Stanley Chou Chosen as USC’s 2002 Valedictorian
By Bob Calverley, USC Engineering News
When Stanley Chou learned that students at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School often scored too low on their SATs to qualify for USC, he did something about it.
“Here we had a medical magnet high school right beside the Keck School of Medicine [of USC], and a lot of the students couldn’t go to USC,” says Chou. “So we decided to start a mentoring program.”
Chou and several other USC students began weekly visits to tutor Bravo students one-on-one for the SAT. “We became counselors, helping the kids choose the colleges to apply to and with the admissions process.”
Chou, who received a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in biomedical engineering in May 2002, was the Class of 2002 valedictorian. He maintained a 4.0 GPA during his four years as a Trojan, and was a member of numerous honor societies and organizations.
“I was very excited and surprised to be chosen because there were so many talented students,” he says. “It’s an important honor.”
Chou, whose hometown is Irvine, Calif., received a University Trustee Award at Convocation last year and was designated a Renaissance Scholar for his study in disparate fields.
Do psychology and biomedical engineering fit together? Chou thinks they do. When studying the central nervous system in biomedical engineering, he says he found much of the material familiar from psychology. “We were learning about stuff like schizophrenia, only this time we were down to the cellular level,” says Chou, who plans on a career as a physician. “I definitely want to practice medicine because I love interacting with patients. But I also see myself doing research.”
As for Chou’s most memorable Trojan experience: “My first USC football game was unforgettable,” he says.
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