The Decade's Hottest Schools
1. University of Southern California
Los Angeles
Student Pop. 35,000
Stanford. Duke. Northwestern. These are just some of the schools that counselors report USC will soon surpass as one of most sought-after campuses in the country. Rachel Petrella, a counselor at California’s La Jolla Country Day School, said she once saw 40 percent of her private-school students put USC on their list—as a backup. Now, she says, it's a first-choice school for most of them. “USC has undergone an extraordinary makeover in the past decade,” Petrella says. “It’s matriculating a completely different caliber of student than it once was.” Counselors like Petrella report USC does a terrific job showcasing its academic assets, particularly the honors science college and the access to its high-tech research facilities. At the same time, its financial aid is among the most generous nationwide—a $2.4 billion endowment (though down $1.2 billion since 2008) allows more than 60 percent of students to receive some type of aid. Add in a winning athletics program—Trojan football has consistently ranked in the top 5 nationwide in recent years—and its proximity to Hollywood, and applications to the school have risen about 35 percent since 2000.
Student Pop. 35,000
Stanford. Duke. Northwestern. These are just some of the schools that counselors report USC will soon surpass as one of most sought-after campuses in the country. Rachel Petrella, a counselor at California’s La Jolla Country Day School, said she once saw 40 percent of her private-school students put USC on their list—as a backup. Now, she says, it's a first-choice school for most of them. “USC has undergone an extraordinary makeover in the past decade,” Petrella says. “It’s matriculating a completely different caliber of student than it once was.” Counselors like Petrella report USC does a terrific job showcasing its academic assets, particularly the honors science college and the access to its high-tech research facilities. At the same time, its financial aid is among the most generous nationwide—a $2.4 billion endowment (though down $1.2 billion since 2008) allows more than 60 percent of students to receive some type of aid. Add in a winning athletics program—Trojan football has consistently ranked in the top 5 nationwide in recent years—and its proximity to Hollywood, and applications to the school have risen about 35 percent since 2000.
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