<p>If you have a thoughtful questions, fire away and I will do my best to answer. Other Trojans are welcome to chime in as well, of course.</p>
<p>After looking at the different sorority websites, I noticed that they all appear to be your stereotypical skinny blonde party girls. I'm trying not to use sweeping generalizations, but I wonder if that is what it is like to be in a sorority at USC. Is that what they are actually like? And are sororities accepting places, or are they like the popular hot girl clique in high school? I'd like to join a sorority, but I don't want to have it be like high school all over again.</p>
<p>Hmmm, well I am a male so I'm not exactly qualified to answer that question. :) </p>
<p>I will say, however, that the stereotypical blonde pretty girls tend to gravitate toward the sororities and you will likely encounter at least some of them if you join. At the same time, there will be other sorority girls that are completely down to earth and very accepting. </p>
<p>It comes down to individual opinion, so I think you should at least try rushing and see how you like it.</p>
<p>Thanks for responding. That was quick.</p>
<p>The first day of the last school year was the day that I went on a campus visit [I applied this year so I dont go there...yet hopefully] and all the soroities had on matching shirts so they stood out...while I saw many sterotypical girls, I also saw many "average" looking girls in the soroities also so I think we just have to wait until we get there to really see</p>
<p>SFGiants, do you feel that peoples' stats on the USC CC forum are a good representation of the general USC population?</p>
<p>For instance, do most people at USC have similar [high scores/gpa/everything] stats as those on CC?..or do you think that the CC population consists of mostly the "upper" tier of students?</p>
<p>CC has an unusually high number of high scoring students, so no I wouldn't call it a good representation of the general USC population. :)</p>
<p>for a FACT upper tier.</p>
<p>trust me. i have MANY friends that go there and i go there to party often myself.</p>
<p>upper tier :|.</p>
<p>definately..</p>
<p>There are a lot of WASPs (you know what I mean...preppy/white/rich) people from private schools around my area (N. TX) that go to USC.</p>
<p>After I came across the USC CC forum, I started to wonder how in the world they even managed to get in. I'm pretty sure they don't have "legacy" to help them out because most of their parents went to SMU (the Texas U of Spoiled Children).</p>
<p>a lot of my friends at usc think the same thing.</p>
<p>by thing, i mean, "how the HELL did you get in??"</p>
<p>lol I interviewed Explore kids today and after looking at some of their extracurricular activities, I had to wonder just how in the world I got my scholarship :)</p>
<p>My interview is coming up at the end of next week...!!!</p>
<p>How is the diversity at USC? Geographic? Economic? Cultural? Political? I realize it's a large schools and there's bound to be a niche for everyone, but what are the predominant common threads in the student body?</p>
<p>The diversity is, well...very diverse. :)</p>
<p>In terms of geography, students come from many different countries and states, so you'll probably have a few friends with different accents and a few arguments about soda vs. pop.</p>
<p>Economic: Big range. Of course you'll have your trust fund babies, but then you also have students who are only here because of scholarships, grants, work study, etc.</p>
<p>Cultural: Again, students from all over the world. There are clubs for different ethnicities and interests. Last night, I went to see a student-run traditional Chinese dance show at Bovard!</p>
<p>Political: I think USC students tend to be slightly more socially liberal as a whole...maybe it's because many of its students are from California.</p>
<p>The common thread is that many students are here to work hard AND party hard. There's a nice balance.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>As for the sorority question: You'll find both stereotypically blonde and non-stereotypical girls in sororities. MOST sorority girls are not the ditsy, eating disorder type, and you'll find that even the beautiful, standoffish-looking ones can be very nice and "normal." ;)
- from the mouth of a sorority girl who is not blonde, has a National Merit scholarship, and is a website coordinator who knows that only the "hot" pictures appear on websites.</p>
<p>Geographically: Very diverse. Obviously, Californians are the plurality, but I was surprised to find a very large number of students from Texas, the Midwest, and the Mountain West. A decent number from the Northeast too. The South seems to be the least represented, but it still makes a fairly solid showing. </p>
<p>Politically: I’ve been told that when USC students were polled during the last presidential election, it was almost a 50-50 split. This seems believable to me. On the whole, I’d say political ethos of the student body is pretty moderate – not as liberal as a lot of campuses, but not rabidly conservative either. I think this makes it much more tolerant of different political views than a lot of universities (i.e. it’s okay to be a conservative here, unlike at many colleges). </p>
<p>Cultural: The diversity is definitely there. But to be honest, I think there is a lot of self-segregation. The engineering school is pretty Asian, whereas the row is still pretty white. I don’t think this is because the school or the student body are exclusive though; I think it’s just a function of the natural tendency for people to gravitate towards the people with whom they identify the most. </p>
<p>Sororities: I can’t say I’d complain if all the sorority girls were hot, blond, and beautiful… And there are indeed a lot of those girls here. But there are also a lot of girls that don’t fit that description. Don’t prejudge though. I’m in a fraternity, and one of the things that really impresses me about USC’s greek system is that you’ll see these people who seem like your stereotypical trust-fund party kids. But if you actually get to know them, you’ll find that they’re actually very thoughtful, intelligent students with a real grasp on what they want to do in life and how they plan to get there. </p>
<p>CC Board: I’d say your average poster on USC’s CC board has higher stats than the average USC student. </p>
<p>One thing that I think is important to keep in mind: USC is changing a lot. The change is tangible, and a lot of people here have mixed feelings about it. I think any attempt to understand the culture of USC takes an understanding of this change, and the dichotomy it inevitably creates in the student body.</p>
<p>hello stressed4college...I was happily reading your comments until you said "USC is changing alot. The change is tangible, and a lot of people here have mixed feelings about it"....that caught my attention...could you expand on that a bit more?....what kind of changes do you mean?.....</p>
<p>Thank you margaritasalt and stressed4college!!! I asked those questions as suggestions, lol, but thanks for writing a bit on each! Very helpful!!! </p>
<p>I was also wondering how abundant the international population is? There's a figure of 9% on the website, but what is the international life like at USC? (I'm not international, just living abroad)</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this is precisely what stressed4college is describing in terms of the change, but there has been a serious change in focus at USC in the last decade or so. A good example of this is in a thread on the parent's forum about USC. USC used to be known as solely a football/party school, and recently it has been changing that image to become more intellectual, with more of a focus on undergraduate education, more crackdowns on row parties, more intellecutal activities on campus, such as the new Visions and Voiced program. This has helped push USC up the rankings, and started to change its image.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s essentially what I was talking about.</p>
<p>USC is changing in the sense that it is becoming a much more selective and academically-centered university. We’re consistently moving upward in the college rankings; the academic program is becoming increasingly challenging; and each new admitted class boasts higher average SAT scores and GPAs than the class before.</p>
<p>So this is obviously a very positive change in one sense – no longer a “University of Spoiled Children,” we are emerging as a top-tier academic powerhouse. </p>
<p>But remember that one of USC’s distinguishing characteristics is that it’s such a generally fun place to be. The school spirit is unrivaled. The social scene is top-notch. The student body is well-rounded and outgoing. The Trojan Family is more than just a career network, but a common identity built out of a shared experience. </p>
<p>Some people worry that as USC becomes more academically-selective, it’s also losing some of its distinctiveness. Some seniors complain that each year, the entering class is nerdier, less well-rounded, and more socially-awkward than the class before. A lot of students are a bit uncomfortable with some of the changes that the administration has implemented in recent years, and feel that USC isn’t as fun or distinctive as it was five years ago. </p>
<p>My take is that, as of now, the school has managed to strike a good balance. We’re a solid academic university, but we’re still a very fun place with a very distinctive and fun student culture. </p>
<p>My point in bringing it up is just that often you’ll hear these contradictory descriptions of the school. One person will say it’s a party school; another will say it’s full of nerds. Both are true to a degree. And what was true five or ten years ago is probably not true today, just as what is true today might not be true by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>I am wondering about the engineering department at USC. My son is interested in EECS though he really needs to explore engineering more to be sure which area would suit him best. How difficult is the program to get into? Are there some areas of engineering at USC that are less competitive than others? Can one apply to USC in engineering and leave the specific discipline undeclared? Thank you for any advice.</p>
<p>engineering is soooo much less complicated at usc. i'll be a mechanical engineer at usc next year and let me tell you that applying and being accepted is much less of a headache than at other <em>cough</em> UCs <em>cough</em> schools. the engineering school (viterbi) is one of the more competitive schools at usc. it is also one of the highest ranked. the engineering discipline that you apply under really doesn't matter because once you've been accepted to viterbi, you've been accepted into all of the engineering majors. your freshman year you will take an intro to engineering course based on which discipline you choose (there is one for undeclared, too). it does a great job of giving you a feel for the subject. however, if you decide that you don't like that particular discipline, all you have to do to switch majors is talk to your academic advisor and sign a couple papers. like magic, you're in a different major. the best part is that the intro engineering class that you took counts toward all engineering majors. for example, if your son starts in EECS, he'll take something like EE101. if he decides he doesn't like it and switches to aerospace engineering, the EE101 class he took will count towards his aerospace degree. at usc, they really do engineering right and i would recommend it over most any other school. viterbi students all have a passion for the subject and are all motivated to pursue engineering projects on their own. for example, a group of mechanical engineering students bought a jet fuselage from the US air force and are building a flight simulator from scratch. this is all on their own and not run by the university.</p>
<p>as a side note, i have also been accepted to ucla's engineering program and wouldn't dream of going there over viterbi.</p>