University of Southern California
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Business Administration
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in Long Beach, CA with a graduating class of about 900 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Business Administration
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a fraternity.
What impact did Greek life have on your experience?
The time commitment makes classes a lot harder, but it’s introduced me to way more people than I would’ve met without it.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
There are lots of weekly homework assignments and the occasional short essay. Some classes have three midterms and some only have one.
Is there anything you feel the business school does especially well or poorly?
I think it prepares you especially well for real-world issues. In my statistics class, a lot of the work is on Excel and they teach you how to use it in a business field. They know I’m not going to be a statistician, but they know I’ll need to use statistics in the future so they teach me how to apply it. Also, my economics professor comes into class every day with a news topic to discuss, so it keeps us in touch with real-world events. Something they don’t do so well is they could filter through some of the faculty. They have some really good faculty, but the rest of them aren’t very good for various reasons. One of my teachers isn’t good at speaking English, which makes it hard to learn the subject. He’s also brand new and I can tell he hasn’t had that much experience teaching.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s definitely competitive, and can also be collaborative depending on what type of class it is. For example, some classes are very group-project based, and some aren’t. You’re competing against everybody for an A or a B in the class because everything is graded on a curve in the business school.
How accessible are your professors?
Very accessible. They encourage us to go to office hours, and they’re all good with their email.
What has been your favorite part of studying in the business school so far?
One of the coolest things is I’m surrounded by smart students. I can have an intelligent conversation with everyone I talk to. Most people I talk to are smarter than I am. In addition to that, I know what I’m learning is going to make a difference for me down the road. I know the things I’m learning will apply to real-life situations even though it may seem mundane right now.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Yes, I’m happy with my choice. I wanted to choose a major that was most applicable to any job I wanted to go into out of college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I still don’t, but [Business Administration] will be applicable anywhere I want to go.
How was transitioning through the Trojan Transfer Plan academically?
USC is way harder. I went to community college for my freshman fall semester, and during my freshman Spring I went abroad to Switzerland. Between junior year of high school and freshman year, I accumulated 64 units, so I transferred into USC as a junior even though it is my second year of college.
Reasons to Attend
1) Your degree is very well-renowned, especially in the L.A area or in Southern California.
2) The social life doesn’t get much better. There are nice people from nice areas and backgrounds. Everybody is happy.
3) You’re in one of the best climates in the world.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you’re looking for a place that’s spotless clean all the time and there’s never trash, this might not be for you.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Junior: Troy Hall with four roommates. I entered USC as a junior through the Trojan Transfer Plan and did my freshman year at community college.
How was transitioning from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles in terms of location?
It’s not that much different since it’s still Southern California. The transition was big because I don’t have a car anymore so going home for the weekend is an Uber instead of driving myself. I lived abroad for four months, so moving to Los Angeles was no big deal.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
South Central Los Angeles is known as not being a very safe place, but there’s a specific team of law enforcement assigned to USC and they do a very good job covering the entire campus. They have a lot of surveillance and anywhere you go you see a police car. I feel very safe here.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at USC?
On the weekends I spend a lot of time sleeping or going home. If I’m not doing that, I’ll probably go to an event or bars with the fraternity. All of my nightlife is with the fraternity.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Are there regular places you go or things you do on certain nights?
When you’re in Greek life, there are things that happen throughout the week. I have events on Wednesdays that are mixers with sororities. We’ll go out two out of the three days on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays.
How exclusive are the fraternity events?
Members get plus ones, and that’s about it for the guys because of space. It’s pretty exclusive unless you get invited by one of the guys in the house.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
There are [lots of professional sports teams]. There are also really good restaurants all around. If you want to spend a lot of money you can go to Beverly Hills or Hollywood, or if you don’t want to spend a lot of money you can go to get chicken and waffles or something.
How happy are you with the weekend options at USC? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I don’t think it can get any better than living in Los Angeles. The beach is thirty-minutes away. I couldn’t be any happier.
What have been your favorite times at USC so far?
There was a lot of excitement around move-in time seeing my friends after being abroad. It was the beginning of [Greek life] rush. The football games are also a lot of fun. I like any opportunities to travel on the weekend. A few friends and I went up to the San Francisco area around the coast.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met a couple of them abroad through The Trojan Transfer Program. We all transferred to USC together. The rest of them I met through the fraternity. I also have one or two friends here that I grew up with from home.
How was transitioning socially as a transfer?
I didn’t have a problem and I don’t know anybody that had a problem. I think it was pretty simple.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There are people of different ethnicities and sexual orientations in my fraternity. There are even students from England and there are a lot of Middle Eastern students. There are no restrictions on that and outside the fraternity it’s probably even more diverse. [The undergraduate population is about 21% Asian, 39% White, 15% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 13% international.]
How do you like the size of USC in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [USC has about 20,000 undergraduate students.]
I’ve always gone to big schools, so I like it. I wanted to go to a bigger school. When I went abroad it was a smaller school and socially that can get a little weird. There will be something that happens between you and someone else and you’ll still see the same person every day.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I mix more with people not in Greek life than others. It depends on your situation and if you have friends at school not in Greek life. [There are 5 Greek councils with 53 organizations.]