University Of Southern California

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large city.

Overview

The University of Southern California was established in 1880. It is the oldest private research university in California. USC covers more than 300 acres of land in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The nickname of the university is the Trojans.

The University of Southern California is organized into numerous academic divisions:

• Annenberg School for Communication
• Davis School of Gerontology
• Gould School of Law
• Keck School of Medicine
• Leventhal School of Accounting
• Marshall School of Business
• Roski School of Fine Arts
• Rossier School of Education
• School of Architecture
• School of Cinematic Arts
• School of Dentistry
• School of Pharmacy
• School of Policy, Planning, and Development
• School of Social Work
• School of Theatre
• The College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
• The Graduate School
• Thornton School of Music
• Viterbi School of Engineering

USC has more than 20 fraternities in the Interfraternity Council and over 20 sororities in the Panhellenic Council. The Greek community of the university has more than 2,000 members.

For additional information about the school, please read BrainTrack's exclusive interview with the Executive Director of USC's Career Planning and Placement Center.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in photography and commercial art, engineering, music, media, computer science and engineering, drama and performing arts, medicine, and architecture and planning.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Large number of students.
• High faculty salary.
• Selective admissions.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• High male/female ratio.
• Racially diverse student body.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There is a hospital on campus.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Southern Cal:

Click a column header to sort.

Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 33,747 in 2009-2010 (28,215 full-time equivalent).

About 47% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 53% of the class.

Undergrads are 48% of enrolled students, graduate students are 44%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 7%.

Students under 25 years old represent 64% of the student body. About 3% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 100% are full-time and 0% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Southern Cal provides on-campus housing for 6,700 of its 28,215 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 21 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Pacific-10 Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 213 male students received the aid (men were 59% of those receiving aid) and 150 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 41% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

Southern Cal offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (272 awarded)

• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
• City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning
• Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (0 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies
• Arts Management

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (2,099 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business Administration, Management and Operations
• Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
• Finance
• Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration
• Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
• Taxation

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (528 awarded)

• Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
• Computer Engineering
• Computer Science
• Computer Software Engineering
• Computer Software and Media Applications
• Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
• Computer and Information Sciences
• Computer and Information Systems Security
• Computer/Info Tech Services Administration & Management

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (12 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (165 awarded)

• Acting
• Directing and Theatrical Production
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
• Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
• Playwriting and Screenwriting
• Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (358 awarded)

• Bilingual and Multilingual Education
• College Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Community College Education
• Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Education
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Foreign Language Teacher Education
• Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
• Music Teacher Education
• Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
• Teacher Education/Profess Development, Subject Areas
• Teaching English as Second/Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor

ENGINEERING (1,514 awarded)

• Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
• Archeology
• Biomedical/Medical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Engineering
• Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Ocean Engineering
• Operations Research
• Petroleum Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• Transportation and Highway Engineering
• Water Resources Engineering

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (0 awarded)

• Occupational Safety and Health Technology/Technician

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (576 awarded)

• Public Administration
• Public Administration and Social Service Professions
• Public Policy Analysis
• Social Work

FINE ARTS (148 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine Arts and Art Studies
• Fine/Studio Arts

HOSPITALITY (24 awarded)

• Restaurant/Food Services Management

LAW (303 awarded)

• Comparative Law (LLM, MCL, JSD/SJD)
• Law (LLB, JD)
• Programs for Foreign Lawyers (LLM, MCL)

LIBERAL ARTS (1,156 awarded)

• African-American/Black Studies
• American Literature (United States)
• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Asian-American Studies
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Comparative Literature
• Creative Writing
• Demography and Population Studies
• East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• East Asian Studies
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• English Language and Literature/Letters
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• French Language and Literature
• Geography
• German Language and Literature
• Hispanic-American,Puerto Rican & Mexican-American/Chicano Studies
• Historic Preservation and Conservation
• History
• Humanities/Humanistic Studies
• International Relations and Affairs
• International/Global Studies
• Italian Language and Literature
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Linguistic/Comparative/Related Language Studies & Services
• Linguistics
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Russian Language and Literature
• Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Urban Studies/Affairs

MATHEMATICS (61 awarded)

• Applied Mathematics
• Computational Mathematics
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Mathematics
• Statistics
• Systems Science and Theory

MEDIA (630 awarded)

• Animation, Interactive Tech, Video Graphics and Special Effects
• Broadcast Journalism
• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
• Communication and Media Studies
• Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs
• Journalism
• Public Relations/Image Management

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (197 awarded)

• Health/Health Care Administration/Management
• Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management
• Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration
• Public Health Education and Promotion

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (83 awarded)

• Dental Hygiene/Hygienist
• Physician Assistant

MEDICINE (902 awarded)

• Advanced General Dentistry (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences
• Dentistry (DDS, DMD)
• Endodontics/Endodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Gerontology
• Medical Scientist (MS, PhD)
• Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (MS, PhD)
• Medicine (MD)
• Neuroscience
• Oral Biology and Oral Pathology (MS, PhD)
• Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Orthodontics/Orthodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Pediatric Dentistry/Pedodontics (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Periodontics/Periodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics (MS, PhD)
• Pharmacy (PharmD [USA], PharmD or BS/BPharm [Canada])
• Pharmacy Administration/Policy/Regulatory Affairs (MS, PhD)
• Prosthodontics/Prosthodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)

MUSIC (297 awarded)

• Conducting
• Jazz/Jazz Studies
• Music History, Literature, and Theory
• Music Management and Merchandising
• Music Pedagogy
• Music Performance
• Music Theory and Composition
• Music
• Musicology and Ethnomusicology
• Piano and Organ
• Violin, Viola, Guitar and Other Stringed Instruments
• Voice and Opera

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (15 awarded)

• Critical Care Nursing
• Family Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner
• Nurse Anesthetist
• Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery
• Nursing Administration (MSN, MS, PhD)
• Nursing
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (176 awarded)

• Kinesiology and Exercise Science
• Occupational Therapy/Therapist

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (389 awarded)

• Cinematography and Film/Video Production
• Drawing
• Film/Cinema Studies
• Film/Video and Photographic Arts

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (62 awarded)

• Ethics
• Jewish/Judaic Studies
• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (338 awarded)

• Astronomy
• Biochemistry
• Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology
• Biochemistry/Biophysics and Molecular Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences
• Biological and Physical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Biomathematics and Bioinformatics
• Biophysics
• Biostatistics
• Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Chemical Physics
• Chemistry
• Epidemiology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics
• Geology/Earth Science
• Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Molecular Pharmacology
• Molecular Toxicology
• Pathology/Experimental Pathology
• Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Physical Sciences
• Physics
• Physiology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (388 awarded)

• Counseling Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling
• Physical Therapy/Therapist
• Psychology