Hey guys!
It’s Explore season here at SC, and it’s been so much fun getting to meet some of you guys around campus!! Since coming to college, one of the most common questions I get asked is why I picked USC, so I thought I’d dedicate a post on what drew me to become a Trojan.
Backstory, in high school all I knew about my future career path was that I wanted to be a doctor. Specifically, I wanted to be a sports medicine doctor, and work with athletes. With that in mind, I applied to schools in a variety of majors, from bio to neuroscience to biomedical engineering. I had no intention of becoming an engineer until senior year when I did more research; BME was a good fit for my analytical problem-solving personality, pre-med aspirations and general interest in the world of healthcare. When I was looking for colleges, I was looking at strong research programs, opportunities to get involved in a pre-med community, solid advising, and a diverse curriculum. I applied to medium sized schools with a ton of spirit, because I loved sports, and wanted to be in a social atmosphere surrounded by interesting, fun people. To be honest, I didn’t really see myself at USC at first, only because the very cursory research I had done had painted it as a very relaxed, social school (the “party school” stereotype is not true people!!) After sending out my apps to a bunch of different schools, from the UCs to private schools in the midwest to a few Ivies out east, I got to play the waiting game and see where I would spend “the best four years of my life.”
I fell in love with USC when I walked onto campus. I didn’t necessarily have a “wow this is the ONE” kind of moment, but when I came down to campus for explore, every single person I met was so friendly, inclusive, and seemed like they loved being there. I met people interested in cinema, business, engineering and music all in the two days I visited as a high school student, and I loved the idea that all these people lived and learned together in one place. While that sounds like most college campuses, USC truly has such stellar schools in every field that the people you’re surrounded by are the best at what they do. I loved the diversity I saw on campus, from the diversity in family background to diversity of thought to diversity of interest.
After spending a summer in Boston in high school, I knew I wanted to go to school in a big city, and LA fit the bill perfectly. From the amazing arts/music/film scene to the beach to the rad architecture downtown to the best international food districts, LA had everything I could possibly want to explore off campus. Not the mention, the best weather in the country 🙂
On a more tangible note, the USC BME program has some of the most cutting edge research in the country, and the pre-med advising office was very tight knit and welcoming to all pre-health students. I saw myself learning lots about my engineering field, but being able to pursue my slightly different career interests (at the time) both at a very high level. The curriculum was also flexible enough for me to take classes in other fields I was interested in, from film to art history to sociology. Ultimately, I was picking between Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern and USC, and USC was the one that fit all of my criteria. Research opportunities, amazing people, strong advising and a great location– USC embodied all of those criteria and far exceeded my expectations.
Fast forward a few years– I’m a junior now and I have no doubt that coming to USC was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve been able to do things I would have never even imagined possible in high school, from going abroad multiple times to getting involved in entrepreneurship to working on a podcast. I continue to be inspired by my peers around me, and meet incredible people all the time here. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful sunsets, attempted to surf, been to tons of concerts, explored LA and picked up a new sport. I’m not graduating for another year, but I already know I’m going to miss USC so much because it’s this insane microcosm of passionate people having fun kicking ass at the things they love. I love being a Trojan, and I wouldn’t trade my undergraduate experience for the world, hopefully I’ve convinced you to give us a shot too :))
Peace out and as always, fight on!!
Rhea
