USC in 10 Years.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>To transition us back to topic, do any of you TROJANS feel that the USC-Stanford football rivalry is going to become more serious? Again, think about what that rivalry will be like in the next 10 years.</p>

<p>Personally, I feel the rivalry will always come second to USC-UCLA. However as the university progresses to academic prominence and the gap between USC and Stanford shrink, I feel there will be more passion behind beating Stanford.</p>

<p>Additionally, the USC-UCLA games have been very lackluster in the past decade due to USC dominating and UCLA’s lack of investment. I do hope that the Morgan Center at UCLA will invest more in their football team to really bring the rivalry back at full force.</p>

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<p>isn’t what i posted true as well? :rolleyes:</p>

<p>^^I thought USC’s other rivalry was with Notre Dame?</p>

<p>The crosstown rivalries (e.g. USC and UCLA; Stanford and Cal) are the biggest ones. However, academics aside, the only private school in california that comes anywhere close to being like Stanford in terms of sports is USC. God knows it sure isn’t Caltech. Berkeley and UCLA similarly don’t really care about sports. But they have their rivalry going on other things (like how berkeley is ‘better’ than UCLA.)</p>

<p>USC and Stanford will have to play each other for a long time before anything big develops. That being said, i look forward to the next USC vs Stanford game :)</p>

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<p>“USC and Stanford will have to play each other for a long time before anything big develops.”</p>

<p>A little USC fact: Stanford is USC’s oldest rival. USC has been playing against Stanford more than UCLA and ND.</p>

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<p>Perhaps USC has been playing against stanford for a longer amount of time than the aforementioned schools. However, i wouldn’t say that this makes them rivals. I don’t think there was ever a rivalry between both schools and still don’t think that there is. As big as the Stanford vs SC game was, i don’t think people look forward to it like the schools of other rivalries look forward to. (e.g. harvard and yale; USC and UCLA; Stanford and Berkeley; penn and pennstate, etc.)</p>

<p>maybe it can develop into something big that people in both schools look forward to (and this was suggested by some of the articles that i was reading online) but as for now, i just don’t think that it’s there.</p>

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USC has played Cal every year since 1916. USC played Stanford once in 1905 and then not again until 1918.</p>

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Of course it does. They play in the same league (now separate divisions). Rivalry being the only two private schools in the Pac-12. Norcal/Socal also plays into it. Cal’s and Stanford’s second biggest game is always with USC. I look forward to it, despite recent year outcomes.</p>

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<p>Beyphy I have respect for you so please do not take offense to this, but as a bruin you have no authority on USC and our rivaliries. UCLA may have no other rivalry besides USC - maybe Cal. But USC is definitely a rival to Stanford. Please stop acting like you are in the know.</p>

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<p>Universities in the West and Southwest are gaining over their counterparts in the East and Middle West, largely due to domestic immigration, demographic change, and technology innovation in the region. During the last couple of years, the number of PhDs awarded in this region exceeded those in the traditional East and Middle West. This trend hasn’t completely stopped yet, but the momentum is losing. USC is merely riding this trend for its ascension, but has unfortunately missed a couple of golden opportunities to approach the level of national elites. </p>

<p>Most of the major Western universities rose to the elite level by taking advantage of great social change or technology revolution. For example, Cal rose along with the development of the West, Stanford with information technology revolution, UCLA along with California’s golden decades and the rise of Southern California. USC apparently lacked the necessary ambition and aspiration in the past, hence wasted many opportunities. Hopefully, it can catch up on the next big social and technological waves, before it is too late. </p>

<p>Two monumental changes right now are on USC’s side, and it is really up to USC to grab them. One is the technology development in ubiquitous computing and social network/media. I have been working in Bay Area. The people here disappointed me a bit because they are dull, and the best thing they are good at is to show off their intelligence. Most of things they (including me) produce are junk-like, except for Apple who actually DESIGNS their stuff. For the entire industry to achieve that level, it has to be able to access the talent in Los Angeles, and New York. Google’s south campus in LA is one of the signs that people in Silicon Valley has realized this necessity. Yahoo already has a large presence in Santa Monica and Burbank. Another is the rise of the Pacific Rim. USC is positioned to take certain amount of leadership in the pan-Pacific social and economic integration. If USC can use these two shifts to its advantage, and be prepared for the green energy revolution in near future, USC will absolutely project itself into top 15 in the country.</p>

<p>As for now, I think the undergraduate education at USC marginally overtakes UCLA and is at the same level as Cal, but it really takes time for public to recognize it. Whether USC can decisively beat the schools in Texas is largely dependent on whether and how much California can lead over Texas. I think California’s chance is good.</p>

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<p>"…do any of you TROJANS feel that the USC-Stanford football rivalry is going to become more serious? Again, think about what that rivalry will be like in the next 10 years."</p>

<p>Without Luck and Harbaugh, Stanford’s football program will degenerate back to the norm. Right now, the USC-Stanford games are a big deal here in the Bay Area, but I suspect in three or four years they won’t be.</p>

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<p>and currently the US overall economic slowdown,
subprime mortgage crisis, US debt problems, QE3(or not?)
and California state budget problems, etc,
will all not only hit public UCs,
but should also impact private schools funding sources
from USC to Stanford/Ivys.</p>

<p>So it’s not necessarily like only UCs will get hit,
but that privates will surely benefit.
And more like all will get hit, just who get hit less relatively…</p>

<p>e.g. Princeton’s fund has dropped sharply in return, and even
Stanford/Harvard endowment budgets have also dropped,
so can imagine the increasing difficulty/challenges
to other private schools as well.</p>

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<p>no offense taken. I’ll readily admit that i know nothing about sports in general. the USC-Stanford game was still probably one of <em>maybe</em> 10 college football games that i’ve seen in my life. (i didn’t even watch the UCLA-Cal one lol) I just think that the word ‘rival’ has a specific meaning, and i don’t (or didn’t) think that USC and Stanford had that with each other. But you guys are saying that i’m wrong and they do, so i’ll take your word for it as you probably no more about it than me.</p>

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<p>USC and Stanford are definite rivals on the athletic front and have been so for many years. In the past, Stanford stadium would sell out (or get close to full) for only 3 games-- Cal, ND, and USC. Stanford students back in my time (late 80’s, early 90’s) really disliked USC because Stanford waslucky to score on USC in football, let alone beat them. They were true rivals and a win (or decent showing) was cause for great celebration. This wasn’t a new rivalry 20 years ago either, lol.</p>

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<p>UCBChemEGrad makes some good points. Because the research that comes out of universities is often what gets the most press (athletics aside), universities are perceived (not necessarily accurately) by and large on the strength of their graduate programs – alongside selectivity.</p>

<p>USC has advanced by leaps and bounds in the undergraduate arena. Whether or not this seemingly singular focus is coincidental to the fact that the most popular college ranking guide is one of undergraduate programs is anyone’s guess. </p>

<p>But the fact remains that until USC applies the same level of ambition to improving its graduate programs (and their standard metrics of prestige… number of national academy members, number of nobel laureates, etc.), then the presitge of the USC “brand” will suffer in circles not familiar with the only-somewhat-recent rigor of its admissions (read: most of the East Coast). </p>

<p>Nevertheless, institutional change is slow, and the rate of change of perceptions of institutions is even slower. USC has only been extremely competitive on the admissions front for slightly more than a decade, whereas the “University of Second Choice” moniker has been around for several decades. Old perceptions die hard.</p>

<p>I’ll disagree, however, with the commenter that said that other top universities are also making progress at the same rate as USC. At the top-top, yes, (Harvard and Stanford will always be #1 and #2 in fundraising, which will only translate to progress in whatever programs they decide to allocate capital to), but the fact that USC was #4 among all institutions (beating most ivies), and perennially on the top 10 list speaks to both the ambition of the university, as well as the ability to execute on its self-improvement goals (source: <a href=“http://www.cae.org/content/pdf/VSE_2010_Press_Release.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cae.org/content/pdf/VSE_2010_Press_Release.pdf&lt;/a&gt;). </p>

<p>There’s really no reason why USC should be able to out-raise Yale, Penn, and Columbia, and the like… and yet, it consistently does (heck, in 2007, we were #3 behind Stanford/Harvard). These other schools which we consider USC’s peers (or currently “better” than USC, e.g. Rice/Emory) are nowhere to be found on the top 20 fundraising lists (let alone the top 5). </p>

<p>If certain institutions are just operating as though nothing is changing, while USC is out fundraising all but the best (and this is prior to the public $6 billion campaign announcement!) in a bid to upgrade programs, professors, students, facilities, and, well, everything… do the math.</p>

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<p>For those who want to learn more about USC future plans and goals, register for “USC in Your Neighborhood.”</p>

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<p>SC’s grad school is reasonably solid,
but mainly in professional schools,
film, business, accounting, communication… </p>

<p>and not in pure academic fields, econ,
physics, chem… where nobels are usually awarded.
So that’s going to take long time and effort to build(if not just <em>acquire</em>)</p>

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<p>Money is a big part, but it’s not the only part. Top faculty want to work with other top faculty. A lot of faculty at top publics like the fact that they work for a public institution…makes them feel like they’re giving something back to the community. </p>

<p>It’s very hard for an institution to gain academic reputation, especially in graduate schools because there are so few superstar profs (unlike many top undergrads). Look at the PA scores going back years. The usual suspects are always near the top. PA score is akin to faculty prestige and graduate programs. Duke is a good example of a school increasing its undergraduate prestige, but its graduate programs lag. This is primarily due to not attracting top faculty to boost its academic prestige (aka PA score). </p>

<p>I can see USC moving up to a Northwestern (PA of about 4.3) level if it burnishes its grad program/faculty prestige. To be included with the great research universities for faculty and grad programs (i.e. Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Chicago) will take more time, and likely may never get there.</p>

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<p>“To be included with the great research universities for faculty and grad programs (i.e. Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Chicago) will take more time, and likely may never get there.”</p>

<p>I agree, though in all fairness, Stanford was a highly selective, though largely second-rate (compared to the ivies) bastion for the elite… not unlike how USC is sometimes wrongly characterized. That is, until the post-war era when it really focused on EE, and the patenting and commercialization of EE breakthroughs that would make it extremely wealthy, at a time when the electrical transistor would begin revolutionizing the world. </p>

<p>Of course, the odds that USC will double-down on a field as radical as the digital revolution, let alone have the foresight to see it before everyone else, is rather unlikely. But it also serves to demonstrate that it’s not exactly unheard of for a selective, but undoubtedly lower tier university with big ambitions to join the ranks of the global elite. In Stanford’s case, it’s already been done. </p>

<p>Stanford, prior to its breakthrough to prominence, had many, many things in common with USC. And I don’t just mean sharing the color Cardinal or being the hated rival of the nearby blue/gold UC.</p>

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<p>I was exploring the USC website and I found this report at <a href=“http://strategic.usc.edu/subcommittees/subcommittees.html[/url]”>http://strategic.usc.edu/subcommittees/subcommittees.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Academic Culture and Faculty Profile: What will be the characteristics of leading research universities in 10 years? Given these characteristics, what should be the profile of USC’s faculty? What is the nature of the academic culture that will foster and be fostered by such a university?</p>

<p>Co-chairs: Tom Hollihan (Annenberg) and Wendy Wood (Psychology & Marshall)</p>

<p>Report:<a href=“http://strategic.usc.edu/Academic%20Culture%20and%20Faculty%20Profile.pdf[/url]”>http://strategic.usc.edu/Academic%20Culture%20and%20Faculty%20Profile.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Don’t shoot me. I know this is a two year old thread, but I am curious to hear more opinions. USC has already changed so much in those two short year.</p>

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<p>I think this was an appropriate bump up @ModernMan! I was actually considering this very topic yesterday.</p>

<p>I think USC will leapfrog a number of the schools ahead of it currently. I’m thinking maybe 18-16 maybe?</p>

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Given the title of the thread, I would say you have 8 more years where you can legitimately bump this thread.</p>