USC’s old handle: “The University of Spoiled Children.” USC’s new handle: highly selective West Coast university with preeminent programs in cinematic arts and business. The region’s only major private university that just happens to have a top football team, USC has been shaken by a series of well-publicized corruption scandals. L.A.’s answer to SMU on the one hand and NYU on the other.

Once dismissed as little more than an academic bastion of privilege, the University of Southern California has come into its own as a West Coast destination for students seeking the advantages of study in a center for the arts, technology, communication, and international trade. The school’s lush campus and prime Los Angeles location has led to a flood of applicants, making it continually tougher to win admission. Students cheer on national championship teams and give high marks to the Trojan alumni network as well. Often accused of being elitist, USC, founded in 1880, continues to populate the next generation of Los Angeles business leaders.

USC’s University Park campus has an unmistakably upscale vibe and offers a mix of traditional ivy-covered and modern structures, arranged around fountains and reflecting pools, well shaded from the Southern California sun. Sitting on 226 parklike acres, just minutes from downtown Los Angeles, USC is a veritable urban oasis. The university recently completed the $700 million, 2,700-bed USC Village, a student housing project as well as a neighborhood revitalization effort that includes eight residential colleges, a Gothic-style dining hall, and two dozen retail stores.

USC’s Core Curriculum, aimed at sharpening critical thinking and communication skills, requires nine courses: six general education, two intensive writing, and one diversity. Students with high GPAs and test scores may choose the Thematic Option-a.k.a. the “Traumatic Option”-in place of regular general education courses. The 200 or so who do get smaller classes with some of the university’s best teachers and a handpicked group of writing instructors. Freshmen may also join one of the school’s Learning Communities, groups of 20 students with common academic interests, such as business, medicine, technology, or languages. Each community takes four common courses during the first year and meets with a dedicated faculty mentor and staff advisor three to six times a semester.

USC offers undergraduates the chance to pursue degrees not only in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, but also at any of its 20 professional schools and schools of the arts-an advantage that students appreciate. “The flexibility to take classes from different professional schools really highlights the emphasis here on interdisciplinary studies,” says a cinema and media studies major. In fact, USC strongly encourages students to pursue double majors or a combination of majors and minors in unrelated academic fields, which means business majors may minor in bioethics or Russian and art history majors may study the music industry or business too. Majors in business, social sciences, visual and performing arts, engineering, and communication are strong and enroll the most students. The cinematic arts, film, and television production major is first-rate, and architecture is highly regarded. The progressive degree program allows students to apply to a master’s-level program during their junior year; depending on the field, one can earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in as little as 10 semesters.

The academic climate is challenging, and students report that while there is some “friendly competition,” their classmates are mostly supportive of each other. Sixty-one percent of undergraduate classes enroll fewer than 20 students, but the quality of teaching varies, especially in some introductory courses for freshmen, which can be huge. Advising and career services get mixed reviews. An English major says, “My biggest support system at USC has been my professors, and they are normally my first line of defense when I need advice.” The Discovery Scholars program honors original research and creativity among undergraduates, and the Global Scholars program singles out students who excel both at home and abroad. USC offers more than 50 semester- and yearlong study abroad programs in nearly 30 countries, in addition to several short-term options offered during summer and winter breaks and the May term.

USC students are perhaps best characterized by a sense of “ambitious drive,” says one senior. Most pride themselves on their ability to maintain decent grades along with an active social life. About half of USC undergrads come from within the state, and 13 percent come from foreign countries. This left-leaning campus is racially diverse, with African Americans making up 5 percent of the student body, Hispanics 15 percent, Asian Americans 21 percent, and multiracial students 6 percent. Hundreds of merit scholarships, averaging $19,100, are awarded each year, as are more than 380 athletic awards. USC also meets 100 percent of students’ demonstrated financial need and is need-blind in its admissions. Undergraduates from families with annual incomes of $80,000 or less qualify for free tuition.

Thirty percent of USC undergrads live on campus. All freshmen are housed in residential colleges, which are led by faculty masters in residence and serve as a hub for social life. Since swimming pools, tennis courts, carpeting, microwaves, refrigerators, and air-conditioning are just some of the luxuries to be found in USC dorms, not to mention the new USC Village, it’s no wonder more upperclassmen would like to stay on campus. But because there isn’t enough space for everyone, students typically move after their first year to fraternity and sorority houses or apartments, which are just a short walk away. Dining halls offer plenty of options, including an international buffet in the Parkside complex. Some nearby areas are rather rough, but thanks to USC’s police department, which regularly patrols the campus and surrounding neighborhood, most students say they’ve never felt unsafe. “USC has made sure that, with regard to sexual assault, all students know where to seek help and access tools to deal with this issue,” notes a senior.

The on-campus social scene revolves around activities organized by student clubs, fraternity parties on “The Row,” sporting events, the annual Springfest concert, and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in the spring. Twenty-six percent of the men and 27 percent of the women go Greek. As a junior points out, “The entire Los Angeles area is full of fun things to do if you’re willing to hop on a train or take an Uber.” Though L.A. is hardly a college town in any traditional sense, it does offer an endless variety of bars, clubs, shopping, and cultural experiences. Whether you’re looking for an internship at a law firm or a movie studio, you want to learn to surf, or you’re eager to check out a new band before they get signed to a major label, L.A. delivers. Famous Venice Beach is just a few miles from USC’s campus, and in the winter months, students can reach the San Gabriel Mountains (and its ski resorts) in less than an hour (by car, not by skis). USC students are also active in the community, tutoring in 10 local schools through the Joint Educational Project.

Trojan athletics, which compete in the Division I Pac-12 Conference, have won 130 team national championships in more than a dozen men’s and women’s sports. The football team won the Rose Bowl in 2017, and men’s and women’s water polo, women’s track and field, and women’s beach volleyball are recent national champions. Two of USC’s biggest schoolwide traditions center on the ol’ pigskin. The first is Troy Week-the week leading up to the UCLA game-which culminates with the Conquest pep rally and concert in the middle of campus. Then there’s the Weekender, when USC students take off en masse for northern California to see their beloved Trojans face off against Stanford or Berkeley. Throngs of USC undergrads, alumni, and fans gather in San Francisco’s Union Square for a huge pep rally, featuring the band, cheerleaders, and university personalities.

USC is a university on the move, though its progress has recently been marred by scandals involving athletics, admissions, and sexual abuse. “We are drawing an academically competitive and involved student body,” says a geography and communication major. Pack your sunscreen, flip-flops, and some assertiveness, and you’ll fit right in. Shrinking violets, on the other hand, should probably look elsewhere.

-Fiske Guide