Trojan Family networking beats Ivy elitism in the real world
The increasingly competitive world requires connections and practical training, not theory and centuries-old traditions
Throughout high school, I witnessed firsthand the consequences that students face as a result of trying to get into the “best” universities — losing sleep, facing undue stress and shaving years off of their lives. They were trying to get into Ivy League schools with unbelievably low admission rates which translated into high rankings on top colleges lists.
You’re better off finding a school that gives you real world expertise rather than theoretical material you’ll never use in your life or career.
For me, USC was the perfect fit – it had the major I wanted and connections to almost everyone in the journalism world. These are tangible things I can use in my future career. The Trojan Family is not just some cheesy marketing ploy used by the University to pull in students; it’s an actual family.
University of Social Children
Wherever I go, there’s a high likelihood that I will bump into a student or an alumni at USC, and every time I do I get an obligatory fight on. The connections I have by virtue of being a student at USC put me at a significant advantage.
Each school has their own defining characteristic that makes them unique and a fit for a specific type of person. The sole reason for going to a school should not be because it is highly ranked but because it gives you an education that you can benefit from.
While it’s true college is about having fun – and luckily for us, USC has no dearth of play – spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in an education must primarily serve as an investment in your future. An Ivy League school may be your ultimate goal but it’s important to look beyond prestige to what the school will give you after you graduate.
And students who graduate from schools like USC, who pride themselves on real world experience, do much better than philosophy doctorates who put extreme amounts of money into their education only to find a low-wage labor job.
USC produces the 19th highest number of millionaires in the world. We’re also emerging as one of the most influential producers of startups in the college ecosystem, with students from organizations like SparkSC and Sigma Eta Pi contributing to what is now known as Silicon Beach.
In short, pick a college that produces successful and well-rounded individuals, not a college that’s at the top of every academics list.
Interviewing Ariana Huffington may put me in the running for being considered a “successful individual”
Furthermore, those alumni billionaires stay true to the Trojan Family where in many other universities they do not, perhaps because they’re disheartened with the way Ivy Leagues and liberal arts colleges have handled themselves. Those alumni are specifically angered at the fact that “students are too wrapped up in racial and identity politics,” the New York Times said when listing some alumni concerns. “They are allowed to take too many frivolous courses.”
Not at USC.
I may not be going to Yale or Princeton, but I go to a school that provides me with countless opportunities both in the classroom and in the real world, backed with an international network that really does feel like a family. If you find a school that does that for you, then you’ve successfully picked a college that will make you a better person.