Why Do So Many CC Posters Dislike USC?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

I’m new to CC, and have already learned so much here. Thanks to all!

That said, I’ve now seen USC put down several times, and on several threads. Mind, the derisive comments are always presented mildly. Few of the, “USC sucks!” that one often hears at Autzen or Strawberry Canyon (although I did actually see that once as well, or words close to it). More the, “USC’s a party school,” or “USC games the rankings” type comments.

Can anyone help me understand why this is? I personally know two absolutely brilliant kids, one of whom is a double SCion, full-pay, who were unfortunately rejected by USC this past cycle. Is USC that awful of a school? I just don’t get it…

Conversely, I just haven’t seen that hate for UCLA, Cal, or Stanford, or any other school for that matter. I lived and worked on campus at an SEC school for extended time period a few years back. If USC is a “party school” I frankly don’t know what one would call that school. Yet whenever that particular SEC school comes up (it’s not famous for academics) I never read an ill word (to note just one example).

Would really love to hear other longtime CCers thoughts on this, particularly Trojans. But all insights welcome. Thanks for reading my OP and Fight On!

2

Here you go, talk a look at this forum post:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/2052308-another-university-added-to-ccs-top-universities-not-usc.html

Where I got my information from.

3

@CADREAMIN, @menloparkmom and @WWWard are all huge USC supporters and have discussed this exact question.

4

@bodangles, thank you for your input, which was thoughtful and balanced.

@jmek15, that’s interesting, bc I’ve read (and enjoyed) posts from all three of those posters–yet I had no idea they’d asked this same question. If USC is not the only school that suffers from this on CC (and I’m ready to learn it’s not), I’d like to see links showing similar treatment for other schools. I can say I’ve yet to see similar derisive commments towards Michigan (but of course I realize that’s an extremely small sample size).

5

The same reason so many people hate the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. A history of success, especially athletic, combined with an air of arrogance.

I grew up in Ohio during the 60’s and 70’s and hated USC because they were our #2 football rival after the even more evil Michigan… Somehow I ended up going to graduate school at USC, and after I graduated, I went from hating it to getting a kick out of the way everyone else hates it.

6

@USCWolverines I found the thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1911642-so-why-no-cc-love-and-respect-toward-usc-p1.html

7

@simba9, you are the (person)! Why do I say that? Bc that’s exactlly what my father told me–and he doesn’t even follow sports. Also, I have to credit you for getting a kick out the anti-USC bashing. That’s a great way to turn a potential negative into a positive. I suspect you’re a well-grounded individual.

@jmek15, thanks for link. I’m going to check it out.

8

Yes USC has a strong athletic program which means its subject to bashing, personally I find USC the fourth best university in California behind only Stanford, Cal Tech, and the Claremont colleges (as a group, if you don’t include LAC’s then the third best).

9

Northeastern University gets a lot of grief here in CC. It has risen rapidly in the rankings and has been accused of “gaming” the rankings. This is despite the fact that many other colleges are doing the same thing: Cornell, BU, Brandeis, NYU…

10

I toured USC when my daughter was a hs junior and looking at a lot of schools over spring break. Gorgeous campus and top-notch programs. I just felt like, unlike pretty much everywhere else we toured, the admissions dept had an attitude of “you would be really lucky to come here” while everywhere else the attitude seemed more like, “we would love to have you here… you should apply!” That and the tour stop in the Heisman trophy room where we could ogle OJ Simpson’s Heisman as well as 9 or 10 other Heisman trophies… (maybe this would impress a football fan who wants a school with a great football team and a lot of school spirit but that doesn’t describe me or my kid).

11

It was interesting reviewing that thread mentioned above again. Yes… it simply never changes. 8K more applied this year vs last, and the admission rate fell to 13% in the process, yet the venom still flows. Of course, when tens of thousands are rejected yearly (87% rejected this year), that does leave some potential bitterness out there in the ether.

As a parent of now two Trojans this year, my positive impression of USC has only grown over the last four years. As I have said on CC before… USC is simply excellent at all of the things that are important to parents… from communication to financial aid to all of their various online portals related to registration, assistance, tracking, housing, etc. They are just quite simply a well-funded and well-oiled machine. USC has mastered the college experience, in my opinion, including everything related to the exchange of information. And if you are among the admitted who actually choose to or get to (as I understand it is not financially feasible for every family) enroll at and attend USC, that positive college experience is also something that you get to enjoy as a student first-hand.

My daughters especially found the Niche college rankings & surveys helpful, as they included the student & alumni surveys and went into a much broader spectrum of topics of interest to them as potential students other than just comparative academic prowess… like dorms, student life, party scene, athletics team support, etc. Overall, USC gets an A+ and is currently ranked 19 overall among national universities. Its scores were… Academics A+, Value A+, Diversity A+, Campus A, Athletics A+, Party Scene A+, Professors A+, Location B+, Dorms B+, Campus Food A-, Student Life A+, Safety B. There are also a list of rankings on many topics too numerous to mention. USC is ranked as the #1 big college in America (out of 126) and # 10 out of 1501 colleges in America in terms of the best student life.

Understandably though, these above factors, especially the quality of student life at USC, only apply to those who eventually enroll & attend. Last year, even 66% of those admitted ended up enrolling elsewhere. Many reluctantly had to make that choice simply due to the cost of attending. That factor alone likely contributes to some of the disdain toward USC here on CC. I.E. – Cost.

USC is not perfect by any means. No college or university can be. Its location for example does offer some drawbacks. But USC is an amazing private university located in the #1 ranked college city for weather in the U.S. Wanting to go there is a natural phenomenon clearly for tens of thousands of applicants yearly. This year, 63K applied, but only around 3K will end up enrolling by the fall. That unfortunately leaves many left behind or outside looking in.

So… to answer your question, it is likely due to a # of factors: a certain degree of northeast bias, jealousy on many fronts (you cannot, for example, amass more national championships athletically and have more Olympians than any other college or university and not experience some jealousy), resentment from those rejected who had applied, resentment from those admitted who wanted to attend but could not afford to, etc., etc.

But at least we all know that your question will likely remain timeless… repeated annually here on CC from new posters who also just don’t get it.

Fight On!

12

I think some people still hold the dated view of USC being the ‘University of Spoiled Children’ and like WWWard said, a lot of Northeast bias plus hate from CA rivals. Back in my day at Cal, I hated USC and UCLA pretty much because they were our PAC-10 enemies. Anecdote: my friend’s kid ‘ended up’ at USC (full pay) having been denied from elite private Northeast schools some 10-12 years ago. Kid came from a highly regarded private prep school in La Jolla.

When I was in high school, USC was considered too expensive for most families and located in a scary neighborhood…Watts, known for crips, bloods and piru gangs. I was just there a few weeks ago and the area is so different especially with the building of University Village. It’s a very beautiful urban campus and very popular with the kids around here. Many of them aspire to get an athletic scholarship from SC. It’s such a status thing. It’s funny but now that I’m a parent, I rate colleges very differently and now have USC on my son’s college list. I don’t think he’d even consider my alma mater :frowning:

13

@CU, appreciate the input and your (IMO) high regard for USC–Cal Tech, Stanford, the Claremont Colleges, and I add Cal, and yes, admittedly, UCLA too (!) are good company to be in.

@TomSrOfBoston, glad to learn USC is not the only victim of the “gaming the system” vitriol, which is merely a thinly-veiled allegation of cheating. Here’s how I look at “gaming” the system: If my alma mater (or your’s, or anyone’s) wishes to “game” the system by having excellent facilities, commendable alumni giving rates, solid student-faculty ratios, and an acceptance rate that borders on absurdly low, than more power to them.

@washugrad, I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience during your USC tour, but as I’ve said many, many times in real life, USC isn’t for everyone. Nor is Stanford, or Michigan, or Washington U (which is elite and extremely well-regarded by everyone I’ve every known). Also, for the record, I’ve zero problem with CCers relating stories, experiences, opinions such as yours. None.

@WWWard, thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed post! Read once and will re-read later.

@CALSmom, you’re post was so amazing, and I very much appreciate your brutal honestly there. Here’s a small part of my Cal story: Even though USC and Cal are rivals, and yes, I’ve known forever Cal folks generally really dislike 'SC, two of my favorite human beings on the planet happen to be…proud Cal alumni! Incidentally they, like every Bear, Bruin, Tree (is that what I should call them? ;)) and Trojan I know, just cannot believe how amazingly difficult it now is gain acceptance to their respective alma maters. It is what it is.

14

Maybe because you are sensitive too it? I have no kinship to any CA school, but I can’t say that I see more hate toward USC on CC than any other school. Also, it goes in waves, dislike for certain school; maybe it is just USC’s turn? You couldn’t say NYU around here a few years back without someone bashing it. High Point is another school CC loves to hate. If you want to bash on 'bama I may or may not have a few words to add! I have no reason to dislike Alabama, but it gets under my skin all the same.

15

@USCWolverine USC is better than UCB or UCLA, the only reason they don’t get more apps then those schools is the perceived price tag. If applicants thought they could go to USC for the same cost then most would. JMHO.

16

@USCWolverine Oh yeah, we need not mention the other school, lol! It’s a given that we hate them. A TREE, really? We’re supposed to fear a tree? I understand Trojan or a bear, but a Tree? It’s funny to read posts on CC about Cal having depressed students. I had lots of moments of stress during my four years there, but dang it was the best four years of my young life! I bleed blue and gold! :smiley:

17

@labegg, you might be right, and in fact, that was my initial thought as well: Perhaps I’m just being too sensitive? Then again, I followed Triple W’s link to an extremely similar thread from two years ago, so… Interesting stuff re NYU. Re Bama, what can I say? If one follows CFB, one can hate on the Tide, but it’s basically impossible not to respect them. I’d imagine folks down South are rather tired of the Tide’s uber-dominance by now.

@CU123, that’s some red meat right there! lol

18

@WWWard, wow. I had NO IDEA USC was not on CC’s “top universities” list. That’s frankly insane. I’m going to send them a (very polite) email and ask them why we’ve been left out, and what USC needs to show them to be added to the list. Mind, every school on said list is world class, but at least a handful are just not quite up to par with USC. My point isn’t that those schools shouldn’t be on the list, but that we absolutely belong as well.

I strongly recommend every Trojan reading this do the same in contacting CC directly. If they hear from enough of us, I think we’ll eventually be put on the–after all, what possible objective criterea could be used to jusify keeping USC OFF the list?

19

@washugrad, that is an interesting observation; as a parent of two kids who have had the full USC admissions experience, we felt exactly the opposite. In fact, both times we were impressed, bordering on moved, by the attention, kindness and personal touch this large institution was somehow able to provide–with both kids, it really felt like they cared. That said, I’m talking more about admissions reps than tour guides, so perhaps that’s the difference.

20

Perhaps this is why the people who know Bama better defend it against this kind of prejudice.