University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Founded in 1880, USC is an academic institution in which research and teaching are strongly intertwined and faculty are active knowledge creators

Located in downtown Los Angeles, the University of Southern California (USC) is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s major private teaching and research universities. The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China ranks USC 47th in its ranking of the world’s top 250 universities. The U.S. News & World Report ranks USC 27th among all universities in the US in its 2008 ranking of ‘America’s Best Colleges’, and also lists it among the ‘most selective universities’ for admitting only 21 percent of the 35,809 students who applied for freshman admission in 2008. Moreover USC enrolls 5,800 international students from 110 countries around the world — more than any other US university.

Founded in 1880 with an enrollment of 53 students and ten teachers, currently USC offers a wide range of undergrad, graduate and doctoral academic programmes to its 33,500 students tutored by a faculty of 3,200. “With a strong tradition of integrating liberal and professional education, USC fosters a vibrant culture of public service and encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge,” says a USC spokesperson.

Spread across two campuses in downtown LA, USC is particularly reputed for its research orientation. It ranks among the top ten private universities receiving federal funds for research and development support and 17th among all research universities in the United States. USC is one of few premier academic institutions in which research and teaching are strongly intertwined, and faculty are active knowledge creators.

Los Angeles. Home to Hollywood, Los Angeles is one of the world’s largest metropolises (pop. 13.1 million) offering an extraordinary range of cultural and entertainment options. Directly across the street from USC’s University Park campus are the Natural History Museum, the California Science Center, the California African American Museum of History and Culture, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
A short drive from USC are night clubs featuring everything from hip-hop to salsa, small theatres, trendy boutiques and restaurants serving cuisines from around the world. Other prime cultural attractions in Los Angeles and neighbouring habitations include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Getty Center; The Getty Villa; the Norton Simon Museum of Art; and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Garden.

Mountains, deserts and beaches are all within an hour’s drive from USC. LA enjoys year-round balmy weather with average temperatures ranging from 14º C in winter to 24º C in summer.

Campus facilities. The 226-acre University Park campus hosts the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School, and 15 of the university’s 17 professional schools. Sited three miles south of downtown Los Angeles, immediately north of the museums and recreational facilities of the historic Exposition Park, the university campus offers a lush, park-like environment within a bustling urban setting.
The Bovard Administration Building, perhaps the most striking of the campus’ Italian Romanesque-style buildings, houses an auditorium that is one of the oldest and busiest performing arts venues in southern California. Additionally, USC’s Fisher Gallery, the first museum established in Los Angeles devoted exclusively to fine art, holds exhibitions ranging from antiquities to works by old masters to contemporary pieces by local, national and international artists.

USC’s Health Sciences campus, north-east of downtown LA, is home to the Keck School of Medicine, the School of Pharmacy, three major teaching hospitals, and provides occupational science and occupational therapy, biokinesiology and physical therapy study programmes. USC also has study centres in Marina Del Rey, Orange County, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Catalina Island, and Alhambra. The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, staffed by USC faculty from the Keck School of Medicine, is often referred to as USC’s third campus.

With a network of 21 libraries across its two campuses offering access to more than 3.5 million printed volumes, thousands of journal subscriptions and electronic material, the USC libraries are among the oldest private academic research libraries in California.
Sports and fitness facilities include the Lyon Center, intramurals, clubs, community outreach, and spirit squads. Other on-campus services include bookshops, cafes, restaurants, a pharmacy and more than 600 student-run cultural and social organisations.

Admission. Reputed for its highly selective admission process, last year USC received 33,760 admission applications from students around the world. Of them it admitted 8,553. The minimum eligibility criterion for admission into USC’s undergraduate programmes is completion of Plus Two. Moreover international students must submit SAT/ACT and TOEFL scores.  The completed application form must be mailed to the university’s admission office before January 10 together with secondary school academic transcripts, recommendation letters from teachers/counsellors, personal statement of purpose, SAT and TOEFL scores and an admission fee of $10.

For further information contact the USC Office of Admission, File No. 51158, Los Angeles, California 90074-1158. Tel: 001 (213) 740-1111; Fax: 001 (213) 821-0200; e-mail: admitusc@usc.edu; website: www.usc.edu.

Accommodation. USC Housing operates more than 40 facilities including houses, residential colleges, residence halls and apartments offering students a variety of options. University housing is furnished and offers access to a variety of community activities. For instance USC’s five residential colleges offer programmes that strive to integrate a stimulating social setting, cultural activities and academic excellence into a residential experience. In the varsity’s halls of residence students live together with faculty; each building has a faculty master and sometimes several additional live-in faculty members. These individuals are an important constituent of academic and social life, hosting dinners and lectures, leading excursions into Los Angeles’ rich cultural landscape and participating in student activities. In addition, students can choose to live in special interest communities and floors.

Degree programmes. USC’s academic departments are grouped under the general liberal arts and sciences of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences for undergraduates, or The Graduate School or the university’s 17 professional schools (see box).

Summiya Yasmeen