<p>In a thread on another board entitled “What do you hate about XXX”, someone answered</p>
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<p>Yes, it is another school where Division I football is very successful and very prominent part of school life. Current students - can a similar concern be raised about USC? It would be helpful if you provide specific examples in support of your opinion. I understand very well that all types of students exist in every school, at least at the margin. I am more interested in the median here.</p>
<p>It was posted on the SC website that recruited athletes were 1.2% of accepted students. That is a small percentage of the student body. </p>
<p>In an article in the alumni magazine it stated about 25% of the Trojan Marching Band consisted of engineering majors.</p>
<p>The students at SC are diverse. There are about 600 student organizations which reflect the many interests of individuals on campus. It is nearly impossible to generalize. </p>
<p>According to the Institute of International Education SC has the highest number of international students of any university in the U.S. It hosts students from 108 countries.</p>
<p>Look at the TommyCam on the SC website during the lunch hour (PT) and watch the students walk by. </p>
<p>The School of Cinematic Arts, Music School and School of Communications draw some incredibly talented students to the campus.</p>
<p>there are about 16,000 undergrads from every possible group, if you want to find a group it is out there. and people don’t just fall into groups, im gonna be an EE major there and am by all accounts a nerd but i am also a giant football fan and am going to every homegame and probably a few away games.</p>
<p>i was worried about this too. someone at my old school transferred after a semester because they hated all the snobby kids.</p>
<p>Very good question, I was wondering about that, too. I mean, I’m certainly a nerd :D</p>
<p>Just no emos please. :p</p>
<p>I think your concern stems largely from USC’s former rep as being the “University of Spoiled Children” and all you need to be admitted is money, athleticism, or alumni parents. Although almost everyone (those darn Bruins/ Cal bears continue to shake their keys at us every football game!) acknowledges that the image is completely baseless now, I think the label has kind of stuck. USC is known for being ethnicially and geographically diverse, so I think you’ll find that it is “socially” diverse as well.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, it is undeniable that sports are fairly important to USC students. I think a lot of self-proclaimed nerds attend the university not really knowing how cool university sports events really are, and then find themselves getting really into it. A friend of mine who is a musical theatre major initially wasn’t too thrilled with going to SC (she really wanted to study theatre at UCLA) and didn’t plan on getting involved with Greek life, sports,etc. Now, she attends every football game and basketball game she can! At USC, sporting events are much more than just entertainment. They bring all the musicians/nerds/idealists/poets/rebels/preps/athletes together in support of their school! It’s the beauty of the Trojan family!</p>
<p>Take my words with a grain of salt- I’m not actually a student yet (I’m going there next year!) and this is just what I’ve gleaned from the games I’ve gone to with my family. I’ve gone over to the student section and checked it out with my cousin who was a student there, and I was so pumped by everyone’s enthusiasm! Can’t wait!</p>
<p>My son and I are fresh off our first visit to USC, and I can report that I was very impressed by the diversity of people - at least to the extent that you can judge by appearance, since we didn’t personally meet everyone we gawked at. I was prepared to see a campus where the beautiful people predominated. I was happy to see that this was not so. Granted, there was the guy that rode by on a bike with a maroon sweater draped oh-so-casually around his neck (think Ralph Lauren ad) and there was surely an overabundence of Tory Burch flats and Coach handbags, but there were lots of kids who were more average looking, or nerdy looking, or alternative looking (many more of these in the film school end of campus, FWIW). My sense is that USC is evolving rapidly beyond its stereotype, and that many of the students are nerds, poets or rebels.</p>
<p>Look at the lineup for the Spring concert tomorrow: The Aquabats! if there are enough aquabats fans at sc for the school to get them to play (which i’m sad to be missing) i’m sure you’ll find your niche :D</p>
<p>this is also a concern of mine. And my question is, I know there’s supposed to be lot of diversity, but the feeling I get from comments by others is that although it may be diverse, the predominant atmosphere felt is more dominated by the upper class/wealthy/snobbish type of people. (Not to say all rich people are snobs). Am I right/wrong?</p>
<p>this makes me think of BRATZ the movie…</p>
<p>Over 60% of students receive financial aid. There are wealthy students at SC, just as at any fine private university where tuition is high. </p>
<p>Perhaps a current student could give you a more definitive answer to this question.</p>
<p>My son, and his then girlfriend started, with funds from the student government for educational speakers, a week of protest against the war. He also belonged to a student comedy troop that he and his friends created again with some support from the student government.</p>
<p>There is a place for everyone at USC.</p>
<p>haha, i can tell you i’m not loaded and i’m going to USC</p>
<p>why do people assume that rich=snobby?? =(</p>
<p>^^ they watch too much of the OC</p>
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<p>I saw more upper middle class students that came from good school districts, ie high SAT, not so high GPA from the Explore USC day. But they are by no mean rich. But it depends on your definition of rich($100 million?)</p>
<p>As someone else said, 60% of people are on fin aid, I’m not sure if that includes scholarships, grad students, etc. Regardless, USC is definitely no place for the rich and snobby. For example:</p>
<p>My efc was around 14k. </p>
<p>My fin aid package was a 38k Grant, 4k in loans and 2.5k in work study, making my contribution 6k, and 10k without loans.</p>
<p>Another girl had a similar efc, although I believe slightly higher and received a similar package.</p>
<p>I think that the school is really diversifying itself in terms of socioeconomic terms.</p>
<p>^ are you talking about me :)?</p>
<p>In my post above I typed a statistic incorrectly. It should have read 1.5% of the admitted students are recruited athletes. I should have added that includes male and female athletes.</p>