<p>Okay, I’ll reprint USC thoughts to momonthehill here and hope they aren’t too long.</p>
<p>My H has been on the faculty of the math department since 1986. He has interactions with the science and engineering departments as well, so if your D is thinking along these lines and has some specific questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Let’s see, you asked me to cover academics, student life, the neighborhood.</p>
<p>USC has indeed grown in academic stature during the time my H has been there. It used to be called the University of Spoiled Children. Now some in academia call it the University of Stolen Colleagues since a huge amount of money was set aside five years ago for the Senior Faculty Hiring Initiative.</p>
<p>USC is still more known for it’s prowess in the speciality colleges … film, communications, engineering, business … than it is for the College of Arts & Science. Nonetheless, A & S gets its share of full tuition ride Presidential Scholars (typically NMF.) It has perhaps better merit aid than some comparable privates. Like others, it’s endowment was hit but they have chosen, thus far, to make cuts by freezing non-faculty hires and not in the ground construction projects. Fortunately, this doesn’t affect the news student union building, which is supposed to open Fall of '10.</p>
<p>Let’s see, now on to students. USC carries the image of the blonde, thin, rick kid and yes, it has some of these. However, it also ranks in the top three consistently for percentage of international students, which provides a nice match to the cosmopolitan city of Los Angeles that it’s located in. It’s not as conservative politically as it used to be, although there are plenty of Orange County kids who like to enroll here. School spirit is fairly high, especially on football days but one doesn’t have to partake it in. There is a Greek presence, but it’s not overwhleming. There is plenty of socialization from other avenues like participatory sports of all kinds (taking advantage of the fine weather, which is probably second to none … imagine shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops in March.)</p>
<p>The housing is a mix of old and fairly new. Plans are in the works for more housing so they can guarantee for a fourth year. For awhile, USC rented out several floors of the Radisson Hotel just across the eastern border of campus, so students there (for a price, of course) could have valet service for laundry, etc.</p>
<p>The neighborhood is the worst sore thumb and image buster for USC. My sister in law attended both Columbia and Yale and said the area around USC, to her, didn’t see worse that the areas around those campuses. It is urban. To call it ghetto is stretching things out of proportion. I don’t think student should be walking outside of any campus alone at 2 am. Crime incidents are more frequent off campus than on. USC takes safety issues very seriously and has beefed up enforcement. More importantly, the USC community works hard with the neighboring area to uplift the community. They invite sweat equity from the students and monetary contributions from faculty and staff, and do well at it. Pete Carroll, the renowed football coach, makes regular visits to the community and its not to recruit players.</p>
<p>I guess that gives you enough to start with, yes?</p>
, I’ll chime in on USC…</p>