The University of Southern California isn’t just a fancy private research school; it’s also closely tied to the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Being near Hollywood means USC’s campus has been used in lots of movies, like the popular Legally Blonde, even though it was supposed to be Harvard Law School.
USC graduates have won more Academy and Emmy Awards than any other school. This isn’t surprising considering USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, which was the first and is widely considered the best film school in the U.S. USC also has the most alumni who’ve won Olympic medals and a bunch of famous people who went there.
With a $7.6 billion fund, USC has drawn in respected teachers, including Nobel Prize winners George Olah and Arieh Warshel. Notable alumni like astronaut Neil Armstrong and Star Wars creator George Lucas have graduated from USC. Pop singer Olivia Rodrigo is currently studying part-time at USC’s Thornton School of Music. She says a poetry class she took at USC in 2022 helped her write songs for her latest album, Guts.
USC has 22 schools and departments, offering 80 different majors for undergraduates. Even though it has many departments, all students have to take certain courses in subjects like arts, humanities, social studies, life sciences, physical sciences, maths, diversity, and writing. There are about 20,800 undergraduate students and 28,500 graduate students at USC.
USC is California’s oldest private research school, starting in 1880. Judge Robert M. Widney collected donations from famous people in Los Angeles to start building the new school. At first, it was connected with the Methodist Church, but it stopped being religious in 1952.
In 1984, the school had many activities during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and gave places for athletes to stay. Around that time, Paul Mockapetris, who worked at USC’s Information Sciences Institute, made the Domain Name System that we use on the internet today.
In the twenty-first century, USC has become a hub of research and innovation. It houses various centres and institutes such as the Pacific Council of International Policy, the Integrated Media Systems Center, the Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems, and the Southern California Earthquake Center.
Notable schools like the film school, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the Sol Price School of Public Policy, and graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy enjoy national recognition.
The campus is lively with research opportunities, clubs, and events. USC’s sports program is known for its rivalries with Notre Dame and UCLA. Its marching band, The Spirit of Troy, has made appearances on a Fleetwood Mac album, performed at two Olympic Games, and even shared the stage with Beyonce at the 2009 Academy Awards.
The student-run newspaper, The Daily Trojan, scored a historical first by interviewing President Nixon upon his resignation. Fraternities and sororities are popular on campus, including some of the first cultural affinity Greek life organisations in California.
Perhaps due to the allure of Hollywood or the recent attention on admission scandals, USC saw a record-low acceptance rate of 9.9% for the Class of 2027, from a staggering 80,790 applications. USC’s Undergraduate Admissions Office emphasises a “holistic” approach, aiming to understand the person behind each application.
