<p>Again, I don’t think an average Joe in Korea (who I guess wouldn’t be called Joe) wouldn’t know USC as a good school, but a univ. with a great sports program. The reason why it was publicized recently was Park Tae Hwan, the famous Korean swimmer, trained there. Most people wouldn’t know of its academic excellence compared to UCLA. (UCLA is known as UCLA. There actually used to be a clothing brand that sold clothes with Bruins logo on them… Interesting)</p>
<p>Now if the OP is looking to get hired, that’s a completely different story. At least in Korea (where I was raised and still live), enough people come to the U.S. for college education that people “in the know” will have heard of USC. So any major companies will know of USC and its academic strength, so you shouldn’t have a problem on the job front. Granted, my feeling is that it is underrated in Korea…</p>