The University of Southern California

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Education (This Major's Salary over time)
I have been a student of the MAT program for the past year. Along with other reviews I have read, I am disappointed with the quality of the curriculum. I feel there is a great deal more to learn as a pre-service teacher instead of endless theory, reflection techniques and cultural/high needs differences. I understand that USC's mission is social justice, but to spread this mission across four terms (utilizing the same texts, authors and articles, mostly from the 70s and immediately post NCLB), seems excessive. I would like to learn more about teacher advocacy, advancements in writing across the curriculum, and actually student teaching without being bogged down by a multitude of assignments. Given the chance, I would transfer to another school, however, I have invested far too much at this juncture. On a positive note, the professors I've had are very passionate about their work, and, for the most part, very accessible. They really want you to succeed, and believe in the coursework. The "academic advisers" are recent college graduates who are ill equipped to answer any questions or give actual, constructive advice. In short, a future student of the MAT program will be given little choice or say in what classes to take, will give armed with at least five advisers from placement to career to technical, and will be programmed to the USC vision of what good teaching looks like. It's a business and USC is in competition with other Education programs to get their teachers hired. The MAT school does hold a 90% hire rate.