<p>A lot of California students are eligible for Cal grants which may serve as an additional incentive for students to apply since USC is private (versus the UC system). As you can imagine, many of the top schools around the country pull a large number of applicants from their home states.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, however, because of it’s relative size and population, California represents a sizeable portion of applications at my college on the east coast. :-)</p>