Originally posted by: dr150
Originally posted by: zinfamous
Originally posted by: Dear Summer
Originally posted by: JS80
what major you thinking about?
graduate level engineering
graduate? You're approaching this like you're going for undergrad. You look at the specific program, not the school. Which faculty is there? Are you doing research? Is the program relevant to your research--is the top person in the field on their faculty? etc....
stop thinking "USC" and think "Engineering grad program." School reputation means shit for grad school. (does hold sway for med school, of course...but that isn't grad school, now is it.

)
^^^
Bingo.
Think about
THE Dept. you're studying. USC Grad Engineering is good (look at their placement dept. for relevant info.). NO OTHER SIDE FACTORS matter (i.e. undergrad rep, college life, etc).
Now, saying this, I think the well known USC undergrad pimping/spinning stats for USNWR is a
joke. They admit
TONS of kids in Spring semester with way lower stats which would substantially skew their "reported" average. The admission dept. also only reports the best Verbal and Math SAT from different sittings to further pad their stats. Rep-wise nationwide, it's nowhere near UCLA. UCLA, as a whole, is waaay stronger--even USNWR shows the much higher academic rep value. All these ignorant statements about undergrad connections is silly--a student has to go out and source a job--just b/c you went to school X doesn't mean preferential treatment (you still need the requisite work background and gpa). On the East Coast, a UCLA degree will get you an interview at a bank....a USC degree, never, unless the student had a 4.0 and interned every summer. The disparity is a backbreaker.
<----no relation to either school.