<p>burn.</p>
<p>also, USC is in now way even comparable to Cornell, Brown, NYU, Stanford, UC-B, UCLA, Vandy, and WashU in STL</p>
<p>I got a similar feel from Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Definitely the University of Miami.</p>
<p>Some are harder to get into than USC and some are easier, but here's some schools:</p>
<p>Boston College
Boston University
New York University
Northwestern University
Pepperdine University
University of Miami
University of Notre Dame
University of San Diego
Vanderbilt University</p>
<p>on east coast, Duke and UNC</p>
<p>i also forgot to put in better law school in my above post, although the two law schools are not far apart.</p>
<p>From what I gather, Northwestern is more intense and demanding academically. My coworker is working full time and is still able to take 2 or 3 engineering classes at USC, saying it's actually "not bad at all". I wouldn't call them "similar".</p>
<p>I would agree that U of Miami is the most comparable to USC.
BTW, USC has always been considered to be very good school. I'm surprised at some of the comments on this thread.</p>
<p>usc is a very good school. no one is stating otherwise. what is being stated is that it is not on the level of stanford or berkeley, which seems quite accurate. however you stated that usc "has always" been considered a very good school. this is simply not the case. only in the last 10 years or so has usc risen dramatically into the university it is now. it was no where near as respected back in the day as it is now. just five years ago usc was not ranked in the top 40 universities in the country. it has shot up dramatically since then, up to #27 according to us news.</p>
<p>USC is a solid feeder to some top notch companies especially on the west coast, and has some pretty high admission standards. It holds its own against the likes of Vandy, NU, WUSTL etc. It is certainly closer to those groups of schools than Miami, USD, Pepperdine etc.</p>
<p>Look like the USC bashers are at it again. I'll post a more substantial response to some of rather amusing comments in this thread when I get a chance.</p>
<p>Guys, do this thread and the OP a favor: keep it friendly, focus on the similarities, and don't seek to put down the school just for the sake of oneupsmanship.</p>
<p>On the other hand, don't be afraid to accept what makes USC different or weaker to other schools.</p>
<p>This isn't a race to the finish. Nobody wins when everyone runs around trying to trip up the next person. We can definitely come up with a list of similar schools without dealing with the absolutes of "School X is better than School Y."</p>
<p>Rightly or wrongly, I listed lower-ranked schools than USC, with the assumption that the OP wants to find some safeties with similar characteristics to his/her dream school, USC. Well, BC may not be a safety, but most of the others are. Not a judgment call on SC's quality on my part, which has certainly risen in the last 20 years.</p>
<p>I'd compare UMiami to USC. USC has better academics, but socially they're probably the same.</p>
<p>I don't see why people are comapring public elites like Michigan and Berkeley to USC though. There's really no comparison academically or socially for that matter.</p>
<p>Wow thanks for all the responses guy</p>
<p>this has been great</p>
<p>Ill take a stronger look at Umiami ( the florida one right?)</p>
<p>Keep em coming</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Yes, the one in Florida. You might want to look at Notre Dame as well.</p>
<p>On the East Coast I would say that you may want to take a look at Syracuse.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't see why people are comapring public elites like Michigan and Berkeley to USC though. There's really no comparison academically or socially for that matter.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>maybe, because they are all larger research universities with similar admission standards for undergrads. They also have big time D1 sports with a thriving greek scene yet they're still big enough that you there are other social scenes.</p>
<p>Yea Miami is a good comparison. Same size. lots of school spirit in both etc. Location wise its similar weather and similar cities. Only Difference: Prestige. USC is better prestige wise than Miami. Either way both are top schools though.</p>
<p>Miami is not a good comparison. It doesn't match up academically and doesn't have the same school spirit and especially lacks a strong alumni base when compared to USC. If you go by rankings UCLA, UVA, UNC, Michigan, and UCB are all comparable. I think that the first four are in fact USC-like although generally larger. UCB has a different feel.</p>