The University of Southern California

Graduate degree is a must anymore. Although I was very successful w/ my undergraduate degree, I waited and wished I would have put in the time earlier. It is hard to go back!

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

Many here have bashed USC and also praised it. What I hope to do with my commentary is provide an unbiased view of what really is happening at USC. First off, I'd like to comment that USC Career is exceptional, especially if you come from the Business School (excluding the soft bus. majors) and certain majors. That said, the school is great if you wish to learn in an applicable environment, meaning that the faculty and the school's focus is primarily in teaching you applications of the theorys in today's market. A caveat, however, is that I'm speaking from a B-School perspective. While learning applications is great and all, I was hoping for a more intellectual environment fostered by the professors. All they teach you, and what they probably pride themselves on, is the mastery of rote memorization. If you're an individual that needs to be spoon-fed on how a theory works inside-out and how one can bend a rule to his/her own will, this definitely is not the school for you. There are no budding John Nashs or future Nobel prize winners at this school. That's not to say that everything here is negative. You are guaranteed to at least get a guaranteed job that pays 35k a year.

Earlier, I mentioned something about the intellectual environment. I can't speak for other schools, but the B-School is keen in attracting the dumbest of the dumb. I don't know about Frat people in general, but the ones I know are dumb as nails and, given the curve, I wish to hell that I have each and everyone of them in my classes as they help lower it to a more managable level. In addition, many people seem to have their minds stuck on social ventures as many have pointed out here. But to each his own, I say. I, too, go out every now and then and wish to hell that I can ditch my next class. Heck, I'm a guy that ditches many of my classes because of the lack of intellectual learning. If I wanted to plug and chug, I can just wait till the midterm. But again, to each his own. Many people actually go to class to learn applications when one simply has to read the book...

The social environment here is not too bad. But as one person mentioned earlier, the frat people seem stuck up. That's not to say all of them are stuck up, just the ones associated with certain groups. I have personally met with many wonderful fraternity and sorority people that are actually down to earth and have likewise met many undesirable personalities within the Greek system. It wholly depends on the timing and person of who you're meeting.

As far as safety, you have to be street-smart. Meaning, don't walk home at 2 a.m. in the morning through a dark alley. Seriously, some of these out of staters are dumb as hell when it comes to basic safety issues. Heck, they probably wouldn't find their way out of a one-lane maze if their life depended on it... But that's another story.

The weather is good, but can be a bit erratic at times. One day it's raining and the next it's sunny all over again.

Overall, I like USC, but I don't like it to the point that I would go through my experience all over again. I would very much have liked to go my first choice school, but that discussion is for another time and place. I think USC did its part in that its provided me with many employment opportunities. Socially, I think it could be better, but I'm not one to whore myself to others, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. A disclaimer should be made about employment: If you want top jobs, you have to be at least in the top 15% of your class. If you want decent jobs top 25%-33%. A crap-ass job? Anything below that. No firm digs deep into the school, except the Big Four into accounting. But that school has only about 200 students at any one time, and only about 150 graduating per year. 150 out 15000 from one employer that digs deep. You do the math.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2006

Education Quality: A+, Extracurricular Activities: C