My D is a freshman at Notre Dame. There are pleeeenty of parties.
If you’re direct admit to Mendoza, I would seriously consider ND.
Both are excellent schools with a lot to offer and close in rankings. The rankings vary depending on which one you look at; overall they are close. I would only use rankings as one creteria as rankings can be misleading, You have two great schools to choose from so really you can’t make a bad decision.
Full disclosure; I am not an alum from either, however, I am from So Cal and part of the Trojan family. If you have been to SC I am sure you will agree that the campus is very nice; I think it’s beautiful and vibrant. ND is also beautiful and a very exciting place to be during football season with lots of traditions. I am sure you could have fun at either school.
I can’t comment about how well known USC or ND is in Europe. What I do know is, if you are interested in doing business in So Cal or Asia (Shinzo Abe, PM, Japan is alum), SC is very well known, respected and has a powerful alumni network. SC is a school on the rise and this year the addmission rate dropped to 16% so congrats to you for being accepted. BTW, SC is building a new university village and a new building for the business school. Both are going to be very impressive. SC has almost reached its goal for a recent capital campaign and receives generous gifts on an ongoing basis from alums like George Lucas.
All in all, life is good in So Cal and USC. Good luck and again, you can’t go wrong with either.
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USC is not well known internationally, it is a very local school. USC doesn’t rank very high on the international rankings
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Sorry, but this is simply not true.
Check out the Times International Rankings, which are based solely on reputation (how well a school is known globally):
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2016/world-ranking#!/page/1/length/25
USC #68, ND #108
I can’t say for sure about its’ reputation in Europe, but the Times is a UK paper.
In China, USC is known (though not as much as the UCs). I work with college bound students (undergrads and grads). Notre Dame has never come up even once. (That doesn’t make USC better than ND - we’re just talking about being well known in other countries.)
Thanks for posting the Times International Rankings; interesting. Sad to see US schools had slipped.
I intend on working IB on Wall Street at some point in the future so I feel that USC’s lack of east coast reputation could be an issue for job placement 
I’d bet finance firms from Chicago are more likely to recruit there than NYC. But my nephew got his MBA at ND and he did interview with both NYC and Chicago firms. His fiance was from Chicago and that’s where he landed. The heart took over!!
USC I am just not sure finance firms target it quite as much.
If your goal is finance in NYC, go with ND.