<p>Sparkeye,</p>
<p>Looking afar from Michigan it is difficult to see the enormous changes that have taken place at USC in the past years. The first thing is to change your perception of what USC was into what USC is now.</p>
<p>How can a university improve? All these things help a university gain in prestige and selectivity:</p>
<ol>
<li>Enormous fundraising activity over a period of years. In 2009 USC was #7th in fundraising, passing some of the ivy colleges.</li>
<li>Raising standards for incoming students. In the last rankings SC was 20th in selectivity among national universities.</li>
<li>Adding huge number of new rising stars as faculty members and hiring established faculty “stars”. Many of these have won Fulbrights, Godel, Guggenheim, Academy, Pulitzer, Peabody, Emmy and Tony awards.</li>
<li>Reducing the number of freshmen admitted</li>
<li>Stressing multidiscipliary majors, which have interested certain high scoring applicants</li>
<li>Beautification of the campus with more fountains, flowers and green spaces</li>
<li>Lowering the student teacher ratio to 9/1. Classes are small for a major university.</li>
<li>Adding a new multimillion dollar student center for more campus social activities</li>
<li>New additions to the university library system</li>
<li>Much emphasis on Asia and the Pacific Rim. SC is the “hot” school in some sections of Asia. SC now has 17 active alumni groups in Asia.</li>
<li><p>Increasing scores of students:
Combined scores at Michigan ACT 29 SAT 1989
USC ACT 30 SAT 2030</p></li>
<li><p>Enormous building programs with new dorms, student center, incredible $100 million dollar School of Cinematic Arts, new buildings for School of Theatre, additions to the top notch Thornton School of Music and state of the art Viterbi School of Engineering complex.</p></li>
<li><p>Research grants have multiplied. Keck School of Medicine recently received a $56.8 million NIH grant, a donor contribution of $24 million and an Annenberg donation for scholarships to Keck of $5 million and $5 million to Annenberg School among others.</p></li>
<li><p>Personal attention to students. Personal notes, generous office hours, research interaction, mentoring and a the feeling of family.</p></li>
<li><p>The internet has made SC a bit “closer” in perception to east coast students</p></li>
<li><p>Here are few things from U.S. News (I realize everyone does not agree on this ranking, but students and parents do view the rankings).
Michigan student teacher ratio 15/1 USC 9/1
Average retention rate Michigan 96% USC 96%
Faculty resources Michigan 74th USC 27th (Higher is better)
Selectivity rank Michigan 24th USC 20th
Acceptance rate Michigan 42nd USC 22nd
Alumni giving rank Michigan 79th USC 7th</p></li>
<li><p>Strong alumni support of students by lecturing, mentoring, donating scholarships, providing internships, interviewing and membership in alumni groups</p></li>
<li><p>Generous financial aid programs </p></li>
<li><p>Merit scholarships, especially Trustee Scholarships</p></li>
<li><p>Visits to top private prep schools by alumni/staff to tell about the university. This has resulted in students coming to SC from St. Paul’s, Pace Academy, Phillips-Exeter, Punahou, Iolani, Harvard/Westlake, Country Day, Westminister, Harrow, Lovett, Brentwood and others of that calibre.</p></li>
<li><p>Leadership by the retiring President Sample</p></li>
<li><p>Signifcant increases in student fellowships such as Fulbright, Luce, Truman, Annenberg and Marshall.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In my opinion USC has improved the campus significantly, added important collections to the library system, vastly improved student selectivity, improved faculty quality and had outstanding leadership.</p>
<p>These are not extremely significant but the Princeton Review has USC listed now by both parents and students in their Top Ten “Dream Schools”. The Daily Beast selected USC as the fastest rising university.</p>
<p>Those are some of the main reasons SC has risen in perception. You may not agree, but many individuals do not realize there have been enormous improvements. </p>
<hr>
<p>Hey *******,</p>
<p>Thanks for dropping me a note regarding to USC’s academic improvements over the decade. First off, I must tell you that I am no Michigan Alumnus. And if you truly believe in all that you’ve typed, I encourage you to post in public and have an in-depth discussion on this issue with the Michiganites here! Know that when a buckeye fan like myself rooting for Michigan over USC (even in academics), something is really wrong. Indeed, USC has come a long way, yet, Michigan has been there and done that for centuries, not to mention most of its majors are ranked ~top-10 in the nation. There IS a reason why the PA score of Michigan is That high 2nd only to the Ivies and perhaps Berkeley. Anyway, I am no expert on both schools, I was just curious that’s all. You are welcome to post my reply in public if you so wish. As I alluded to earlier, so far as I am concerned, currently, USC’s overall academics is at best on par with NYU imho. Have a G’day! </p>
<p>Thanks for the PM!!! :)</p>