I can’t believe I’m already heading into the end of the spring semester of my second year here at USC. It’s hard to think that just two years ago around this time I was committing to USC–and looking back, I’ll say that it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made!
Lots of factors go into deciding what college to attend but the following are the Sparknote version of my decision process.
Location, Location, Location! I wanted to go to a school in a big city surrounded by activities to do on the weekends and during breaks while having a college campus feel. USC is just a metro ride from downtown, a quick drive from the beaches, minutes from Hollywood, and Little Tokyo…the list goes on! Within just my first two years, I’ve gotten to explore a myriad of destinations from the art scene at the Getty and LACMA to hiking trails in Palm Springs and Arcadia. Not to mention a growing list of mouthwatering new restaurants.
But campus is also enclosed, meaning that the university buildings aren’t immersed in and scattered throughout the places I’ve gotten to visit. I remember how easily I found my way around campus after just the first couple of weeks. I like how walking through parts of campus like Trousdale, the Campus Center and the Quad actually feels like we’re on a college campus; yet just outside lie hundreds of things to do and discover!
Diversity. Because I’ve always been interested in a lot of different topics from art to psychology to math and science, I was really attracted to the feeling that I believe USC encourages multidisciplinary study. I wanted the opportunity to not only study engineering but also marketing and psychology. Thus now I’m majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in consumer behavior. Moreover, whenever I have free spots in my schedule, I get to take some fun classes such as ceramics.
Not too small, not too big. I wanted to go to a school where I would be able to meet a lot of new people from different backgrounds but also not feel lost at the same time. Even today, I’m still meeting new people from different states and majors. Yet I’m also constantly running into old friends that I had class with one semester or lived with freshman year. USC offers the opportunities of a larger institution while providing the focus and attention of a smaller school.
In short, these are the main highlights of why I chose USC and I am so glad that I did!
