8 Reasons Why I Should Have Chosen USC

Three years ago, I wrote a blog about the 8 reasons why I chose USC as a high-school senior:

1. Spirit
2. Size
3. Art
4. Research
5. Study Abroad
6. People
7. Flexibility
8. Los Angeles

The whole blog post can be read here.

Now as a senior just weeks away from graduation who has been doing some ~reflecting~ lately, I want to share the eight reasons why I should have chosen USC. Of course, I went to USC, so these aren’t reasons why I wish I chose USC. Rather, these are the reasons that as a senior who has almost completed my degree, I think make USC standout. In essence, these are the reasons I think you should choose USC:

1. Career Resources: USC (and Viterbi in particular) have excellent resources to get students employed from multiple career fairs a year to the Viterbi Career Connections Office, which has career advising and resume reviews among many other services. Viterbi also has events various companies host on campus (or virtually!) year-round. I initially connected with Microsoft, where I will be working full-time after graduation, at one of these events.
3. Attention to Students: Viterbi has a number of resources and support dedicated to each student, which is important because engineering is challenging. Personally, even when I have struggled academically, I have never felt as though I was slipping through the cracks. This is because my classes were small, so I could form study groups and connect with my professor easily, academic resources (such as supplemental instruction) were available, and generally I always felt very seen as a student, meaning professors and advisors knew me personally.
4. Los Angeles: It has been such a privilege to live in Los Angeles the past four years. I can’t imagine a better place to grow into an adult—there is so much to do, so many people, and so many things to learn here.
5. The People at Viterbi: I have made the best friends through my engineering classes at Viterbi.
6. Design Teams: Viterbi has a great “design-team culture,” meaning there are many student-run groups, such as Rocket Propulsion Lab, that develop their own projects. These teams provide valuable hands-on experience and a foster a vibrant community at Viterbi.
7. Undergraduate Research: Undergraduate research is widely accessible at USC Viterbi, which again provides a great opportunity for hands-on work.
8. Weather: As a high school senior picking a college, I thought weather didn’t matter, but I have since learned that year-round 70 & sunny is pretty nice.
9. Flexibility… being able to do what YOU want: There are so many opportunities at USC Viterbi to choose from, so you can craft your own experience. It’s simple to change majors (up to a certain point) and in my experience, easy to register for courses across disciplines and across academic schools at USC (this semester I am taking classes in Viterbi, SCA, Roski, and the School of Architecture).

You will notice that many of my updated 8 reasons are a more specific version of what I shared in my original post. Spirit, size, art, research, study abroad, people, flexibility, and LA are still excellent reasons to choose USC. My updated list simply reflects the items that impacted me the most over my four years!