Is USC on the rise academically?

docfreedaddy
Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:42:37 +0000

beyphy,

He is simply acknowledging Caltech is an excellent school with a stellar student body. His point, germaine to the present discussion, is that USC now has many students with similar peer standing. Like Caltech, USC is well known for selecting students for achievements and personal qualities in addition to GPA’s and test scores. That is as far as the analogy goes.

As you know, Caltech has a focused mission in STEM, USC strives for greater range in its focus. USC also has various focused honors programs which are extremely selective. The Thematic Options Honors selects 200 of the applicants from the 2650 incoming freshman (I do not know how many apply). The trustee merit award is provided to about 140 of the 46,000 applicants. Smaller, focused academic communities are thus created within a more diverse intellectual environment.

Caltech and USC are very different offering contrasting academic options for students to consider in addition to the campus and student body atmosphere which is the best fit for them.