Any Questions for a Current Freshman?

Applicant100
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 14:03:51 +0000

No problem goods37


I’m in Annenberg for Broadcast Journalism so my thoughts on Viterbi are just what I have heard from my friends who are Engineers. Everyone that I know in the program is always extremely busy, but they do like it. I think the school is ranked 9th nationally by US News so that speaks to the quality of education. I know certain programs like BioMedical are smaller than some of the others like Electrical. I’m not really sure about CS other than that my friends thought their intro classes were difficult. They aren’t majoring in CS though which I’m sure adds to their struggle. Overall it is definitely pretty renowned and although it is hard, the career opportunities are definitely available.


2/3 There are a LOT of perks to living in Los Angeles, which ties into your question about internships. USC is obviously a top school in California and the internships, especially around Los Angeles, are prevalent. I am a freshman, but I’m already looking into possibly staying out in LA for the summer after my Sophomore year for an internship. Other than the availability of jobs though are the perks of LA’s geography. At USC, you are two stops on the metro from LA Live, an outdoor mall that has the Staples Center, the Nokia Theater, Club Nokia and other nightlife, three stops from downtown (although fewer people hang out in downtown LA) and a car ride from places like DisneyLand, Mountains for skiing and the beach. There are so many places to check out which makes it awesome. Disadvantages? It is an urban environment and with that comes homelessness and crime. There is a relatively large homeless population that as a student walking up and down Fig on the way to the Row or other places off campus, you will have to interact with by just saying “no.” Also, there is crime around campus, but as long as you walk in a pair past like midnight, you shouldn’t ever have an issue.


The people here are actually awesome. The Trojan Family actually really takes care of their own, as cliche as that sounds. The reason that you’ve heard about people being arrogant is that to those who are outside the Trojan Family, we are. I think it comes from our dominance in football back in the Pete Carroll days, but we are the Arrogant Student Nation. The culture here is VERY similar to that of Notre Dame and Georgetown (Other Schools I Considered) in the belief of superiority. Now this isn’t like we ACTUALLY look down on other people, it just goes along with the school pride here. We go to USC, and that is something that we are proud of. It’s hard for me to describe it without sounding like a jerk, but it really isn’t an issue once you’re on campus. All of the students are incredibly cooperative and helpful, we just happen to be proud of our school and it comes off sometimes as arrogant. I hope I explained that right!