University of Southern California

If you are white, you'll have a decent experience with this school. You'll be able to meet with advisors and professors in a timely fashion, get relevant feedback, connections and help. You'll essentially get what you pay for: instruction, objective feedback etc. If you're not white, hold on to your hat. You'll be ignored, probably told to leave, you'll have to hold meetings and formal inquiries to get basic needs met. It's even more difficult online because I sometimes have to rely on my white peers... Read More to email faculty on my behalf to ask my questions or find out what is going on with the scheduling and the future of the program. Many school-wide and department-wide announcement emails don't make it to all the students and they have yet to do anything about that. Registration has been a mess every time--they make lots of changes to schedules and professors after registration is over, which would be one thing, but then they don't even tell students. Some have complained, and they are told that schedule changes are due to the pandemic. International students have no option to defer their enrollment even though their classes are at odd hours of the night sometimes. Also, USC has almost no opportunities for work study at all, about two job postings a semester--financial aid staff however, are very good at staying connected and answering all your questions. Unless you need the clout, just go to a small school where your needs will be met.

If you are planning to attend USC to study theater, my biggest piece of advice would be to take advantage of your resources outside of the department. Los Angeles is not an easy place to get started as an actor, and school will incubate you from trials and tribulations of beginning a career. It's a great idea to get your feet wet while you're still studying. Go see productions at local theaters, and start cultivating relationships with working professionals as your mentors. Take a class over the... Read More summer at a professional studio (if you can afford to, or see if they have a work-study program that works for you), or participate in the LACCA internships. Start meeting people and building your professional skillset NOW, because it will serve you as a safety net once you graduate. Within the theater department, get involved in student productions. Classes and official SDA productions will give you exciting, near-professional experiences. But student productions will link you with your peers who are creating work from the ground up. They were consistently my most fulfilling experiences, and my connections from those independent productions are the same ones that have gone on to produce work (and hire me) after school. I also cannot emphasize enough how you should take advantage of studying abroad. Even if it is not with BADA (which I loved), go for a semester to just branch out and try something new. The best artists are often those who can incorporate a wide variety of perspectives and experiences in their work, and it's important to go out and live a full life. Going to another country will never be as easy and well-supported as it is within your school program, so find out early on what it might take to get to the place you want to go (for example, language classes, literature classes, or a long time-line on the application process), and find a way to make it work. If you're on scholarship, make sure you remember to apply your scholarship along with your general abroad application -- I didn't know I needed to do that with mine, and ended up incurring a larger cost than I needed to. For the star ratings on the questions below, please note that we had a different dean running the school when I was there (2010-2014), and I believe elements of the program have since changed. I'd look at someone's rating who graduated more recently than I did for a more accurate assessment. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL, please feel free to get in touch with me, or other SDA alumni. We're a good group, and will be happy to help you in your choice.

At first I was hesitant because the program is only offered for online-distance learning students. But I find that this really benefits students who are not living near USC and want to become school counselors, and still want to keep their day jobs. I recommend to anyone wanting to enroll in this program to be good at self-discipline and have high self-efficacy skills. I love this program and wouldn't change anything about the way that I have received my learning, and I have gotten to know my professors... Read More and classmates very well (even those virtually!) I love the trauma informed focus that they teach, and how diverse the student and faculty body is.

Phenomenal experience. I was accepted into USC after teaching at a public institution for a year; I really wanted to take it a step further by getting my masters and pursuing a physics credential. The professors were top notch and really helped me gain a deeper understanding of pedagogical techniques and differentiation geared toward diversity. If all teachers were trained through a program similar to USC Rossier, I believe we would have a much higher number of competent teachers. Being able to "Attend"... Read More class from home was very convenient and cut out any travel time that would result from attending an on-campus program. Honestly, I felt so much more focused in class compared to a traditional classroom, likely because I was just a "head and face" so others would know if I were to be zoning out. Class discussions themselves were rich in collaboration and small group work which was very helpful for learning how to apply theoretical knowledge gleaned in the course readings and educational material. Also, when you are a teacher, the name of the school you get your degree from CAN matter; having a degree from USC definitely puts you ahead in the game. The program is expensive, but the program is genius; I do not think there are many other institutions that could have prepared me better as a teacher.

Worst teaching program ever. Do not go there! They have a test you have to pass to get your credential which other schools do not but no one know much about it so you don't get proper help. They don't answer emails so you have to research stuff on your own with no proper direction. I had to find placement for myself at a school to do student teaching which was their job. I got hired pending getting my credential but I can't get the thing because they have an edtpa test that is very hard to pass but... Read More it is just a USC standard test that no other school uses. Don't waste your time or money.

Attend on campus or forget it. The online version of the program is a joke with the types of students they let it and the adjunct professors. The real professors teach the classroom on campus. The material is thrown at you to figure out, taking up 15-20 precious hours of your life each week just to be frustrated at how unprofessional it all is. Half of the students in groups attack one another or edge people out..the professional quality and personal characteristics of people that attend is a level... Read More below what you would see in an undergrad program. The online teachers are rude, always right, put you down, and then "tell on you" by cc'ing four other people. Honestly it's ironic that they teach professional communication when the communication to their customers..students..is terrible.