Can You See Me At USC?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hi guys, I've been asking around, and I was hoping to get some Trojans' perspectives on the matter. I got into USC, Berkeley, and I was waitlisted at Duke. It's a tough decision, and I was wondering if you guys could give me your thoughts.</p>

<p>So I'm an Korean American guy living in Southern California. I'm interested in studying Environmental Studies and English in college, but I'm really open to exploring all my other interests. I'm more into the social science/policy aspects of environmental studies. What I want to do with my life is write fiction and maybe get a career in environmentalism.</p>

<p>I'm a pretty liberal, artistic guy. I love music and I definitely want music to be a major part of my life in college, even if I'm not getting a degree for it. I like the outdoors, but at the same time, being near or in a major city is exciting to me.</p>

<p>I'm not very career oriented, and I'm more of a follow-where-the-wind-blows type of guy, if you know what I mean. I don't care too much about making a lot of money or having a degree that'll wow people. I simply want to learn as much as I can in college without getting too many white hairs. That being said, I don't mean to say that I don't want to work hard. I have no problem with working hard or getting a few low scores, but I don't want to be hating life because I'm studying too much and not having any fun.</p>

<p>I'd like to party in college every once in a while, but I'd prefer doing other stuff with the majority of my free time. I want to meet interesting people from all sorts of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, people who have interesting ideas and hobbies and stories and who care about more than just making a lot of money or getting laid.</p>

<p>After reading my post, where do you guys think you can see me more? USC, Berkeley, or possibly Duke, assuming I can get off the waitlist? Do you think California's budget problem will be too big a problem in Berkeley? Do you think the benefits of a private school outweigh all the positives of Berkeley? And do you think I'd be tearing my hair out my scalp at Berkeley?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, guys. I hope this wasn't too long.</p>

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<p>Sounds perfect for USC</p>

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<p>Sounds more like UCB…USC has an old boys club element that UCB doesn’t.
Less materialism at UCB too…Duke is the exact opposite</p>

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<p>Your interests in environmentalism and creative writing sound perfect for USC! One of our English faculty members is TC Boyle who wrote A Friend of the Earth, a book emphasizing the detrimental effects of global warming, etc. It’s really, really good.</p>

<p>USC definitely has a huge variety of people, and while there are the frat stereotypes (which I’m sure Cal and Duke have, too), I’ve never met as many people with as many different interests as I have here. Even if they are the “fratty” types, people will often surprise you with what they’re passionate about, whether it be math or acting. Although the career-oriented mindset might be super overwhelming in schools like Marshall or Viterbi, I never really found it an issue in students in the College, where I’m guessing you would be. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t know if you’ve considered it yet, but Thematic Option sounds like it’d be a really good program for you. I’ve definitely met some really interesting people in TO, both classmates and instructors, who have really interesting backgrounds, stories, and interests. I’ve also sat in on some pretty amazing discussions both in class and on field trips and the like.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions about USC!</p>

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<p>Maybe in Marshall, but not CLAS.</p>

<p>UCB is pretty militantly liberal – like vegan, protesting, save the trees. If that’s the kind of environmentalism you’re into, you might like UCB better.</p>

<p>USC is much better for creative writing than the other two schools, though, I’ll tell you that.</p>

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<p>The chair of the Environmental Studies Program is a close acquaintance of mine…I know you can contact him to chat about this program. Prof Jim Haw - his email is <a href=“mailto:jhaw@usc.edu”>jhaw@usc.edu</a> </p>

<p>You said you like the out doors? USC has a campus on Catalina Island. And check out this video of a trip some of the students went on last year. They are going again this year.</p>

<p>[Videos</a> > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://college.usc.edu/videos/programs/236/scientific-diving/]Videos”>http://college.usc.edu/videos/programs/236/scientific-diving/)</p>

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<p>USC has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. U.S. News reported it is the most economically diverse private ranked university. The website states slightly over 60% of the students are on financial aid and roughtly 20% are on merit scholarships. Some have both.</p>

<p>If you go to the website and check the organizations on campus you will see about 600 recognized groups. Many of those are environment related. These groups indicate the varied interests of the students.</p>

<p>Hang Young-Hoon, former Prime Minister of the Republic of South Korea, is a USC alumnus.</p>

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<p>tikiman,</p>

<pre><code>One of the buildings on the USC campus may be of interest to you. It is the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho family house. The house was once the home of the revered Korean independence leader. It has been preserved by the university. Tour members from Korea can be found taking photos of the house.
</code></pre>

<p>Dosan Ahn Chang Ho (1878-1938), was an educator, social activist and leader of the Korean independence movement. Dosan was one of the first of his time to espouse an ideaology of self-reliance and independence for Korea.</p>

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<p>I did my undergrad at USC and law school at Berkeley. You sound like a Berkeley guy to me. But my experiences are from over a decade ago.</p>

<p>Have you attended Art Walk in downtown LA?</p>

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<p>Nope, never been to Art Walk. What specifically about USC would I not like? The culture?</p>

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<p>I’m a USC student who absolutely loves it here, and I’m always encouraging people I know to visit and/or attend. But in all honesty, I feel like you’d be more of a Berkeley guy. I’m from the Bay Area, and I have a good idea of what Cal is like; after reading the information that you provided, I got a strong feeling that you’d be happier at Berkeley.</p>

<p>Sorry that I’m not providing evidence to support this. Good luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>Here’s the deal, I want to take a gap year with Americorps. The program I’m applying for is pretty competitive, so it’s uncertain whether or not I’ll get it but I figure out around the first week of May. Conveniently, that’s when I need to decide on a college. USC is way more flexible about gap years. I emailed them, and they told me if I commit to USC by May 1st and submit an enrollment deferment form beforehand, they’ll save my spot and scholarship until I come back. And in the case that I do not get into my Americorps program, they’ll still take me this year. Berkeley, on the other hand, is much more strict about this, and they say that they rarely accept enrollment deferment requests. Also, because I’m not that sure if I’m gonna get into the program, I don’t know how happy they’d be about that. I don’t know if they’d be cool with me requesting a gap year, somehow getting it approved, and then changing my mind because I didn’t get into the program. Also, on a side note, I got into Berkeley as a spring admit, which isn’t really a big deal to me, I guess. Because if I decide to go to Berkeley, I can do their Fall program for spring admits, or I can just do a mini gap year thing (I wouldn’t be able to do Americorps though, because that’s a yearlong commitment)</p>

<p>So it seems like the obvious choice is USC, right? But here’s the thing, I’m not sure if it’s really my type of school. That’s not to say that I’d be totally depressed or whatever. But when I visited USC and talked to some USC people, I just got the sense that it’s a really career oriented school, with a lot of very sporty, fratty kids. I don’t mean that in a bad way. But I don’t think I’d fit into that scene very well. I do like sports, but I just keep getting the feeling that Berkeley has a generally more liberal, intellectual student body.</p>

<p>Is that just a stereotype? I know I can find people similar to me at every school, but I don’t want to be a minority, you know what I mean? I go to a high school that, in my opinion, has a very similar culture to USC. And I’m in the minority of my school in that I don’t care about my career very much and I don’t really care about money. I just want to learn as much as I can from the very best, and do something with my life to help someone else. And I’m not really a partier. I mean, I guess I will party, but I mean, after a certain point, getting drunk and hooking up just isn’t fun.</p>

<p>They’re both amazing schools, and I can’t go wrong with either in terms of academics and stuff. But I just want to pick the school with the vibe/atmosphere I’m looking for. Can someone shed some light on this and address some of the stuff I mentioned? </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>If you have any doubts about how “intellectual” USC students are, please browse through the stats thread.</p>

<p>Approximately 20% of the undergraduates are involved in fraternities/sororites. As you have been admitted to USC, I trust that you are able to do the complicated calculation that will tell you the percentage not involved in fraternities/sororities.</p>

<p>There are over 16,000 undergraduates at USC. You will easily find like-minded friends in terms of partying or not partying.</p>

<p>The problem with looking for a school where everyone thinks exacly as you do is that you gain no exerience in expressing your position, defending your position or debating the merits of your position. It seems more interesting to look for an environment with a diversity of ideas and students from varying backgrounds and philosophies.</p>

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<p>Stereotypes are always exaggerated. Sure, there are some very visible and outgoing groups on campus. But there are also tons that are not as visible, with people who like to do different things. You’re not going to be short of intellectually similar people at USC, if that is what you are looking for.</p>