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The USC Viterbi School of Engineering, consistently ranked among the top ten graduate engineering schools in the United States (and in the top five among private universities) by U.S. News & World Report, is pleased to learn that you are interested in advancing your education at our institution. |
Explore the links below for the
top ten reasons why you should apply to the USC Viterbi School of Engineering!
Did you know that USC Engineering is where the Internet’s domain name system – the “dot.com” structure – originated? And that one of our faculty members developed the codes that allow CD’s to play clearly? Or that even our name is a symbol of innovation? Andrew J. Viterbi, one of our graduates and the co-founder of Qualcomm, wrote the algorithm that powers your cell phone – and hundreds of millions like it.
USC engineers played a central role in the creation of the digital world we live in today. They have made vital contributions to the theoretical understanding and science of computers and to the basic tools computers depend on to operate and communicate. They helped invent the first pulse lasters and they pioneered semiconductor lasers. More recently, they even built the world's smallest laser.
It’s the best of all times to become an engineer. Miracles of engineering are shaping the world in ways never before seen or imagined. The vital role engineers play in the national economy, security and even the health of our planet and its people grows daily.
There’s no better place to become a leader in this wave of the future than at the Viterbi School. We are currently ranked 7th in U. S. News & World Report's list of the nation's best graduate programs in engineering. We score high on crucial yardsticks: visionary leadership, dynamic faculty, unique programs, extensive national-level research in critical technologies and a student body that gets better each year. Even better, we are still sharply on the rise. Our greatest strengths lie in fast growing fields – computing and communications, molecular electronics, neural interfaces and other biomedical inventions, games development, robotics, energy and a sustainable environment, novel materials like nanotubes, “smart” structures, quantum and super computing.
We have 27 faculty members who have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Four have achieved an even more rare distinction – membership in three national academies (the NAE, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.) One of them has earned a Turing Award, most often described as the “Nobel Prize in computing.”
Nearly 50 others have earned National Science Foundation Career Awards, and eight of these went on to win NSF Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the top national award for young faculty. That’s a statistic that makes us particularly proud. It’s an important yardstick for the future vitality of a faculty, and less than a handful of elite engineering schools have numbers that can match ours.
Our faculty is a very special group indeed. More importantly for you, you can find them in our classrooms daily. At the Viterbi School, classes are small and taught by professors.
The University of Southern California has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last decade and students coming to the Viterbi School have led that transformation. We draw students from all 50 United States, and 110 countries internationally. Our 1,700 undergraduates and 3,300 graduate students thrive in outstanding learning and living environments. Each entering class over the last decade has been statistically superior to its predecessor, and this year’s class is by far our best ever. The Viterbi School has one of the most diverse student populations in the world in terms of race, country of origin, ethnicity, religion, culture, and/or beliefs.
A group this special needs a special program. At the Viterbi School we have a wide range of choices that enables you to carve out your own unique experience. The chance to acquire team and leadership skills by applying classroom knowledge to real-world projects plays a big role in that experience. So does a wide-open opportunity for volunteer and community involvement. We have one of the most engaged and socially active student bodies in the country.
We’re not the only ones who think so. The toughest judges in the country, the peer reviewers who award major external research grants, are the ones who score us that highly. We have over $170 million in annual externally funded research – and we have been in the top three of all engineering schools in funded research per faculty member for about ten years now.
We also have an unmatched array of national research centers. We have two National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers (one in multimedia/Internet technologies, one in biomimetic medical devices). Our Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies is fast gaining recognition as a model for effective university-industry research partnerships, and we also play a lead role in major USC-wide research centers in biomedical technologies, transportation and creative technologies. Not to mention our Information Sciences Institute, present and accounted for at the birth of the Internet, is the crown jewel of our research collection.
You’ve heard of the so-called leading edge? We’re out in front of it.
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering offers its 1700-plus undergraduate students more than 30 degree options and its 3,300 graduate students with studies in over 25 fields. Several of them, like our programs in multimedia, cybersecurity and “smart” oilfield technologies, are either unique to USC, or based on our special research strengths. Our bachelor and master’s programs in games development – the first offered by a major engineering school – are a good example of our innovative efforts to keep our curriculum fresh and dynamic.
No matter what your reason for coming to the Viterbi School, you can count on getting the help you need every step of the way. We offer many programs and services that enable you to carve out your own unique experience. We want you to pursue your passion, and we design flexible programs to help you do it. We also encourage personal and social growth and service to society. With over 600 student-run organizations and communities to choose from, USC offers an extracurricular activity to match nearly every interest – including yours.
Our students enjoy state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, and live interactive high-speed Internet systems that are setting new standards. Tutor Hall, the vibrant hub of student life at the Viterbi School, gives us a powerful new infrastructure for invention and an inspirational home for our students.
At the Viterbi School, student life and sophisticated research travel hand-in-hand. Researchers developing new nanotechnologies and producing advances in fields like biomedicine, robotics and national security share the rooms and corridors of Tutor Hall with the energetic rush of our students. We want to immerse them – and you – in a whirlwind of innovation.
And oh, by the way, PC magazine ranks USC among the top ten most wired schools in the nation. We thought you might like to know that.
A global network of students, alumni, faculty, staff and many others who have ties to USC-including parents of students, donors and sports fans-the Trojan Family represents a commitment of support that is lifelong and worldwide. Over 190,000 strong, Trojan alumni can be found in all 50 states and virtually every region of the world.
The Viterbi School alone has over 30,000 alumni worldwide, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in their respective fields. Among them are entrepreneurs and visionaries such as Andrew Viterbi (co-founder of Qualcomm), Ming Hsieh (founder of Cogent, Inc.), Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Mark Stevens (Silicon Valley venture capitalist) and A.C. Markkula (co-founder of Apple Computer).
In 1972, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's
Distance Education Network (DEN) was a pioneer in the distance learning arena, utilizing the most cutting-edge technology to enable professional engineers to take USC engineering courses for graduate degree credit without having to set foot on the campus.
DEN has remained a leader in the field of distance education and currently offers over 30 master's degrees completely online, allowing students the flexibility of viewing classes from their home or office. Furthermore, on-campus students are able to utilize the benefits of DEN by reviewing archived lectures online before mid-terms and finals!
Location, location, location!
We are at the center of the action in one of the most diverse and exciting cities in the history of mankind. Los Angeles is the de facto capital of the Pacific Rim and the heart of Southern California – the world’s most forward-looking region. Los Angeles is a focal point for art and culture, and home to industries from entertainment to electronics, manufacturing to medicine. LA is also an exciting urban laboratory offering our students unmatched social and cultural opportunities as well as internships and other learning experiences.
At the Viterbi School, we are quite happy with our location.
Already a cultural and economic crossroads, Southern California has burgeoned into a world center of technology development, particularly in digital communications and biomedicine. The story of USC and its Viterbi School is inextricable from the history of Southern California, and we are positioned to play an even bigger role in its future. The communications revolution will continue to transform the global landscape, and biomedical technology is poised to become the world's leading industry in the decades ahead. We are among the leaders in both fields, and in several other critical technologies like quantum computing, molecular electronics, biochemical technologies and energy production.
Southern California is a source for our dreams, a real-world laboratory for our students and a marketplace for our ideas and people.
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