<p>Right. I personally prefer Yale over USC as I’m not a personal fan of USC’s campus look and feel and location, but USC over Yale is not a “bad” choice the way I’d see Western Kentucky University over Yale as a “bad” choice.</p>
<p>I reread OP’s first post, and wanted to address the housing concern: Do not worry about jr or sr year housing. USC has PLENTY of local, safe options. My d is a jr and is sharing an apartment across the street from campus with 2 of her freshman year dorm friends. There is an abundance of student housing in the form of local apartmets and houses. The area is a “bicycle city” most weekdays with students eveywhere commuting on bikes. USC’s campus security is everywhere too. They also have a free student “Campus Cruisers” service that drives students around and an efficient bus transport system.</p>
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<p>I’d agree with Oldfort and you if undergrad rankings were solely/almost solely done on the basis of academic quality. However, political* and other non-academic factors** have far too much weight in rankings like USNWR to be relied upon consistently as illustrated by Reed College’s case. </p>
<ul>
<li>Refusing to participate in USNWR rankings because its administration disagreed with the ranking’s flawed methodology</li>
</ul>
<p>** Amount/percentage of alumni donations which could hurt otherwise great schools where most students go into low-paying public service jobs such as academia, teaching, NGOs, academic/science research, etc to serve society/others rather than go off to Fortune 500 companies/Wall Street jobs where they could make sustainable annual donations of hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of years/decades.</p>
<p>Well, sure, that’s why you squint at the ratings, and of course there are exceptions such as Reed. Nonetheless, generally speaking, the ratings do provide useful information behind them. I don’t care about % of alumni donating, but I do care about average SAT scores - that type of thing.</p>
<p>The OP to this thread was not discussing rankings or costs…she (the parent) simply stated she felt this was the wrong school. When asked to clarify, the reason was because she felt it was not an “intellectual environment”.</p>
<p>So…to the OP…what colleges that have your kiddo’s areas of interest also provide the “intellectual environment” you want her to have?</p>
<p>Personally, I think USC is a fine choice. Two Vals from our high school (which is 3000 miles away) have chosen USC over admittance to schools here on the East Coast including some of the Ivies.</p>
<p>I think USC is a fine choice, but I have a visceral reaction to the campus itself (just not my personal style, not what I think of when I channel “college campus” in my head, and LA isn’t personally appealing to me) and to the over-the-top nature of their Greek system and both of those things would be enough to make me counsel a kid of mine to really think long and hard about it. Having said that, if they “vetted” those things to their satisfaction, then it’s a fine choice - this is about my own personal prejudices and preferences coming into play.</p>
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<p>PG, I feel the same way about the MIT campus…I personally hate it (so did my kids). But that does not diminish the quality of the school.</p>
<p>The OP to this thread doesn’t like USC for some reason and I’m not really sure I understand the reasons. What is posted here (vocational training…not intellectually challenging) is just not true.</p>
<p>Ha, thumper, I feel the same way about the MIT campus! Not my personal taste either! Agree it doesn’t diminish the quality of the school at all.</p>
<p>I originally thought maybe the objection was to the rich kids/Greek image some people still have of USC. The intellectual exploration thing is a surprise- I could understand that if we were talking about some art trade school, with limited- if any- traditonal academic classes.</p>
<p>OP here again. By no means did I mean to imply that USC does not offer opportunities for intellectual exploration; rather, I meant to express concern that my daughter has developed an attachment to USC only because it offers a minor in 2-D art for game design. In other words, I worry that she hasn’t fully considered all the important factors in choosing a college and that she is prematurely using her vocational goals as a litmus test. Perhaps she will remain steadfast in her pursuit, but perhaps not, and will she wish she had chosen a different environment if her goals change?</p>
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<p>Yes…a MINOR…your daughter will have a major in something else. I’m not sure I understand your concern about USC. </p>
<p>Do you have other schools that would be better choices in your opinion?</p>
<p>That may be, but it’s not as though she can’t explore a thousand different things at USC. I think you might feel differently if she were choosing a specialty college that ONLY had game design, etc., such that if her interests changed, she was up the creek. But what couldn’t she do at USC if her interests changed? It’s a pretty general all-around university.</p>
<p>“the over-the-top nature of their Greek system”
Only 27% of students join frats or sororities at USC. Which means a vast majority DONT join. How is that "over the top’???
you dont like LA, fine, neither do I, the campus feel doesn’t appeal to you, great, but USC does not have a “strong” Greek presence . There are plenty of other things to do at USC besides join frats. Its not like Dartmouth…</p>
<p>I guess I am still confused. She likes USC because it is one of the few that would actually allow her to minor in 2-D? Isn’t going to USC better than going to one of the many art colleges that allow that-- but have very limited traditional liberal arts classes? And, no trad academic options for changing her major/minor?</p>
<p>Isn’t it ideal that she go to a U that allows this back-up? Isn’t it, in a way, a great compromise? Can you name other schools that you have perfer?</p>
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<p>Why would USC not have opportunities for intellectual exploration and growth, and why would studying something that may lead to a job necessarily preclude intellectual exploration and growth?</p>
<p>(Note, however, that many schools offer such course work, even if there is not an official minor in the subject. Also, the computer game industry is on a small subset in terms of employment than the whole computer industry.)</p>
<p>What schools would you prefer her to consider?</p>
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<p>Can students graduating today really take four years off after graduation if they want to live independently of their parents?</p>
<p>OP, have you even looked at all the MAJORS that USC offers??
this is the list of majors and minors available through the College of Letters and Science- which is just ONE of 20 DIFFERENT colleges at USC. </p>
<p>[Academics[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Majors</p>
<p>African American Studies
American Studies and Ethnicity
Anthropology
Anthropology (Urban Applied)
Anthropology (Visual)
Applied and Computational Mathematics
Archaeology
Art History
Asian American Studies
Astronomy
Biochemistry
Biological Sciences
Biophysics
Chemistry
Chicano/Latino Studies
Classics
Comparative Literature
Creative Writing
Earth Sciences
East Asian Area Studies
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Economics
Economics/Mathematics
English
Environmental Studies
French
Gender Studies
Geological Sciences
Health and Humanity
History
History and Social Science Education
Human Performance
Interdisciplinary Studies
International Relations
International Relations Global Business
Italian
Judaic Studies
Kinesiology
Linguistics
Linguistics/East Asian Languages and Cultures
Linguistics/Philosophy
Linguistics/Psychology
Mathematics
Middle East Studies
Narrative Studies
Neuroscience
Philosophy
Philosophy (Ethics, Law and Value Theory)
Philosophy, Politics and Law
Physical Sciences
Physics
Physics/Computer Science
Political Science
Psychology
Religion
Russian
Social Sciences (Economics emphasis)
Social Sciences (Psychology emphasis)
Sociology
Spanish</p>
<p>…
Minors</p>
<p>American Popular Culture
American Studies and Ethnicity
Ancient Religion and Classical Languages
Arabic and Middle East Studies
Art History
Astronomy
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Children and Families in Urban America
Classics
Comparative Literature
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Consumer Behavior
Critical Approaches to Leadership
Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Studies
Cultures and Politics of the Pacific Rim
East Asian Area Studies
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Economics
Education in a Pluralistic Society
English
Environmental Studies
Folklore and Popular Culture
Forensics and Criminality
French
Gender Studies
Geobiology
Geographic Information Science and Technology
Geography
Geohazards
German
Global Communication
History
Human Rights
International Policy and Management
International Relations
Italian
Jewish American Studies
Judaic Studies
Kinesiology
Korean Studies
Latin American Studies
Law and Society
Linguistics
Managing Human Relations
Mathematical Finance
Mathematics
Medical Anthropology
Middle East Studies
Natural Science
Neuroscience
Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Volunteerism
Occupational Science
Peace and Conflict Studies
Philosophy
Philosophy for Business, Law and the Professions
Photography and Social Change
Physics
Political Organizing in the Digital Age
Political Science
Psychology
Psychology and Law
Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Religion
Russian
Russian Area Studies
Sociology
Southeast Asia and its People
Spanish
Statistics
Thematic Approaches to Humanities and Society
Theories of Art
Visual Culture
[url=<a href=“http://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/majors-and-minors/majors-and-minors.cfm]Majors”>http://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/majors-and-minors/majors-and-minors.cfm]Majors</a> and Minors > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://academics.usc.edu/]Academics[/url”>http://academics.usc.edu/)
This link lists ALL MAJORS available at ALL 20 colleges at USC
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/catalogue/undergraduate/degree_programs_list.html[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/catalogue/undergraduate/degree_programs_list.html</a>
And here is a list of ALL MINORS available at USC
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/catalogue/undergraduate/degree_programs_minors.html[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/catalogue/undergraduate/degree_programs_minors.html</a></p>
<p>Menlo, my opinions of USC’s over-the-top Greek system are based on personal experience from several close friends, including a young lady who is a current soph and whom I “watched” go through the experience. That doesn’t mean USC a bad school, but it makes it something a student considering USC needs to consider and be comfortable with. Trust me, the pictures I saw from last year’s rush and the description of how it all worked and how the girls dressed in designer outfits and had professional manicures and pedicures and so forth was very over the top compared to what I was used to.</p>
<p>So your issue isn’t that USC is overrun by greeks, but rather that the Greek system at USC. I agree that if a student is interested in going Greek, they should understand that at USC it is a bit competitive. However, it isn’t any worse than at the big SEC schools or even the Arizona schools. But as was mentioned earlier, most undergraduates aren’t greek, so if that isn’t what you want to do, then you will find many students who aren’t greek to hang out with.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t agree that the ability to transfer should be seen as a safety net for a potentially bad college choice. It’s like entering a marriage with the plan to divorce if it doesn’t work out. First of all, if the student is really miserable at his initial choice and her grades start to suffer, transfer options are unlikely to be of the same caliber as the school he is leaving. Even if her grades don’t suffer, the better schools don’t tend to have many transfer openings due to their high retention rates, and some have none. Secondly, she will have missed all the freshman orientation activities, bonding experiences, and freshman adjustment period for the new school, which can make the social and academic transition hard. I have no opinion on the OP, since I am not at all familiar with USC, but I think a parent should feel certain it is at least a good choice, if not the best choice possible.</p>
<p>I think the issue here is that the STUDENT feels very confident that USC is the right choice for her. The parent issue seems to revolve around the “intellectual” opportunities at USC…and the Greek life. I’m still a bit confused why the parent REALLY doesn’t think USC would be a good choice for her daughter. There is not a high %age of Greek presence and plenty of students who do NOT go Greek. And there are ample opportunities to pursue intellectual studies.</p>