USC and a school referred to the the farm (Stanford for all that don’t know) were my two first choices. That sounds kinda weird, but I couldn’t decide between either one or the other. Stanford was big, but the campus was everything I imagined since 8th grade dreams, and USC was a glorious surprise since I never considered it before my friend Craig wanted to go there. Stanford’s academics attracted me while USC’s overall attitude and weather amazed me. When I got turned down from Stanford, it was somewhat a blessing because I knew I wanted to go to USC, but didn’t want to have to make the decision. While USC was my first choice, I still had other schools to consider. University of Maryland and Cornell were the only competing contenders. University of Maryland was a large contender based on the fact that it had an upcoming engineering program and I got a full scholarship to go there. Many of my close friends were going there too and I didn’t want to leave them. Cornell was an ivy league school that was known for its academics, and you can’t really go wrong with going to an ivy league school. While some might say that Cornell’s engineering program is more prestigious, I believe that when you go to a top tier school like Cornell or USC that the programs only differ so much. I ultimately made my decision when I visited Cornell and noticed that Cornell was the opposite of what I wanted, USC. I developed this idea or theory, “why would you want to do hard work in a cold gloomy place instead of Sunny California?” USC was the right choice for me, because they offered Chemical Engineering in a sunny environment that made waking up and going to class so much easier. When I went to visit USC junior year and senior year, both times were perfect. I got off the plane and felt the Southern California Sun beamed down on me and warm me up. Coming from Maryland, a place of thick humidity, California’s dry heat was a blessing. What is even better about California as a whole is that, you can be at the beach in 70 degree weather at one moment and be snowboarding on a mountain 5 hours later.
Not only is the weather great and diverse, but so are the people. Coming from the East Coast, I noticed people in California were free flowing, accepting, and simply nicer. I enjoyed the West Coast communities views on life and how they carry themselves. When I decided on were to apply to schools, I wanted something different and new; USC was the new undiscovered land that lived up to all my dreams and expectations. There were people from all over the world of all different colors. I have friends from Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Belgium, and all across the US. The classes are small here so you get to meet all kinds of people from all over. Class size was also very important to me. I came from a small close knit private school were knowing every teacher and each student was completely normal. Coming here was a little different, but I think it was the closest thing possible without straying away with a college atmosphere. USC is a one of a kind of University that is academically competitive while also providing a world of experiences.
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