<p>Residence Hall space is a traditional college dorm. Bathrooms are shared by the students on the floor. This includes New/North, a popular and social freshman dorm.</p>
<p>Suite style spaces are units that have several student rooms sharing a small common area, including a bathroom. Parkside Suites is an example of this. There are 2 students in each of the 4 bedrooms in the suite, which share a private hallway and 2 bathrooms.</p>
<p>On-Campus apartment space can be an apartment with 1 bedroom for 2 students, 2 bedrooms for 4 students, etc. Apartments have their own bathroom, kitchen and small living area. Century and Cardinal Gardens are popular apartments for freshman. They are just across the street from the campus, so I do not know if USC calls them "off campus"</p>
<p>North University Park Apartments are USC-owned apartments that may be several blocks from campus. I am not familiar with this housing, though I assume the configuration/furniture is the same as other USC apartments.</p>
<p>^ No, it was definitely Pardee, as it was completed just in time for the games in '84. Until Parkside was built a few years ago, Pardee was actually USC's newest residential hall. Webb was built earlier, in the early 70s.</p>
<p>I am planning on buying a desktop PC for my D who will be starting as a freshman this fall, and she plans on placing the LCD monitor on the shelf (in the hutch) so that it does not clutter up her table top. Could some current student let me know the following measurements? Thanks in advance for your help.
1) the height from the top of the bottom shelf to the bottom of the top shelf?
2) the width of the bottom shelf</p>
<p>I am trying to figure out the size of the biggest LCD monitor that can be placed in the bottom shelf. (P.S. I am assuming that the shelves are not adjustable.)
PNyer</p>
<p>I think a laptop would be better - its easier to transport to and from school and also can be taken to class for projects or to friends rooms to study. Most students I know don't use desktops.</p>
<p>The hutch of a standard USC desk (space between the lower shelf and the upper/printer shelf) is about 15.9'' The shelf is about 38.5'' wide. I use a Samsung 730B 17'' LCD monitor and there is less than 1'' of clearance between the screen and the top shelf. A 17'' monitor is about the largest that will fit, unless you go widescreen.</p>
<p>It is true that most students bring laptops because they are easier to carry and can be brought to class. I find my desktop more comfortable for intensive research and writing, and it's also great for entertainment and gaming. However, I also have a laptop that I use in class.</p>
<p>it's okay.
i don't think most kids will have two computers when in college though. I think one laptop will do the trick, considering the expenses for computers.</p>
<p>Yep, most students go with one laptop and sometimes hook that up to an external LCD for more screen space. Personally, I go the desktop-plus-laptop route; it's my dad's old laptop, and works great. If you can afford it, and know how to use it, I suggest both a desktop and a laptop. If one breaks down, you're still ok - and if you need extra computing power, you have easy access to it.</p>
<p>I have a desktop, and when I need a laptop(rarely) I borrow my parent's. Of course, not everyone has their permanent residence so close to campus that borrowing would be easy.</p>
<p>As a born techno-geek, I tried the whole take-notes-on-laptop thing, and guess what, I hated it. Give me my blue pen and spiral notebook any day.</p>
<p>But I do want a laptop (maybe a macbook <em>drool</em>) not for class though, but because I'm getting involved in more research and I often need to show professors my stuff in their offices and it's easier with my own little laptop. </p>
<p>Probably I would get a 12"-13" laptop as the primary computer, and plug it into my 17" LCD monitor and keyboard/mouse. That way, it's like having both a desktop and laptop :)</p>
<p>Ned5555, thanks for the information. My D and I spend some time discussing the laptop vs desktop issue. We haven't made a final decision, but I might get her a desktop for now and then upgrade her to a laptop in Spring or in Fall next year - if she feels the need for a laptop. Or like some of you have suggested, she might keep both, though seeing how small those rooms are, and how tiny the desks are, I fail to see how you folks manage to avoid tripping over stuff in your rooms.</p>
<p>Pnyer - Before you make a decision, one that will cost from a couple of hundred dollars, up to as much as a couple of thousand dollars, i would recommend doing some more reading.</p>
<p>Below are a few threads. The first one in the list is one that I starated. (the other threads are ones that i just now found, when doing a search).</p>
<p>After all the input to my thread, i totally changed my mind away from a Desktop and to a Laptop. (In fact, we just recently purchased a Dell laptop that was $400 off their normal price. We have already given it to our son, as an early Grad present. He loves it).</p>
<p>The biggest arguments that I recall, from the thread that I started, in favor of a laptop were: **travel<a href="trips%20home%20for%20the%20weekend,%20or%20during%20Christmas%20break,%20on%20a%20plane,%20train,%20car,%20etc.">/b</a> and ability to **use anywhere<a href="in%20the%20library,%20another%20student's%20room,%20in%20a%20lab,%20in%20class,%20out%20on%20the%20lawn,%20etc.%20etc">/b</a>. Don't take my word for it. Read the posts. </p>
<p>When considering a desktop, also keep your housing in mind. Some dorm rooms certainly are small. Each side of the room may have a bed and desk butting up against each other, leaving very little space for a desktop tower on the floor. You would have to place it on the desk or at your feet. </p>
<p>In New/North, I've seen some students use the window ledge next to their desk to hold their desktops, though it's a rather precarious position.</p>
<p>When it comes to desktop vs laptop, you also need to remember the logistics of getting your computer to campus as well as what are you going to do with it during the summer. If you live within driving distance of 'SC, then a desktop shouldn't be a problem. But for people like me, who have to fly home, the desktop doesn't work out at all. I would be stuck storing it during the summer. Personally, I have just a laptop, so come summer I can just take it with me in my backpack on the flight home.</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of the HI kids also get laptops for similar reasons. It's nice to be able to bring your computer to wherever you'll be over the summer (&/or winter) break. For HI kids, that's an airplane flight too, unless they don't go home for breaks--rarer.</p>
<p>How easy is it to get involved with either a jazz band or orchestra if you're not a music major? Are there auditions and are they really difficult for non-Thornton kids to try out/make the band?</p>
<p>I kinda don't want to give up jazz band; I've loved it so much in high school. It's just so hard being a pianist because EVERYONE can play piano in college.</p>
<p>Also, are private lessons offered to non music majors? Do they cost money, or are they considered a class, or (god willing) are they free?</p>