@ttowner I’ve been dealing with with housing and leases for a USC student for the last 10 years. We’ve been paying for a lease all through covid (weeee!), but luckily mine has spent a lot of time going back and forth (there except around the holiday period), so it wasn’t a total throw away of $. And we love her apt and location. But with having so many attending there over such a long period, we have been through some doozies too.
Totally understand the concern of housing and I believe USC is just hedging with all the uncertainty for spring admits. Not knowing how many per room would be allowed, they have had to put out a protection plan in housing expectations. They want to continue to give spring admits the housing guarantee and I know it will be a priority to do so. I feel strongly you will have housing, but without that in writing, that is no warm and fuzzy, totally get it. If you don’t, there are good options literally step across from campus to hedge the uncertainty.
Couple things to clarify that a new parent might not see:
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the link above is just an advertisement for apartments near USC. They aren’t “holding” an amount for USC students, everything listed there pretty much only rents to USC students anyway. USC is not your landlord in those situations, they are privately owned. The terms of their leases apply. The are all mostly 12 month rather than school year or you pay quite a bit more a month for less than 12 (just offered by the larger complexes).
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the question being asked of being willing to live farther from campus for returning students really only pertains to sophomores, because only freshman and sophomores have a housing guarantee (and upperclassman on campus is a small amount, most have off campus housing). They will prioiritize freshman on campus and the 'farther" housing would be for sophomores is them turning small apartment complexes they do own currently from upperclassman to sophomore housing.
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just fyi…after sophomore year most students don’t want to live on campus anyway, they are to “grown up” for the restrictions of dorm style living. Many freshman transition to outside housing the next year as well as they are done with dorms too.
The housing office is fantastic to work with, I have friends there, and while they may not be able to give you difinitives, they keep it real, so call them. They will be more reliable than people that don’t have experience with housing around USC.
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lastly, I would be more concerned with the social of being a spring admit that has to live off campus to start, than the housing itself since there are lots of housing options nearby. I would be asking how they intend this group to bond which has always been important to them, and consider things your D should do to find her peeps in that situation…but I just don’t see USC putting spring admits in outside housing if they can in any any way prevent that. Transfers totally, spring admits, no.
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a lot of these precautions/warning were put out do to uncertainty of covid and are temporary, if they can get the same number of people in a room as they had, lots will be back to normal. Kids going abroad is a bit of it, but the biggest influence is covid limitations which may be lifted (let’s hope)!!!
Glad to offer up the good places/property mgmt groups to work with and who to avoid, but hoping you don’t need that, at least for spring.