Upon arriving at USC, I had been involved in band and music for about eight years. I was part of my high school’s marching band, jazz orchestra, wind symphony, indoor percussion ensemble, and more. I LOVED making music and couldn’t imagine leaving my love for music behind despite being a Mechanical Engineering major.
Viterbi and Engineering+
I chose USC partly because of Viterbi’s emphasis on ‘Engineering+.’ Essentially, the premise of Engineering+ is you do “Engineering plus…” athletics, film, music, dance, business… basically anything that interests you!
Viterbi believes that the best engineers come from diverse backgrounds and interests. An interdisciplinary education gets you started on the right foot toward problem-solving in a world that doesn’t define its problems by a singular discipline. What you choose to do is totally up to you! Engineering+ can be explored through double majors, minors, clubs, and hundreds of fun classes.
Check out this page for more information on Engineering+!
Engineering+ and Me
During my first semester at USC, I immediately joined the Student Symphony Orchestra. SSO is USC’s only student-run orchestra and is the perfect group for non-Thornton majors to perform in a full orchestra. The Student Symphony Orchestra is super easy to get involved in and includes musicians from a variety of backgrounds. We practiced once a week on Sunday evenings and had an end-of-semester concert with really cool pieces. SSO also offers opportunities for chamber groups if you’re interested!
My experience in the orchestra was very interesting. The saxophone player to my left was a PHD engineering student, the featured violinist was a freshman biology major, and the director was a student! It was really amazing to see everyone come together over their shared love of music and put together a beautiful final product. My favorite part of SSO was definitely performing in Bovard at the end of each semester:
As mentioned before, Engineering+ influenced my decision to attend USC. I knew I wanted to pursue a minor in Musical Studies at the Thornton School of Music, so I spent my first semester working on audition material and meeting with the Thornton staff! After a couple of months, I was approved by the clarinet professor and Thornton to become a music student! I started my minor coursework in my second semester of freshman year.
As a minor, I could take ensemble courses exclusively for Thornton students! I enrolled in a chamber ensemble course where I worked in a trio with two Thornton majors. Working with a professor and talented musicians every week was an enjoyable opportunity. One of the primary requirements for the music minor is individual instruction or private lessons. I had the incredible opportunity to work under a previous LA Phil member, David Howard. Of my eight years of musical experience, I had never received such insightful feedback on my playing. These lessons were a great opportunity to get individual insight from a world-class musician!
The beauty of Viterbi and Engineering+ is that they want to see you engage in diverse endeavors. I’ve loved the music classes I’ve taken, but I’ve also loved my (non-required) Python course, my seminar in social analysis, and my clubs entirely unrelated to engineering. The choice is yours at Viterbi; whatever your diverse interests are, you’re free and encouraged to pursue them!
