Here in California ND is known as a strong Catholic school. You can not compare ND and USC. I don’t even think they have cross admits. They are completely different schools. You can compare USC with Rice I’d you want, but not ND. I agree with @simba9 that USC these days is viewed in line with UCB and UCLA.
Yes USC is viewed like UCB and UCLA, big, mega schools neither of which have the same acceptance standards as ND.
@blourring USC and ND are not comparable in any way except for sports. USC is largely a nonresidential campus dominated by graduate programs.
ND is the polar opposite culturally and academically.
It will depend on what you want.
Which is exactly why I hope he goes to USC 
@mikemac lmao I hope so too
That’s nonsense. Again, this is groundless speculation.
I grew up in the Midwest, and have lived on both the east and west coasts. There isn’t a big difference in people, and one commonality is that people identify with the schools in their region more than schools outside of their region.
So based on the posts above we should judge schools simply by how many kids they reject?
I would say look at the outcomes for the schools.
Since when is ND so incredibly wonderful in comparison to USC? Their admissions standards are slightly higher, but if you look at the data, it’s really not a huge difference. USNWR, basically a ranking of reputation, ranks ND at 18 and USC at 23. They’re totally different schools, and reputation alone won’t make the difference in landing a job, although the alumni networks for each school are stronger in different regions.
Still haven’t heard what major the OP is interested in. That would help figure out which is a better fit academically, but I think the differences in size, location, religious affiliation, etc. would be enough to decide not to apply to one of them.
Notre Dame by 7.
@8bagel LOL
“The average Californian is very provincial”
Oh pulleeeeze!! what an absolutely clueless statement to make!
Calif has the largest student population of any state in the country. It also is geographically one of the largest states in the country. So of course many students from Calif will want to to a Calif college. Because MOST US college students enroll in colleges within 400 miles of home.
ND is a Catholic college, of the the very few in the US, and it attract Catholic students from across the US. There arent too many other college choices in the US for Catholic students who want a non secular education.
Comparing the 2 is like comparing apple and oranges…
@menloparkmom ND is one of the “very few” Catholic colleges? I stand by comment regarding California being provincial on college thought. It is just the reality of the large state-wide system.
There are over 250 accredited Catholic colleges and universities in the US with about 1 million students. Also, probably 90% of them are considered educationally secular. Would you like to edit your post now?
So, perhaps it was my mistake in comparing the apples to the oranges but I find it highly impertinent (especially since I am a huge fan of both schools) that you guys (most of whom I assume are grown adults) are pulling irrelevant facts and opinions out of thin air just to simply put down the other school. If that is what you are going to do, I’m really not interested in hearing it. I created this post to compare and contrast the two schools, not to have alumni/fans of one school put down those of the other school…
And, for those who actually helped to answer my original questions… thanks !!!
Posts #4, #11 and #17 answer your questions with facts.
All of my kids were accepted by both USC and Notre Dame. All chose ND despite scholarship offers from USC (ND has extremely limited merit-based scholarships—maybe 50 or less per class of 2000—and none of those scholarships were sent my kids’ way). There is NO grade inflation at ND. Ask my fourth-year medical student child who, when desperately trying to determine from her Italian-Literature professor what it took to go from an A- to an A (to boost her GPA due to difficult science classes), was told, “The grade does not matter. What matters is that you are learning.” The professor was correct but still, the needed A grade eluded my child despite applying tremendous effort. As for national influence, a well-known space contractor brought another of my children to SoCal for an interview and, an eventual job. In my own experience, when I was introduced to prospective clients by the managing director (Western states) of one of the top insurance brokers in the world, my Notre Dame degree was constantly referenced (and his kids went to USC).