Can I use my "Preferred Name"/the name I use at USC? Transferring soon ^-^

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

Hi, I am transferring to USC this January and I use a different name than on my birth certificate and records (The name isn’t similar to my birth name at all). I am going to call and get some more confirmation, but maybe someone here knows.

I’m moving to LA and starting a completely new chapter in my life and I don’t feel like using my old name or even having to explain it or correct peoples pronunciation anymore. I’ve been using another name for years and I know that some schools have a system where you can use a preferred name for your classes and not have to do the whole explaining what you want to be called during role call situation. I have social anxiety lol and I don’t want to explain myself anymore and get weird looks and responses from professors (yes, this does happen).

I know I can email my professors ahead of time, but I personally would feel very awkward about that. Like, my first introduction would be: Hi, I know my name says (blank) but please call me (blank) in class, thanks. Teachers are people and they too can find you weird lol I mean, I will if I have to though hahaha!

I found this page on the USC website, but it doesn’t get into specifics and I’m not sure if its just for international students.
http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/firstyear/prospective/international.html

Any input or answers would be nice, thanks :slight_smile:

2

I had put down a preferred name, but all of my records were established in my birth name anyway. Maybe there’s a way to get them to recognize your preferred name, but I never pursued it. It doesn’t bother me at all, just introduce yourself to your classmates/friends with your preferred name. When signing off your e-mails to professors, you can put your preferred name in (brackets), they’ll get the idea. USC has enormous international diversity, so plenty of students do it this way.

3

Thank you for your response, thanks for putting it in perspective and giving me some insight :slight_smile: