USC Viterbi School of Engineering Acceptance Rate, Ranking, and More

It’s a reasonably well-accepted fact that a student talented in both math and critical thinking would be well-placed in an engineering program. 

Though rigorous, this academic major has a history of walking young graduates almost immediately into a well-respected, high-paying career field, promising that any money they poured into their college tuition was a wise investment.

In a nation of exceptional schools, possibly no other stands out as such a sound choice as the University of Southern Carolina Viterbi School of Engineering.

Since its founding in 1905, this school has helped shape the nation and the world at large!

With a strong background in technological engineering, this university is famed for hiring only the most innovative, influential minds to shape its promising students. 

Anyone who has ever enjoyed the surround-sound stylings of their home theater can thank Professor Tomlinson Holman, just one of the renowned educators who call the USC Viterbi School of Engineering home. 

In the world of biomedical engineering, this school has easily proven just as impressive, with particular praise for its history in DNA computing. 

Since Professor Leonard Adleman first invented this process in 1994, this unconventional computing process has become among the most exciting research areas in the twenty-first century.

This outstanding school offers a wide range of options, ensuring that no matter what each engineering student hopes to make of their future, they have access to the tools they need to make it happen. 

From astronautical engineering to computer science, every promising young mind has a bright future through a USC Viterbi School of Engineering education.

In this article, we will cover the USC Viterbi acceptance rate and other details that could prove useful to a hopeful applicant. Read on to learn more!


USC Viterbi School of Engineering Acceptance Rate

USC Viterbi School of Engineering
EEJCC, Biegler Hall, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, CC BY-SA 4.0

The acceptance rate for the USC Viterbi School of Engineering is 10%.

With every year that passes, the University of Southern Carolina seems to rise in the rankings, and as it does, so does the competition to attend every school of the university at large. 

In 2021, 14,000 hopeful applicants vied for their chance to take advantage of the amazing programs behind this astounding school!

Part of what makes the engineering school at USC so special is its mission to educate not only through the concentrated efforts of its world-renowned professors in their classrooms but through the hands-on experiences available within any of its clubs and organizations.

On the USC Aerodesign team, students of all grade levels can collaborate with their peers to design, build, and fly RC airplanes. 

In doing so, they do more than just build valuable relationships; they can experiment with different practical engineering methods they cover during their introductory courses. 

Over the course of the fall semester, this team designs multiple planes, all building towards a significant competition with over seventy schools in the spring. 

Students who find their ambitions better fueled by individual work have just as much to look forward to on this historical campus; because this school receives so much money in donations and grants, it passes that good luck along to its students, allowing them the chance to apply for their own research projects!

At the Center for Undergraduate Research in Viterbi Engineering, the brightest and boldest students gather to dig into the messy, challenging process of challenging their own thought processes and tackle projects with real-world value. 


USC Viterbi School of Engineering Ranking

As of right now, the University of Southern California School of Engineering ranks fifteenth on a list of hundreds of schools nationwide.

Though a number of factors go into helping USC Viterbi achieve this honorable position– tuition, grant money, and overall graduate success – few factors stand out quite as well as the sheer expansiveness of this program.

The Viterbi School is dedicated to seeing as many students as possible through the extent of their careers. 

In addition to eight different engineering disciplines open to students of all levels, this school also offers seventy graduate programs. 

Dedicated students can sail through this school from start to finish, allowing them to gain the education they deserve and skip over the stressful process of finding another graduate program to continue their education.

With faculty as celebrated as those at USC Viterbi, why would anyone want to leave?

Currently, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering celebrates over thirty staff members who have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. 

More than a third of the 169 members are fellows in their own professional societies, proving their dedication to education and staying in touch with the latest information in their craft.

What’s more, this already famed program is still in the process of growing! 

Just recently, the Viterbi school added four programs to their list: applied physics, biomedical data analytics, advanced design and construction technology, and quantum information science.

Engineering is about more than just cold, calculated numbers. 

At the Viterbi School of Engineering, it is about the complicated, fascinating process of building every element of the world around us, from our natural environment to the homes in which we live.


USC Viterbi Requirements

USC Viterbi Kerckhoff Hall
Felvalen, USC Kerckhoff Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0

Though this is a rigorous, highly competitive school, USC Viterbi has incredibly simple requirements: all students need is a solid academic history containing at least one calculus course

Like the University of Southern California as a whole, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering takes a holistic look at every student, showing as much interest in their recommendation letters and personal statements as they do in their academic record.

As part of their application, students are expected to submit various written elements, including an essay, several short answers, and quick takes. 

With each of these, think carefully and double-check each answer for grammatical clarity before submitting.

The most impressive applications always include a complete history of activities, talents, and accomplishments. 

Above all, this section is intended to serve as an introduction to who a student truly is as a person; to be sure that you are presenting yourself in the best possible light, an applicant should have another person help him recall any awards or skills that they may have overlooked.

Though SAT and ACT scores are not a requirement, they are a fantastic, easy way to prove the academic discipline and quick thinking necessary to thrive in a program as rigorous as this one. 

The Viterbi School accepts only the highest score, so students hoping to one day join the list of famous alumni would be best set in taking those standardized tests as many times as possible before submitting their application no later than January 15th. 


Notable Alumni of USC Viterbi

Since its founding, the University of Southern Carolina Viterbi School of Engineering has been pushing men and women to become the most successful versions of themselves. 

In doing so, they inadvertently shaped the young minds that have shaped the United States as a whole!

Before becoming the household name that he is today, Neil Armstrong gained his master’s degree at none other than the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. 

There, he took steps towards pursuing his dreams as an aerospace engineering major; later, those steps would go on to become “one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” 

In 1979, Roberta Nichols broke through the barriers that have historically dissuaded so many young women from pursuing an engineering degree when she graduated from USC Viterbi. 

Years later, she would put that outstanding education to use as the manager of the Electric Vehicle External Strategy for the Ford Motor Company.

Roberta Nichols is far from the only woman to make her way in the world through education at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. 

After graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1980, Alice Gast served as the sixteenth president of Imperial College London.

Not long after, she was named one of the top 100 “modern era” engineers in the United States by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

No matter a young man or woman’s background, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering is fully dedicated to guiding them into their most successful, promising future.


Should You Attend the USC Viterbi School of Engineering?

Undoubtedly, an education from the Viterbi School is well worth the investment. This school is particularly interested in treating each student with fairness and equality. 

For four consecutive years, the Viterbi School has been proud to graduate classes with over forty-five percent women engineers, an accomplishment in a field that nationally only stands at seventy-nine percent male. 

At the Viterbi Career Connections Office, students can find valuable training, resources, and assistance they need to transition into a career within their chosen field perfectly. 

Through workshops, information sessions, and job fairs, this office is responsible for helping students find positions at companies like Goldman Sachs, Chevron, Capitol One, and many, many more.