Hi everyone,
I’ve been weighing my options for college this fall, and I’m deciding right now between USC and Carnegie Mellon. However, I’m a little bit hesitant about the culture at USC. It seems like it’s known for being a fratty rich white kid school, and that’s not really my thing. Is there a wide variety of people that go there, or is the stereotype that everyone’s hardcore partiers mostly true?
Thanks
Congrats on your admissions and excellent options.
That USC stereotype or perspective is certainly false however. If that perspective was ever true about USC, it has certainly not been the case for the last 20 years or so. USC has tremendous diversity with its current make-up. The ethnic breakdown of last year’s freshman class, for example, was… White 38%, Asian / Asian American 21%, Latino / Hispanic 15%, International (student visa holders) 14%, Multiple Ethnicities 7%, Black / African American 5%, & Native American or Pacific Islander <1%. USC has 18K undergrads, offers more majors and minors than any other college or university, has over 750 student organizations, etc. It is what you - if you attend - choose to make it. Only 22% even join a fraternity.
Both USC and CMU are elite private universities, but they are also clearly different in many ways. USC does offer all of the elements of the total college experience, similar to as if it were a public university… including the spectrum of college athletics (more national championships and more Olympic athletes than any other university) and the school spirit that comes with such. It can thus offer the social and Greek life experiences and broad school spirit, etc. that one might expect at Penn State, etc. But there are also many who have zero interest in any of those elements and simply attend USC for the stellar academics, broad internship/job opportunities and extensive strength of its global alumni network. But at least it is all there at USC. Many likely go in having no perceived interest in certain offerings at USC, but they are there regardless. And who knows… many also experiment/explore during college and discover new things about themselves.
My 2 daughters are both at USC currently. Neither even wanted to apply to CMU for two main reasons… 1) it failed to offer all of the elements or opportunities necessary in their opinion to allow for the complete college experience 2) Pittsburgh. We drove through Pittsburgh and by CMU and that was enough to convince them that there future lied elsewhere.
My advice… if you can… is to visit both universities, explore and research yourself and make the decision that is right for you.
Good luck with your decision…
@Jason1665 I’m a surprised that USC and CMU are your final two because they are diametrically opposites in most ways that matter to undergraduates. Both are in large cities and have urban campuses. Both are private R1 schools. That is really the end of their similarities.
USC is 3x larger than CMU. The core of USC is the liberal arts college (Dornsife), while CMU excels in creative and STEM. Athletics is huge at USC; CMU is Div. III. CMU is an “east coast” school; USC is an archetype of the “left coast” university.
You can party – or not – at any college or university. IFC and PHC Greek participation at USC is <10%. The vast majority of students are engaged in non-Greek activities and clubs.
Good luck in your choice.
@ttrojan, when you say “left coast” are you referring to politically left leaning, or geographic in terms of the West? I have gotten the impression that UC campuses lean left politically, especially Santa Cruz and Cal, but that USC may be more a balance of political perspectives (maybe a little more left leaning than right), particularly due to a large international student population and because of a fair amount of students coming to USC from Orange County where many may lean towards the right. Also, I believe more than 40% of students are from other states outside CA. I could be wrong, but have viewed USC as a more politically tolerant and a more balanced diverse student body than most of the UC schools on the “West Coast” seem to be :-).
To the OP’s question about stereotypes of “fratty white rich kids”, I get the impression that it is not the case. I think 69% of Class of 2022 admitted students were not classified as “white”. There is a strong Greek life presence but there are plenty of clubs and activities to join if Greek is not of interest.