Graduates from six area high schools will attend USC with financial help from the university.

"I think the kids who go to La Cañada are selfmotivated," said Teodo. "They don't need much coaxing to do their best, and each teacher, especially in [advanced placement] courses, loves their job so much they are willing to go the extra mile when you need it."

But it's not just La Cañada High School that sends a large portion of graduates on to USC. Mehra said at least five of Flintridge Prep's 100 graduating seniors will attend USC this fall.

"La Cañada has quite a few good high schools and I think parents here want their kids to have a good education and good careers," Mehra said.

"I want to go into medicine, so I wanted to go to a college that provided some prestige and a good education."

The fact that Merha's father, Anil Mehra, is a physician at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center made the decision that much easier, he said.

"There is a La Cañada-USC connection, a Glendale-USC connection and I grew up in Pasadena going to USC football games," Harrington said.

"We draw very strongly from this local area. We are in people's backyards."

Yet the recruiting process is brutal: Only half of USC's 16,000 undergrads are from California and Harrington received 34,000 applications for 2,700 enrollment openings at the school this spring.