USC earns top polls among “College Bests”


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Various sources come out with college polls and rankings all the time — rating schools on everything from academics to aesthetics. But this week USC boasts recognition on six different lists, five from Newsweek’s annual College Rankings and one in a Wall Street Journal Survey listing “Top Recruiting Colleges.”

Although USC was listed No. 24 on the WSJ’s “Top 25 Recruiter Picks”, the university ranked fourth on Newsweek’s “Most Desirable Large Schools” category. Harvard, UPenn and Cornell rounded out the top-three. UCLA was ranked eighth.

USC also placed No. 10 on Newsweek’s “25 Great Schools With Great Weather,” No. 15 on “Most Desirable Urban Schools,” No. 19 among the top “25 Schools for Powerbrokers” and No. 23 for the “Best Gay-Friendly Schools.”

Under Newsweek’s “Education” section, the ranking methodology is described as a process that yields 747 schools, with those meeting three criteria.

First, the school must be in one of the three leading college guides (Fiske’s Guide to Colleges, the Princeton Review’s Best 371 colleges and U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges).

Second, the school’s average incoming freshman must have a SAT critical reading and math score of 1150 or higher.

Third, a college must offer a range of different degrees, which excludes specialized institutions such as cosmetology or art schools.

Other Newsweek polls included the “25 Schools Stocked with Jocks,” “25 Schools for Brainiacs” and the “25 Schools for the Service-Minded.”