<p>Who else gets this reaction when they mention USC?</p>
<p>I live in the South, and when people ask me what school I'm going to this fall, I say "USC." And I usually get this blank stare, and then they say, "Oh, South Carolina?" And I tell them, "No, Southern California." And they say, "Oh... California, that's far away." They basically don't know what USC is, so they resort to commenting how it's "far away."</p>
<p>Why is that? I swear it seems everyone here knows what Berk or UCLA is, but is USC for some reason not up to par in terms of name-recognition in the general US population? Anyone else have this experience?</p>
<p>Two things I've noticed with USC's name recognition:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>With high schoolers, it's proportional with income. At private schools and top publics, it's a household name. With high schools in less affluent areas, in my case even nearby in San Diego, the name would ring a bell to students, but wouldn't get the same eye-brow raise that say Notre Dame or UCLA would, whereas I would tell friends of friends at nearby more affluent schools where I was going, and they'd be like "Wow! USC! Congrats!" I think this is because students in less affluent areas don't realize the benefits of need-based aid, automatically assume they'd have to pay 40k for USC and subsequently don't do any research on the how great the school is, how they'd likely pay much less than the price tag, and completely rule it out in favor of the vaunted UC's.</p></li>
<li><p>With adults, it's proportional to education. This goes for the name recognition of most schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My favorite USC name recognition, or lack thereof story: I went back to my high school and was talking to an acquaintance. He was a junior interested in film and he went on and on about how his dream school was UCLA. I said, "Yeah, UCLA's really good for film, but if you want the best, you should consider my school." He asked, "What school do you go to?" I responded "USC." He gave me a quizzical look and said "What? How can that possibly be better than UCLA for film? Hellloooo. u-c-L-A. It's in Los Angeles!"</p>
<p>I know exactly how you feel. I live in Texas, and everyone I tell I'm going to USC thinks its South Carolina except for those students are parents who are going or went to more prestigious schools. Even half the people in my private school didn't know where it was. Ahhhhh!</p>
<p>Don't worry guys, you'll find that the people who matter (employers and those who are educated) have certainly heard of USC, and it certainly has its share of name recognition. Whenever I wear any USC clothing anywhere (barring Los Angeles because it's so common), people associated with the school or those of it often stop to comment on it and talk with me. "Oh, my daughter goes there and she loves it!" "Great film school." "Fellow Trojan, eh?" I remember wearing it on the NYC subway and being stopped by Trojan alums.</p>
<p>The people who matter definitely will have heard of SC. It's true about the affluent areas knowing it. Basically, a lot of people are just ignorant in the end, though. If you are smart and motivated, and you research schools well, you should know SC.</p>
<p>There definitely is a bond shared between people with SC ties. Just today, up in Nor Cal (Stockton), I saw a guy wearing a USC hat, and we shared a fight on sign. It's very nice. :)</p>
<p>It's the University of Stunning Chicks</p>
<p>When I told one of my old English teachers about my decision to go to USC, her statement was "OH, so you're going to the University of Spoiled Children, aren't ya now?"</p>
<p>Well, I don't know who you all are talking to, because I live in Texas as well and everyone I know has heard of USC. The person from Texas who said no one knew it especially blows my mind, because we are the #1 football team in the nation. Every self-respecting Texas male (and most Texas women too) that I have ever met, are well aware of the #1 football team in the country.</p>
<p>There's a huge population of students from Texas, too. I had four or five on my relatively small floor alone freshmen year.</p>
<p>Yeah... I probably have almost as many friends from Texas at USC than I do friends from California. Just look at the size of the facebook group "Houston Trojans (H-town Holla!)." And that's just Houston.</p>
<p>Yes, a lot of people do know what USC is because of football, but there is also a good amount who have no idea what I'm talking about, and that's just what I was pointing out. And i know that alot of people from Texas also go to USC, which is why it angers me even more. But this also mostly happened when I spoke to customers where I work, and not when I spoke to people who I acutally know.</p>
<p>Sorry didn't mean to post twice, but I'm remember that alot of people do know what USC is here in San Antonio, and they give me that "oh its great your going to a good school out of Texas" face, but right after they saw something like, "Good luck in San Diego", or something like that. So I take back my first remark, its not necessarily that they haven't heard of it, it just that they either know little about it, or I have to say University of Southern California instead of USC, because they don't understand the abreviation. so FIGHT ON! everyone</p>
<p>Everyone around here (Denver, CO) has heard of USC...but a lot of people think its just a huge public school - part of the UC system...Everyone is shocked to find out that its private...!</p>