<p>im going to study journalism at northwestern in the fall. I have a friend whos going to USC whom i respect very much.. they gave her a boatload full of money to go there. I had a cousin who went there, my opinion is derived from his descriptions of it (for example, the first semester that he lived off campus, he had to move out of his appartment after a two months because there had been 3 murders within 5 blocks during the time he lived there... he also talked a lot about a big part of the student population being legacy business students who dont care too much about academics or ideas. He graduated from the film school, and loved everyone in the film school. For film, I dont doubt that the school is tops.</p>
<p>i'm not so sure how stories from some a couple people you know though would consitute making such finite statements about anything, next time you might want to at least ad "someone else said" at the beggining.</p>
<p>USC has so many people going to it i dont know how someone could come to the conclusion that the majority of the students are slothy legacy business majors that "dont care about academics or ideas", both of which you at least have to care about somewhat to earn a B.S. there. but yeah the busines program isnt tops like the film program......it's 8 spaces below the official "tops" position, whoops.</p>
<p>i AM a business major and am not a legacy and dont know anyone else who is either. And i never had anyone murdered at my apartment or within 5 blocks of it, least that i know of.</p>
<p>SPinCity:</p>
<p>I am assuming your last post was to me. I knew you had been there a while. Strength of school does matter in evaluating a GPA. But you are attending a ranked school. Even so there is so much more to an application than GPA or where you came from. What matters is how you took advantage of those opportunities. Research great Rec Letters, GRE / GMAT scores. All of which you dictate not the school.I know because I am where you want to be. (in G school) </p>
<p>SO in the end if you don't get accepted to your school, you can't blame it on the school you went to previously because there is so much in your control. But it sounds like nothing is going to change your mind anyways.</p>
<p>sorry that last one was for spincut not the spincity</p>
<p>change my mind about what?</p>
<p>all i'm saying is that the way people talk about it it concerns me that some may not look as highly at certain things, such as GPA, as they should be doing.</p>
<p>i'm not saying i'll blame the school if i have a problem getting accepted somewhere, but it would be nice to know that things like my GPA will not be something i have to "make up for" if it's not extremely high, seeing as the program is top ranked and there is no grade inflation or anything like that. Im not saying i intend to slack off but it can be stressful when i dont get all A's and yet i'm not so sure how that will be looked upon as a student from a certain school, some places i'm sure all they care about is that your GPA is decent, and some it being low-ish can be a problem, even in the mid-low 3's.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"CMC is not in Los Angeles; it is not even in the same county. Claremont and Los Angeles are not one continuous city."</p>
<p>whether or not claremont is "one continuous city" with los angeles is debatable, but i just wanted to point out that claremont IS in the same county as los angeles.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So OT, but oops.</p>
<p>I thought Claremont was in San Bernardino County...it borders it...oosp My mistake.</p>
<p>I can rest comfortably tonight knowing TheCity is going to Northwestern and thus nowhere near me.</p>
<p>Now to be on topic:</p>
<p>SpinCity: USC is certainly not a bad university; it certainly has some questionable aspects (e.g. football students getting slack so they get to play on team) but that happens at other universities too; USC gets more covereage because of it's number 1 status (no sharing last year! Take that LSU!!!) in football.</p>
<p>USC is rising and it's alumni association is arguably one of the strongest in the nation; USC students go on to grad school and if you do well at USC and your standarized testing, grad schools won't discriminate.</p>
<p>its cuz USC is near compton =P</p>
<p>In terms of GPA, grad schools do know the inflation going on; they know that getting a 3.9 at UCLA, Berkely or UVa is harder to do then getting a 3.9 at other universities.</p>
<p>I'm unsure of 'SC's inflation of grades.</p>
<p>I assume when you meant SC is getting more coverage because of football you meant at least in part as to why it's also gotten more negative press? or did you mean thats why it's on the rise? because i'm not so sure about either assumption.</p>
<p>and USC is not that close to compton shrek, normally i'd think you're trying to make a joke but i've seen you say some mild troll like things about SC in the past, so that didnt come off as it intended to if you're trying to be jest.</p>
<p>anyhow, it's good to know that people are aware of inflation, albeit you didnt include USC in your analogy, it should be since i pretty much see no inflation, and because of curves is sort of improbable (which means even getting a 3.9 can be very tough, i meant how a lower GPA may look as good as 3.9 from a top grade inflationed school). If anything for at least Berkely i was told that the average for their business program was 3.7, which is very high considering USC's average is a constant 2.8 (because of a curve), so even then with a school like berkely it may be a little less stiff as far as grading, yet you were sure of them being easier and "not" of USC. But, granted, you arent an admissions officer, they probably would have all the information, but thats just a small example of what i'm talking about.</p>
<p>Well GPA inflation tends to occur more at the private schools more so often than the flagship public schools.</p>
<p>Because of USC's numero uno football team, they get more coverage than other schools with the same academic offering.</p>
<p>I would guess that most of the USC bashing comes from neighboring UCLA. One of my friends goes to UCLA and they have some sick obsession about bashing USC. </p>
<p>I have respect for USC, though. It's just unfortunate that it gets a bad rap.</p>
<p>the schools with the inflation do happen to be private, but like i said last time i checked i'm not even sure the program at Berkeley, for instance, had a curve and has a pretty high average, whereas SC's is quite low because of a set curve.</p>
<p>so i ask, do you think an admissions person would know this, or use the assumption that a private institution would more likely inflate the grade over a top public one like berkelely (which does not inflate but does seem to have a higher average and not strict curve, just as a for instance).</p>
<p>From "Choosing the Right College", I read that one student said the distro was easy to complete without much effort. Not long ago, I researched the chemE curriculum for someone and the basic requirement wasn't as intense as a typical chemE curriculum. It seems to me the dept had made an effort to make sure students wouldn't be overloaded. ChemE is usually one of the most demanding majors at most schools and students typically take 5-6 courses per semester (at northwestern where it's in quarter system, students take about 12 courses per year) but at USC, you can get away with 4-5 courses per semester. It seems like the dept wants to make sure students do have time for fun. ;)</p>
<p>even though i've heard otherwise (at least in terms of difficulty) from chemE students, i am not a chemE student.</p>
<p>The people on CC live in their own little world that is nothing like reality. I did not see that before as I was part of this insignificant world called College Confidential. Once you step away from this site for a little while things will become clearer. I have a BA from UCLA and an MA from USC. If what was said on CC were true, I would be a homeless bum on the streets because I attended some of the worst schools ever to be created. I must be a complete idiot because I attended the schools for the dumbest people on the face of the earth. </p>
<p>Bottom line: if you have competitive grades from USC and competitive scores on the GRE, MCAT, or whatever you can get into any school you want to. USC will not be a negative on your grad/professional school application. PLEASE dont listen to the people on CC because most (not all) of them really dont know what they are talking about.</p>
<p>i wanted to PM you shyboy so i didnt keep bumping the topic but you have that disabled.</p>
<p>anyhow, i know what you're saying, and i really never beleived USC would be a negative, but then again i dont have a 4.0 GPA either. I'm sure having competitive grades and test scores from almost any school, good or bad, would make you look good, but i'm never sure how my grades look.</p>
<p>do you also beleive that USC could possibly be a "positive"? thats what i've always wondered, as unless your GPA is astounding i'm sure that an admissions officer would equate it to the difficulty of the school/program and considering what some say about USC i've always wondered from an admissions standpoint or perhaps a relatively unbiased person like yourself, how thats viewed.</p>
<p>again i know GPA and even school is not everything, but it's been a question mark in my mind for a while and i've always wondered how good, bad, or just relative it will look when i apply.</p>
<p>Go Trojans!!! Fight On!!!
USC is rising faster than the dough it costs to get in.</p>