University of Southern California
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Neuroscience – on the pre-med track
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: South Asian/Pakistani Heterosexual Female
Summary
I’m part of Synapse, which is the neuroscience club, Minority Association of Pre-Med Students (MAPS), and a couple of other clubs here and there.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: South Asian/Pakistani
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in Los Angeles County, CA with a graduating class of about 1,000 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Neuroscience – on the pre-med track
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: Since I just got here, I’ve joined a bunch of clubs but just as a member. I’m part of Synapse, which is the neuroscience club, Minority Association of Pre-Med Students (MAPS), and a couple of other clubs here and there. I’m not a huge part of the social life here yet. I thought I’d take a semester to get used to the workload and then next semester I think I’m going to rush a sorority.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience so far?
Not really, just because I’m pretty lowkey about my extracurriculars. I just go to weekly club meetings and things like that.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
Right now, my course load is a little different from what would be usual for my major because they don’t recommend you to take more than two STEM classes per semester but I’m in four right now, so my workload is a little bit rough. This semester I have three classes with labs, I’m in biology, chemistry, and psychology, and biology and chemistry both have quiz periods as well. I’m also in calculus which has lecture and discussion. It’s a lot of class time, which is annoying, but on top of that, I have biology and chemistry pre-labs and post-labs, weekly problem sets for calculus.
Is there anything you feel the STEM classes do especially well or poorly?
With the Chemistry department, I think the lab director is too harsh with the pre-lab and post-lab assignments. They said that each pre-lab should take around 3-4 hours and each post-lab should take around 5-6 hours and we have both of those due every week. That’s because it’s a weed-out class.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s definitely competitive, but I think it’s collaborative too because everyone helps each other too. It’s competitive because we’re graded based on a curve, but it’s collaborative since we help each other.
How accessible are your professors?
Not that accessible. They have office hours but usually the office hours are limited and there’s a crowd, so you never get to talk to them one on one. If you want actual help, we have supplemental instruction which is taught by other students who took the class and excelled in it. They have weekly sessions where they go over content from lectures and you can ask them questions, and that’s usually what I do because the professors are not accessible and I find those sessions pretty helpful.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I actually came to USC as a Psychology major and on the pre-med track. You can major in anything and be on the pre-med track and just take all the pre-med classes as well as your major’s classes. The problem with Psychology was it was basically like a double major since it’s a good number of classes that you have to take to apply to medical school and a lot of the Psychology classes didn’t overlap. I realized that Neuroscience has a lot of overlapping requirements with pre-med and the upper-division classes are pretty similar to Psychology since they’re about the brain, so I thought it was a smart switch.
How was transitioning academically from the TTP program?
There weren’t really any resources and it was a rough transition. The school I studied abroad at was pretty easy compared to USC’s expectations, so it’s been pretty difficult to transition from that.
Reasons to Attend
1) Being able to use USC’s name on your resume and LinkedIn.
2) The quality of education. The professors, TA’s, and student instructors know what they’re talking about. USC also offers a lot of resources to help when you’re struggling.
3) It’s really fun and there is always stuff going on. In every way, it’s been a positive experience. Even if you’re not a huge partier, you can find other things to do at USC. It’s not all about that.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you don’t want a big school or want small classes or lots of one-on-one time with professors, this isn’t the school. Unless you make an impression consistently, your professor won’t know your name if you’re in a lecture class. [The student to faculty ratio is 8:1.]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: I entered USC through the Trojan Transfer Program and did my freshman year in London.
Sophomore: I live in University Gateway and live in an apartment with three other people. It’s a two-bedroom and we have two people in each bedroom.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s a pretty bad area. We have USC in the whole area so even if I’m studying at the library late at night and am walking back, there hasn’t been a time where I’ve felt unsafe just because of all the security that I see. There are people standing at corners of streets and all that. Also, USC students get free Lyft rides between 7PM and 2AM within two miles of campus which is pretty nice.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at USC?
I go to a lot of parties, both fraternity parties and apartment parties. Because Gateway is an apartment complex not technically owned by USC, it’s a lot easier to have people over so I go to a lot of parties in my building. I have a Friday morning class, but Thursday nights are big here and I just go out on the weekends.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
That’s the nightlife at USC. There’s nothing else. For girls, it’s really easy to get into parties so I can get in pretty much anywhere even though I’m not in a sorority. Guys have more trouble though and they have to be in a frat to go to a party.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
We like to go somewhere cool for a meal in L.A. There are also cool events going on all the time since we’re in L.A.
How happy are you with the weekend options at USC? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I’m pretty happy with the weekend options.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
A lot of my close friends were also in the TTP program with me or were spring admits to USC and also studied abroad with me. I’ve definitely made new friends, but I’m not as close with them as I am with the TTP people.
How was transitioning socially as a transfer in the TTP program?
I didn’t have a problem but that’s because I stayed friends with the people I met, so it wasn’t really a transition.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
Overall, I think there are enough people here so that everyone can find their people. If you’re putting enough effort into making friends, I don’t think it’ll be a problem for anyone.
How would you describe the student body?
Overall, pretty nice. I haven’t had a problem with anyone.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It honestly doesn’t seem to mix that much. It may be because of a language barrier, but a lot of the foreign students stick together. But, besides that, I think a lot of people are open it’s just that people like to stick to their own kind. I personally don’t hang out with a lot of South Asian students, but I know a lot of people that do. [The undergraduate population is about 21% Asian, 39% White, 15% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 13% international.]
How would you describe the South Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
I don’t know anyone in the community other than my roommate, so I guess I have yet to find the South Asian community. Maybe I’m missing out, but I haven’t met anyone.
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.]
It’s a big school and I like the fact that it’s a big school. I like that there are a lot of people. The only cons are that enrolling in classes is tough and I had a hard time getting into the classes I needed since I was the last priority. I picked classes at transfer orientation in August while everybody else who was here for freshman year registered in March, so there’s a huge gap of time between and we got the last classes that were available. It ended up working out because once school started there is a lot of adding and dropping going on, so I eventually got the classes I wanted, but I was stressed that I wouldn’t.
Careers
Have you learned any computer programs or languages through your coursework that will be especially helpful to you professionally?
For all the labs and post-labs, Excel is required. You need to know it. One of the first assignments we did for a lab was an Excel tutorial that took hours but explained how to use it and do everything, which was pretty helpful. I learned a lot of stuff in it that I didn’t know you could do.