<p>I’m not from the west coast, but after a bit of research I was very attracted to this school.</p>
<p>That being said, I also have alot of questions that I cannot find answers to anywhere.</p>
<p>1) How do I apply to the BA/MD program? Is it listed on Part I, or Part II of the application? </p>
<p>2) What should I major in if I want to be “Pre-Med?” Would it just be a normal science major?</p>
<p>3) Are there different rates of admission for each school within the University? Some Universities allow you to apply to a irrelevant school (ex. school of music), but upon acceptance switch into another school (ex. school of sciences)… is this possible @ USC? Would it help in regards to admission?</p>
<p>4) I heard that the campus is very diverse, but at the same time there are alot of Indian Students. Is there a large Indian population @ USC?</p>
<p>5) Does the incredible “Alumni Network” actually exist? </p>
<p>6) Are there alot of students with wealthy backgrounds @ USC? </p>
<p>7) Is the area surrounding USC really that dangerous? </p>
<p>I was all set to give very helpful answers to alllll your questions, but then I saw:
and decided to go play some irrelevant music on my irrelevant piano instead .</p>
<p>Luckily there are lots of other posters who jump in when alamemom gets annoyed (which is happening more and more often… time to take a cc break!) and they will fill you in.</p>
<p>Just so you know, the Thornton school of music is highly regarded with faculty who included the likes of Heifetz and where present faculty include major performers like Midori. Admission is highly selective. Far from “irrelevant”</p>
<p>you guys are being WAYYY to harsh and nitpicky. i agree with inspiredbymusic. from the context of the OPs post it’s very evident that the thornton school of music is indeed very irrelevant to this student’s goals (med school). </p>
<ol>
<li>not sure about ba/md</li>
<li>you can be whatever major you want. most pre-meds major in a science though because so many med prereqs overlap with courses that fulfill the reqs for those science majors, ie bio.</li>
<li>rates of admission are indeed different, but CAS is one of the easier schools to get into. if you are a serious candidate for BA/MD, gaining admittance to the university should NOT be a problem for you.</li>
<li>yes, lots of indians.</li>
<li>yes it does but it has a much more visible presence in certain circles like business.</li>
<li>yes, but there is a lot of economic diversity.</li>
<li>the surrounding area is not as dangerous as people make it seem. just be aware that you’re in a working-class neighborhood in a major urban area. some people make it sound like the school is located compton, which is totally not true.</li>
</ol>
<p>@josebiwasabi Thanks alot for your post. But what i noticed after visiting the website was that there is no actual “bio” major. Am I not seeing something? </p>
<p>The majors include physics, chem, biochem, biophysics… but not bio by itself.</p>
<p>In the description, biophysics was stated as the ideal major for pre-med… Is this true?</p>
<p>jose - I don’t think I was harsh at all! I included a happy face and a cheerful “Good luck!” to be SURE I wasn’t harsh. As for nitpicky, YES, I am nitpicky about little details, which is the very reason I am able to spew all these nitpicky little details about financial aid and admissions for all these adorable applicants. And you are one of the helpful posters with accurate information I knew would jump in and help the OP while I was off playing my irrelevant piano. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>*And there is a nitpicky little detail I really, really want to mention to the OP but I am resisting with all my might because I don’t want to seem tooooooo nitpicky… time to return to the irrelevant piano…</p>
<p>My D has a friend in the Bac Med program…she is doing a double major…Biology and Art History.
Not sure why Bio is not showing, but as far as I know it definitely exists.</p>
<p>It would be advisable to take a science oriented major but as long as you do the requisite courses for the MCAT, you can do any major you want. D knows another in the program whose major is in Journalism.</p>
<p>2) Are you sure there isn’t a Bio major? Look again, there’s one in CLAS.</p>
<p>3) Yes, the admission rates are very different… but the schools irrelevant to your field of study (film, music) are incredibly more difficult to get into than the ones relevant to your field of study. Film alone is more competitive than Harvard Law and offers a program that accepts 26 students out of thousands of applicants. I would advise you to just apply to whatever you are interested in. Plus, most of the science majors are in CLAS which has the highest acceptance rate.</p>
<p>6) Yeah, but there are a lot of students with less affluent backgrounds at USC as well. It’s the same as any other university. USC has a bad rep for being the “University of $poiled Children” but they also have one of the most generous financial aid programs in the country. Ask @alamemom for some financial aid statistics, because she is very knowledgeable about that topic. :)</p>
<p>7) South-central LA? Yes. But if you’re careful you’ll be fine. University of Chicago is in a terrible area too (the South side), and so are a lot of other really good schools. I can’t really say much about LA because I’m not from there, but Chicago is a good example. Most people think the South side is a terrifying place and that they’ll get mugged if they stray off campus, but I’m from Chicago and it’s really not as bad as outsiders/tourists say it is. Plus there are always security services that will escort you places if you really think your safety is compromised.</p>
<p>Regarding USC’s location, just wanted to mention that USC is well respected in the neighbourhood. USC has a lot of outreach programs that serve the neighbourhood population.</p>
<p>Any large private university will have wealthy students as well as students who could not attend without a huge financial aid package. When you leave the university community you will enter the “real” world where you will also encounter people from all sorts of backgrounds.</p>
<p>According to Princeton Review for the 2009 year the average financial aid package at SC was $34,545. Keep in mind that is an average. Some receive much less and others receive more. Check out alamemom’s financial aid thread. It has much helpful information about applying for financial aid.</p>
<p>There are various possibilities for a student who hopes to enter medical school. A few are: biochemistry, biological sciences, biophysics, chemistry, health and humanity, human performance, kinesiology, neuroscience, physics and psychology. Within the Davis School of Gerontology there are majors which might interest you such as lifespan health and human development and aging.</p>
<p>And least week other students on other campuses were victims of armed robberies.</p>
<p>It’s honestly not that dangerous around here. On campus is perfectly safe, and off campus where all the people are (housing, food, activities, etc) is not dangerous unless you’re walking alone in a dark alley at 3am flashing your expensive bling and talking loudly on your phone etc etc.</p>
.</p>
Plus there are always security services that will escort you places if you really think your safety is compromised.</p>