<p>I was accepted into USC and in doing my research about the school it seems that having a car is definitely recommended. Can anyone confirm or deny this?</p>
<p>I figured it would be, but it seems like it might be worth it.</p>
<p>It's nice, but not necessary. You'll definitely want a friend with a car, but you can get by without a car. Are you from California? Some of the fees of driving in California can catch you by surprise if you are out of state. Check out all of the financial aspects, and if you have enough to afford it, go for it. If you don't have the money, you'll find other ways to get around.</p>
<p>I am from California. The reason I am wondering is because I was planning on going to UC Davis (a bike campus) till I was accepted into USC.</p>
<p>A car is not essential, and can be a major hassle given expensive parking, insurance and the occasional break-ins/vandalism around the USC neighborhood.</p>
<p>Plenty of your friends will have cars, and there are lots of things to do on and near campus for fun. Unless there is some specialized activity or internship that you must get to regularly with a car, it's quite easy to not have a vehicle at USC.</p>
<p>One option I highly recommend is a Zipcar membership that lets you rent a variety of cars by the hour. There are a dozen different vehicles parked around campus. You just reserve the car for when you need it, and you don't have to worry about the gas, maintenance or parking for the car. I've found it to be invaluable for quick errands. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.zipcar.com/usc/%5B/url%5D">http://www.zipcar.com/usc/</a></p>
<p>Hhe, I'm from TN, so I will definantly not have a car.</p>
<p>i thought freshmen can't have cars... o_o? like they allow cars after the 1st semester or something? that's what i heard.. from somewhere i forgot.. maybe i got it mixed up with another school.</p>
<p>NED5555!!! Thanks for the Zipcar link - We knew nothing about it, and it sounds great!</p>
<p>anyone have a statistic from somewhere or maybe an estimate of how many freshman, percentage wise, have a car?</p>
<p>I'd estimate that a fourth to a third of freshmen have cars. The many students from somewhere in SoCal use them to drive home for weekends. Very few out of state freshmen bring cars, and they get along just fine and no one minds giving them rides.</p>
<p>I have a really nice BMW 325ci that I take great care of...payed myself. </p>
<p>Do you think that it will get damaged at USC. vandalized/broken into and stuff.</p>
<p>Yea iv heard quite a few stories of cars and bikes being vandalised and trsahed...</p>
<p>I am a freshman who didn't have a car first semester, had one second semester. I must say, you don't really need a car. The campus has almost everything you need, and there are so many ways to get around. </p>
<p>That said, once I brought my car, my life is sooo much better. I'm from socal, so i can go get stuff from home, visit friends, go run errands, just..do more things. Car=freedom.</p>
<p>You don't really need a car, but its nice to have one and it'll save you time and trouble. (it took me an hour and a half to get somewhere by bus although my car would've taken me 10 minutes once =_=) or you can take a taxi but of course its expensive as well.</p>
<p>And you can have a car as a freshman (speaking from experience)</p>
<p>
[quote]
expensive parking, insurance and the occasional break-ins/vandalism around the USC neighborhood.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah I experienced all of these. Your car will get vandalized if you are not careful! My car got broken into this summer and it was moved from its original spot and the windows were left open. Oh and the handle was missing. Surprisingly they took nothing although they left bunch of finger prints. <em>shrugs</em></p>
<p>If you already live in california anyways might as well bring a car. You dont have to mess with the DMV and new insurance like I had to. It's just that parking will probably cost you. Don't park at the parking center, the security kinda sucks. Or if you do, at least move it around and dont keep it in the same spot.</p>