<p>I'm a California Community College transfer. I was originally applying only to UCB and UCLA but then I got nervous that I might not get in so I applied to USC. I went and talked to my advisor. He said I shouldn't worry and that I even have a shot at Stanford.</p>
<p>Once I realized that I might have a choice, I started to think maybe USC might be a better fit for me even though many people would insist the other schools are better (for everyone). I have actually taken classes at UCB through concurrent enrollment and some of the stereotypes do exists. Such as the "Factory Education" where you're a number and not a person. </p>
<p>My intuition tells me (along with the 10:1 student/professor ratio) that classes are more personal at USC and you have a chance to get to know your professors better. Can any USC people comment?</p>
<p>I think that 10:1 thing is misleading, because the smallest class I've ever had was about 15 and that was one of few. If you're in a popular major you should expect a fairly large class (or is that only for business?). Once you move towards your core stuff you'll see your classes shrink down to around 50.</p>
<p>I would recommend USC to you, but I do realize it is not for everyone. I think the classes for the most part will be smaller than UCLA's and UCB's, but don't expect a LAC type of class. </p>
<p>Also it's always harder for a transfer to really fit in socially, and I think in this aspect USC is the worst of the 3 schools because we don't offer campus housing (for the most part) to transfer students.</p>
<p>If you can elaborate more on what you expect out of your college experience then maybe I can give you a better answer in terms of whether or not USC is a match for you.</p>
<p>It definitely depends on what your major is for determining what class sizes you would have. I'm an English major, and my classes have been from 10- 30 students for every class. Business majors on the other hand, while they begin large and shrink down as the classes become more advanced, are still not usually tiny. GEs, of course, are large, but I think they are still smaller than the UCs. </p>
<p>What can I say, I'm biased, but I think USC is an amazing place. You should, if nothing else, definitely check the school out some more, just to see if you like what it offers. And, as afterhours, said, ask us some more questions; we'd love to answer.</p>
<p>My major at the UCs is Middle Eastern Studies. At USC, I applied as an international relations major. There's a good side and a bad side to the "major" issue. The bad side is that a good portion of my course load is Arabic language with some Middle East stuff. USC doesn't have a very extensive Arabic program, based upon what the current class schedule looks like. My current level of Arabic exceeds what USC has to offer. The good thing is that I've decided that I don't really want to limit myself to the ME. So becoming an IR major wouldn't be a bad thing, but I've taken only one Political Science class.</p>
<p>What do I expect? Well, I guess I'm looking for professors that challenge me on a personal level. At UCB, the only class discussion took place during the discussion sections once per week with the Graduate Student Instructor (who was terrible in most cases).</p>