Student Perspectives: Undergraduate Research Is Just One of Many Unique Learning Opportunities at USC
There are so many distinct learning opportunities at USC. With over 150 majors and 250 minors, there’s the opportunity to create a custom program of study and receive a truly interdisciplinary education. You can even combine widely disparate options. For example, you might pursue an Engineering degree but minor in Dance or study Business Administration alongside Neuroscience. Another hallmark of a undergraduate education is research, which is not just reserved for graduate students. Student Yara Akiel, with a major in Neuroscience and minor in Psychology, talks about several research opportunities she’s had.
One way USC’s academics shine is through research opportunities—across all schools at USC. In the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences alone, there are a plethora of professors who are conducting research and, most importantly, looking for students to mentor throughout the process. Despite starting at USC with essentially no prior research experience, I have had multiple opportunities to work with professors on various research projects. Conducting research outside of class motivates students to learn how their academic interests are applied in the real world. Research helps to visualize the kind of work and disciplines that students may be interested in focusing on in their professional lives.
Throughout this exploration and skill development, students can even participate in research labs to receive major credit. In my junior year, I joined a neurolinguistic project, completing one of my requirements as a neuroscience major. After a semester of working on the project, I had not only gained new skills and understanding in research, but also completed part of my degree at the same time.
USC also has partnerships with so many institutions with which students can get involved. As a premedical student, I have notably found my involvement with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my undergraduate career. For over a year, I have worked as a research assistant for a developmental neuroscience lab. In this position, I have had a firsthand look at working within a hospital, writing papers on research interests like Public Health and applying knowledge I’ve learned in classes like PSYC 366: Developmental Psychology. To see the theory and concepts I’ve studied in lecture applied in practical, real-world situations has been incredibly fulfilling. It strengthens my confidence in the skills I’ve developed throughout the course of my time at USC.
Through my involvement in neuroscience research, I’ve been able to work with notable faculty within the Keck School of Medicine doing ADHD research. Students at USC even have the chance to have their research funded through stipends. For example, through the USC Provost Undergrad Research Fellowship, students can be financially awarded to help support a research project for the semester. Various research stipends exist across schools and can even include summer housing funds.
Since research is so expansive at USC, students have the freedom to explore projects in disciplines outside their own. Working with professors and learning from their expertise is a great way for students to get a sense of their academic interests, and the passions they want to pursue.
USC’s academic opportunities extend beyond just research. For example, students have access to classes in every academic school on campus. Specifically, students use general education requirements (and can use electives) to explore different disciplines. I have taken advantage of this through taking a linguistics course, LING 115: Language and Society. Although it was not specifically related to my major, taking it gave me a lot of insight into the discipline of linguistics. In fact, learning about linguistics interested me so much that I sought out a research opportunity the following semester in a neurolinguistics lab, studying bias in standardized testing. This opportunity would not have existed for me if I didn’t take advantage of the chance to explore disciplines I was unfamiliar with.
Written by: Yara Akiel, Class of 2024