. Just take a look at the USC forums, and you'll be able to see that there's plenty of action there, tons of school spirit, and a general population of incredibly talented and highly intellectual people who are more than welcoming to all types of people.</p>
<p>USC is an amazing school, and you should really choose a school that you'd be happy to attend. After all, you're the one going to class every day- not your parents :D</p>
<p>yeah duh. why the f*** would it be ranked on the top 30 list if it were for losers. USC is pretty hard to get into nowadays, congrats.</p>
<p>USC is a great school and it is far too selective to be considered a school "for losers" by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not sure what other schools you've gotten into or you are waiting for but I would at least consider it (i'm resisting the urge to bad mouth it so you'll turn down the offer and free up another spot lol). I'm not sure what you mean "a great school for Asians" but if you're saying its culturally diverse and friendly, then yes i agree with you.</p>
<p>"USNWR ranks USC's School of Law 18th,[54] Marshall School of Business 21st,[55] Keck School of Medicine of USC 36th in research and unranked in primary care,[56] the Viterbi School of Engineering 8th,[57] and the Rossier School of Education 38th,[58] and the Roski School of Fine arts Graduate program 37th,[59] the School of Policy, Planning, and Development 7th.[60]</p>
<p>The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked USC's combined departments of engineering and computer sciences as 11th in the world, physical sciences 52nd, social sciences 35th, life sciences 51st, clinical medicine and pharmacy 47th.[61] USC is also among top 10 dream colleges in the United States. Princeton Review's "College Hopes & Worries" 2008 survey reports USC as the 9th dream college for students."</p>
<p>AHA! The Viterbi School of Engineering 8th! Which means that their biomedical engineering program must be pretty good! Yeah who needs the Ivy League anyways. WEST COAST ALL THE WAY BABY!</p>
<p>To 4X4King I think my parents' friends badmouthed USC because they used to live around there and think it is too "ghetto" and that there are too many black people. I on the other hand get along GREAT with hispanics and blacks and other Asians and whites (pretty much everyone) so I think I will ignore those narrow-minded USC haters.</p>
<p>Los Angeles in general is incredibly asian friendly. When I went to visit states in the east coast, I got stared down constantly, especially in boston. I wouldn't call USC "prestigious," but it has soared in reputation over the past decade.</p>
<p>^ That's exactly it. They need to stop hating USC and just accept the fact that it's amazing.</p>
<p>FIGHT ON!!!!!</p>
<p>^ (Meant for the angryasianman post btw)</p>
<p>You should definitely consider attending for the many reasons listed above. Especially if you have a scholarship!
However, Harvard will always be Harvard...</p>
<p>USC's ranking of 27 right now is based on numbers that are outdated. Every year that goes by, the incoming classes get more and more competitive, the admission rates drop, and the SAT/ACT averages rise dramatically. I would not be surprised if we had USC ranked higher than UCLA this year (using numbers from 2008), and I'm sure that by the time the class of 2013 is ready for graduation, USC might be making its way to the top 20. I also think that these rankings include graduate and undergraduate, which is a bad correlation to make. I think hands down right now the undergraduate program at USC is superior to that of many schools ranked higher than it. They offer smaller classes, an amazing honors program, generous undergraduate research, great professors instead of TAs, and the benefits of a private school in a large urban setting.</p>
<p>It's better to attend USC as premeds. The Asians in my neighborhood that attend USC got in the same medical school(UCSD) as the ones that attended Stanford.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the generation before us is going on an old reputation. My aunt that lives in LA sent her kids to UCLA. They wouldnt even look at USC. She just about flipped when I told her it was at the top of my list of schools I was looking at. It was all about "safety". I think you can find problems on or near just about any college campus in the US.</p>
<p>I looked at UCLA but why go to such a huge public OOS school when I can go to a great in state "huge" public school for a fraction of the price? USC definitely has something extra.</p>
<p>USC & realty companies are buying up a lot of the area around USC & converting it into USC housing, so it isn't nearly as "ghetto" as it was years ago. BOTH of my kids are attending there; they had other options but they are happy there. Their friends also had many other options but many of them chose USC because it is large enough to offer the diversity that makes college interesting while compact enough to be able to get from one point on campus to another without hiking for 30 minutes. They do offer significant merit aid which is a big plus.
Some NMFs also get additional aid from their college within USC. My S got the 1/2 tuition presidential, $1000/year from National Merit & a merit award from Viterbi! The package was renewable & attractive.
Like all schools, it's not perfect but it is definitely a school may of the top students from his uber-competitive prep HS attend.<br>
There are a significant # of people of all races, some born in the US & some elsewhere.</p>
<p>So from your guys's experience, USC is a really good school for Pre-Meds?</p>
<p>Well, for Pre-Med, UW is ranked much higher than USC. ^.^</p>
<p>Hello fellow Washington-er.</p>
<p>Yo, my fellow Washingtonian ;). But I heard that UW's undergraduate school sucks (I got in but I am avoiding going to UW at all costs). Mainly because the classes are all too big (some are 200+ students) and the Honors program isn't all that it is hyped up to be. Plus, I think I might want to return to UW medical school some day and spending 8 years at UW is not an experience I would look forward to.</p>
<p>I understand how you feel haha. When UW visited our school, the representatives said that our high school has the most admits out of any high school in the state. lol And those huge classes are just a big turn-off. Well what can you expect from a state school? The campus is beautiful, though.</p>
<p>It seems like just about everyone I know from my high school who takes AP classes has gotten into UW and going to UW would feel like going to high school all over again haha. Though I only know of 2 other people who applied for Engineering and they are both my friends. meh</p>