In 2018, USC had an 11 percent acceptance rate. Let that sink in. A non-Ivy League university has numbers so low, people are literally committing felonies to get their kids in. Scandalous! But how did the SoCal school end up with an acceptance rate circling the single digits?

A Brief History

Founded in 1880, USC is known for its schools of business and film, but it is also more subtly regarded for offering students a unique blend of great academics and a robust social life. It’s not just a school for aspiring entrepreneurs who like football or a university with a strong philosophy program who play Quidditch. It’s actually the total package. USC has Trojan football and Greek life, but it also boasts a renowned film school and top-ranking business programs. Sure, it doesn’t hurt that they have a $7 billion endowment and a sick marketing campaign. But, in spite of its resources with which it could manufacture its own hype, the school appears to come by its critical appeal honestly.

Location, Location, Location

USC’s ascendency coincidences with a resurgence of its neighborhood. Los Angeles’ historic Downtown Arts and Education Corridor is in the midst of a revival, with regularly occurring farmers markets, art pop-ups, open mic nights and other events. Whether you call it gentrification or revitalization, there’s no arguing that it’s a cool place for young people to call home.

Downtown LA may have recently become cool in the eyes of its college students, but SoCal has always been cool. The warm temperatures are palatable to just about anyone, including northeasterners who would otherwise be competitive at Ivy League schools but are itching to get out of the tundra and into the sun. After all, the campus is just 20 minutes from Santa Monica and about an hour away from some of the best surfing in the country…without traffic, that is.

Yale’s sprawling lawns are idyllic, and NYU’s backyard is the incomparable Greenwich Village, but USC is one of the rare schools with a true campus inside a major city (and a cool one at that). Much like Tulane or Georgetown, students at USC don’t have to choose between a community vibe and cultural immersion into a major city. It doesn’t hurt that this major city also offers vast employment an internship opportunities, as well as nightlife, and the regular red carpet film premier.

Academics

USC alumni include nine Nobel laureates and more Academy Award winners than any other university in the world. Steven Spielberg did not go to USC (he was famously rejected from the school three times), but he has donated millions to the film school. Simply put, (and forgive us for the cliché) the kids hit the waves and the books with equal fervor. The Marshall School of Business is renowned. The Thornton School of Music is renowned. The School of Cinematic Arts isn’t just renowned, it graduated the likes of George Lucas and Shonda Rhimes. For a non-Ivy League school, the academics are top-notch.

Nested in one of the most creative cities in the world, innovation is abundant as departments across the board boast state of the art facilities. The relatively new Interactive Media & Games Division allows students access to labs with Oculus capability, VFX technology, and other things we don’t understand.

Social Scene

USC is also a big school (20,000 undergraduates), with a very wide selection of majors. At the same time, it has a pretty desirable student-teacher ratio (9:1). In essence, it’s a private school with a public appeal, that can also very much be liberal arts/arts school when it wants to be. The unique blend of traits isn’t exclusive to USC’s academics.

The school is about 20 percent Greek and offers incredible football, but it’s also a cinephile’s dream. It’s not quite like Indiana, for whom Greek life and football are the social appeal. You could spend your entire time at USC without ever visiting the LA Memorial Coliseum (though we do recommend at least stopping by) and remain incredibly busy spending your Sundays as an extra in movies, learning to windsurf, attending lecture series’, seeing concerts, or hiking. There’s truly something for everyone.

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