<p>Is USC more liberal or conservative?</p>
<p>I've heard the campus itself is great. What about the surrounding area? How dangerous is it?</p>
<p>Historically, USC has always been more on the conservative side, though recently, it's been leaning gradually to the left. Nevertheless, unintentionally almost all of my friends and a lot of people on my floor (myself included) are conservatives/Republicans. But that's not to say if you're a liberal that you'll be by yourself; it's just not nearly as "flaming liberal" as, say, the UCs, etc. As a Republican, I fit in and quite like it here.</p>
<p>As for the surrounding area, it's not too bad so long as you're street-smart. If you're going to be an idiot, clutching an iPhone in one hand and walking by yourself outside the campus at 2:00 AM in the morning, you're asking for trouble. Otherwise DPS does an excellent job of maintaining its presence on campus, and literally everywhere you go you'll see a DPS officer either in an Explorer or on one of those Segway chariots. Don't worry about it too much.</p>
<p>Is there a big advantage to being a resident of CA at USC as there is with the UCs? As an out of stater, I'm wondering if my chances are diminished.</p>
<p>No, there isn't a difference. USC is private school, not public like the UCs. And out of curiosity, what state are you from? Most of my friends, actually, are from out-of-state; IMO there seem to be a ton of Texans here.</p>
<p>Really? i actually know more liberals than conservatives...
although I must say, I think most people are more moderate than extremely one way... it's not like the CAMPUS is really one way or another, you can't really tell what anyone is unless you ask them.</p>
<p>Campus is beautiful. Surrounding area...I've heard it's really sketchy, although I have never needed to really leave campus.</p>
<p>Though liberals are definitely in the majority ( I would estimate a 65/35 percent split favoring liberals), USC definitely has the strongest conservative presence of any top 30 school. Unfortunately, academia tends to be extremely liberal, but USC tends to be one of the most balanced schools around, especially in comparison to the communists at Berkely. </p>
<p>You will not be discriminated against for falling on either side of the political spectrum. Don't worry about it.</p>
<p>It has a good conservative presence, considering their are a lot of rich people, who are almost always republicans. Everyone in my suite is a democrat. The USC democrat club is larger than USC's republican club, but then again, Berkeley's biggest club is their Republican club, so you can't really go off that alone. I've noticed a good balance.</p>
<p><em>gasp</em> communists at Berkeley! shut your mouth.</p>
<p>gays and lesbians?</p>
<p>We are a very accepting community in that way. There is a LGBT office for the students, a Rainbow Floor, and a generally accepting environment. Look at last weeks Daily Trojan papers to get an idea of some of the events surrounding Coming Out Week.</p>