<p>Do the kids feel lost in the shuffle or have to fight for classes?</p>
<p>I never thought it was too big. I had two majors, one really big, Biology and one really small, Classics. I never felt lost in the shuffle in either major. I was able to interact with multiple professors in each major, and NEVER had a problem getting a class. My favorite story was my Freshman year, when a lab section I needed had filled, within a day they opened another lab at that time and I was able to register for it.</p>
<p>I run into people I know everyday, multiple times a day. It has never felt too big to me, but just right.</p>
<p>Like most universities, USC is made up of its many smaller parts. Each student will become very familiar with his/her major(s) and minor(s), those particular professors, fellow-majors, etc. To see how this relates to your own majors–here’s a recent list that shows the number of students who got their bachelor degrees in a recent year. It will give you a sense of how many kids are going through the program in each year. If you multiply by 4, you’ll also get a sense of just how large your cohort of pre-meds, or comp scis are. So instead of a huge university–think of USC as you and a group of about 100 journalism undergrads sharing the same buildings, activities, clubs, advisors, and professors. In that one example, since there will be about 23 journalism majors coming in freshman year, they won’t be vying for limited spots in all major requirements. :)</p>
<p>This list may not be perfect–it came from the College Navigator website and you can see their list of majors does not accurately portray some of USC’s very specific majors. </p>
<p>In addition to your major, most students join clubs, do sports, community service, join religious groups, pledge fraternities or sororities and find many ways to find their niche of close friends.</p>
<p>Here’s that list of majors. The number is the class size (Class of 2009) in one given year and gives an idea of how many may be in your year, too. Multiply times 4 to approximate the total number of undergrads in your major:</p>
<p>Architecture (BArch, BA/BS) 101 </p>
<p>African-American/Black Studies 3<br>
American/United States Studies/Civilization 21<br>
East Asian Studies 1<br>
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies, Other 7
Hispanic-American,Puerto Rican & Mexican-American/Chicano Studies 2 </p>
<p>Biochemistry 18<br>
Biology/Biological Sciences, General 145
Biophysics 3 </p>
<p>Business, management, marketing, and related support services
Accounting 206
Business Administration and Management, General 903
Business Administration, Management and Operations, Other 31 </p>
<p>Communication, journalism, and related programs
Broadcast Journalism 23<br>
Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric 293
Journalism 21<br>
Public Relations 34 </p>
<p>Engineering
Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering 34<br>
Biomedical/Medical Engineering 69<br>
Chemical Engineering 33<br>
Civil Engineering, General 14
Computer Science 29<br>
Computer Software and Media Applications, Other 6
Computer Engineering, Other 19<br>
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering 54<br>
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering 3<br>
Industrial Engineering 45<br>
Mechanical Engineering 77
Structural Engineering 21 </p>
<p>English language and literature/letters
American Literature (United States) 5<br>
Creative Writing 59<br>
English Language and Literature, General 40 </p>
<p>Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics
Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics, General 7<br>
Comparative Literature 4<br>
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General 21<br>
French Language and Literature 8<br>
Italian Language and Literature 5<br>
Linguistic/Comparative/Related Language Studies & Services, Other 6<br>
Linguistics 2<br>
Russian Language and Literature 2<br>
Spanish Language and Literature 6 </p>
<p>Health professions and related clinical sciences</p>
<p>Dental Hygiene/Hygienist 37<br>
Occupational Therapy/Therapist 22<br>
Public Health Education and Promotion 89 </p>
<p>History
History, General 51 </p>
<p>Liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities
Humanities/Humanistic Studies 9 </p>
<p>Mathematics and statistics</p>
<p>Computational Mathematics 2<br>
Mathematics and Statistics, Other 10<br>
Mathematics, General 8 </p>
<p>Multi/interdisciplinary studies</p>
<p>Gerontology 6<br>
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other 14<br>
Neuroscience 77 </p>
<p>Natural resources and conservation
Environmental Science 2<br>
Environmental Studies 10 </p>
<p>Kinesiology and Exercise Science 38 </p>
<p>Philosophy and religious studies
Ethics 7<br>
Jewish/Judaic Studies 1<br>
Philosophy 43<br>
Religion/Religious Studies 6 </p>
<p>Physical sciences
Astronomy 2<br>
Chemistry, General 5<br>
Geology/Earth Science, General 7<br>
Physical Sciences 1<br>
Physics, General 5 </p>
<p>Psychology, General 175 </p>
<p>Public Policy Analysis 91 </p>
<p>Social sciences
Anthropology 8<br>
Anthropology, Other 6<br>
Archeology 2<br>
Economics, General 109
Geography 3<br>
International Relations and Affairs 203
Political Science and Government, General 158
Social Sciences, General 23<br>
Sociology 83 </p>
<p>Visual and performing arts
Acting 14<br>
Art History, Criticism and Conservation 39<br>
Cinematography and Film/Video Production 97<br>
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General 75<br>
Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other 4<br>
Film/Cinema Studies 94<br>
Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Other 19<br>
Fine/Studio Arts, General 73<br>
Jazz/Jazz Studies 11<br>
Music Management and Merchandising 58<br>
Music Pedagogy 1<br>
Music Performance, General 14<br>
Music Theory and Composition 3<br>
Music, General 19<br>
Piano and Organ 10<br>
Playwriting and Screenwriting 27<br>
Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology 1<br>
Violin, Viola, Guitar and Other Stringed Instruments 19<br>
Voice and Opera 11</p>
<p>Thank you all ^^ for replying. Having a difficult time guiding son. As of now its a tie between WashU and USC.</p>
<p>Wins for WashU - Campus, size, higher ranked overall
Wins for USC - Weather, higher ranked engineering (grad)</p>
<p>2 things that bother him most about USC - size/unsafe neighborhood. From what I have seen about the campus and immediate area I personally did not feel unsafe nor would I worry about the size, however son has to convince himself about this.</p>
<p>Tell your son to toughen up and get ready to fight for his life if necessary. USC students are renowned for beating up criminals - Last year, one USC student was leaving a nearby Wendy’s when he encountered a group of scary looking 5 men with every intention of violently mugging him. Did this USC student scream? Run for his life? Let the criminals take his money and walk away? No, he used his USC supplied nunchucks and beat the living **** out of all 5 of them, and even walked away with their money. A nearby witnessed deemed it the “most awesome thing he has ever seen.” And this student was only a freshman, mind you. Living in a place like south central LA, needless to say, USC expects students to be physically capable of defending themselves when the time comes. We’re fighters. They don’t call us Trojans for nothing.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, USC is a safe school despite the bad reputation it gets. Your son really has nothing to worry about, as long as he doesn’t go walking around the streets by himself at 3 AM, with his 120 GB iPod out, singing Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” to himself. Then he might run into some trouble. Which is a shame, because Phil Collins is the MAN!!</p>
<p>Malik, I understand fully what you are saying, it was the same in London where we lived and that was 4 years ago. Not too far back. Btw, have you picked your housing?</p>
<p>Me? Yes. Birnkrant as my first choice. Supposedly it has a great balance of socializing/studying going on there, unlike Birnkrant’s crazy cousins New/North.</p>
<p>As has been said, the advantage of the size of USC is that you can find something of nearly everything there. It’s especially good if you want to try out different courses and areas–you can probably find it on or near campus. The freshmen engineering class is 200 students, which is not really that huge, so the students get to know one another.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids have had any personal safety issues at USC. D has lived there nearly 3 semesters & S has lived there for nearly 8 semesters. Their friends similarly have NOT had any safety issues there. You learn how to stay safe and use good judgment & everything is fine.</p>
<p>Pixeljig – Congrats on your son’s excellent choices! Has he had the opportunity to visit both schools? They have a different feeling, and it would be great if he could get more of a sense of where he experiences more of a connection. If he could attend the admitted students weekends at both schools, it might make it easier for him to reach the best decision for himself.</p>
<p>^ Yes we visited in the spring break - we live abroad and had to hurry through our college visits. But we attended the campus/info/engineering tours at both WashU and USC.</p>
<p>Son felt that WashU is a better fit, but then again he hates winter so I am not sure. Anyway that is a small factor now. The main thing is the Computer Engineering at USC is bigger/better than WashU and I assume that would mean more research and internship opportunities. Cannot beat LA weather, but he is concerned about the safety issues outside campus as he really is the type of kid who likes to go for a movie and dinner with friends.</p>
<p>Where we live now is very safe and he walks everywhere and comes back at 2am alone at times no issues. It will be a drastic change for him in the U.S. no matter where he ends up and that is why I am trying to figure out whether he will be happy within the campus area at USC. He has no driving license he will not have a car. Not a huge sports person either.</p>
<p>Pixeljig, re posts 6 and 11, are you all in Singapore at SAS? The area around SC isn’t like Singapore, but then again few if any cities in the US are. I have to keep reminding my husband that we aren’t in Singapore any more when we walk around in various cities at night.</p>
<p>There are many at USC with no car and who are not sports fans. My D is among them & she’s very happy there. There is a very inexpensive bus and reasonable light rail service. They also have a free transportation service that can drive students back to their housing in the evening at no charge, per student request. In a school as large as USC, most folks are able to find a nice group of folks to hang out with. </p>
<p>Sounds like your S & you are pretty conflicted. Good luck in choosing what makes sense for him & you. He will be happy wherever he goes & get a fine education.</p>
<p>pixeljig: I have 2 daughters that attend USC. I have not lost a minute of sleep worry about their safety in the USC neighborhood. Their time at USC spans from Fall 2004 to present. I agree with “HImom” = You learn how to stay safe and use good judgment & everything is fine.</p>
<p>just don’t get drunk and walk across the LA streets alone. Some crazy/drunk might hit you.</p>
<p>collegebound,
Do not walk around any college campus/surrounding area late at night impaired. …Any</p>
<p>I think danger is relative. I keep hearing about how unsafe the neighborhood is around USC. Well Columbia borders Harlem. You do not want to walk uptown (streets above 125th). Somehow close proximity to this dangerous neighborhood doesn’t stop people from applying and gladly going to this Ivy league school.</p>
<p>Heck, the area near Brown (in Providence, below the hill) is said to be pretty rough, ditto the area near Yale. Campuses often have “bubbles” of safety, which can be pierced from time to time. Personally, I feel that USC doesn’t really deserve the bad rap it gets–walking around late at night impaired is not too safe on many campuses and neighborhoods, tho many are lucky & nothing bad happens.</p>
<p>It’s not so bad. I believe roughly 10,000 students live north of Jefferson Blvd, which is pretty much the SC community. There are cracked out bums here and there, which I personally think is hilarious. Once USC demolishes and developes the UV (university village) the USC area will get much better with less poor people. </p>
<p>One thing to point out, I strongly believe you got to go to a place where you will enjoy the weather and have fun. A buddy of mine went to Penn State, and he was born and raised in Southern California. After a year and a half being at Penn State, he became emotionally depressed and hated life. He did not do well in school nor did he have a great social life (he was one of the most outgoing guys in High School). The harsh winter really drained his will, and he eventually turned to smoking weed and heavy boozing…while doing absolutely nothing with himself. Now he is back in California going to a community college and he always tells me he is jealous that I get to go to a school in Southern California.</p>
<p>So true ^^. i just hope things work out alright.</p>