Build Your Future
Students at USC thrive in interdisciplinary, learner-centered curricula that uniquely prepare them to face the challenges of the 21st century. Whether your passion is art or anthropology, computer science or the life sciences, you will have opportunities to explore, to challenge and to distinguish yourself.
Freshman Seminars
Explore a topic in depth and pursue your passions outside the regular classroom curriculum, while meeting other students who share your interests and gaining a deeper understanding of academic expectations at the college level. Courses cover a variety of topics such as “Achieving Happiness and Balance Amid Uncertainty” and “Feeding the World Sustainably.” Students earn 2 units of elective credit.
![Professor explains concept to student as they look at a technical drawing on the table in the USC Viterbi Baum Family Maker Space.](https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/USC-52517533629_292644d410_o-768x432.jpg)
Original Research
USC is ranked among the top 10 universities in federally supported research. You will be able to pursue faculty-led or your own original research as soon as your first year, supported by generous funding from the university.
![Student looking at chemicals in a vial in lab.](https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/home-image-full-width-01-768x432.jpg)
Global Immersion
Engage with other cultures, explore other countries, and gain a deeper understanding of our increasingly interconnected world. USC offers exciting and diverse opportunities to spend a semester or year studying abroad through programs offered in over 50 cities on five continents.
![Three students sitting outside the Ronald Tutor Center eating lunch on a bright Los Angeles Day.](https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/USC-52517787178_49b557544f_o-768x432.jpg)
Interdisciplinary Study
Thrive in interdisciplinary, learner-centered curricula that uniquely prepare you to face the challenges of the 21st century. Choose a double major or a unique major-minor combination to synthesize knowledge across disparate fields and gain startling new insights.
![Three students talk together as they build a wooden structure and other partially built structures stand in the back at the USC School of Architecture.](https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/USC-52517739885_7da164d407_o-768x432.jpg)