USC is a state school, nothing more, nothing less (UCLA & Berkely too.) Though it might have lots of regional credibility, in the end it is still a state school.</p>
<p>Im not saying that any of this is either good or bad, however people in all 50 states view their local regional state schools as really awesome and above average places of academia… every one of these 100’s of schools is a special unique snowflake, just like all of the others.