All are top 10 in engineering: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/to

All are top 10 in engineering: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering... This jives with engineering industries, where USC is a consistent producer of aerospace/mechanical and tech talent. USC is considered a top school in many other research fields as well. I think it's more likely that you actually know very little about academics at these institutions. Disclaimer: I work at UPenn (doing research!) and went to USC.