East Coast Trojan Families

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>I wanted to start this thread for all the families who come from the Eastern half of the US to share tips on sending your child across country for college. Some tips have already been shared on <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1152150-move-day-dilemma.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1152150-move-day-dilemma.html&lt;/a>, but this gives us a place to share information.</p>

<p>This new Trojan momma is on the coast of North Carolina. DS is going to be living in a Triple in Birnkrant. Will we get to see his room at Orientation?</p>

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<p>We’re in North Florida, 200 miles from the East coast. We usually fly to USC through Atlanta, but for MI are taking the train from New Orleans so she can bring all her musical equipment. D is actually flying to Orientation alone from Chicago (where we will be for her sister’s graduation from Northwestern). D is in a triple in Birnkrant. We hope she can see her room at orientation! Figure it will be good to give her a trial solo run on the airplane.</p>

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<p>I’m an incoming freshman from Richmond VA, and my parents are coming with me to orientation and staying with relatives about 50 minutes away from campus. We’re getting to SoCal a day early and leaving a day late, but I’ll only be spending one night on campus. In the fall I’ll be living in an 8-person suite in Arts & Humanities, but I’m not sure if we’re staying in our actual assigned rooms/dorms for orientation. I’m pretty sure that my parents will be flying with me and staying with my relatives again on move-in day.</p>

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<p>Hey guys -</p>

<p>East coast native (northern VA) USC '14 here - I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about the moving to USC, the freshman experience, and such.</p>

<p>NC Mom: If I remember correctly, there were tours of some dorms, and at least during my orientation, Birnkrant was one of them - I distinctly remember one of my former friends boasting one of the triples (she would be living in one).</p>

<p>Trolka: How much music equipment does she have? I had to bring quite a chunk to. Some of the minor stuff - music stands, mic stands, and such - you might be better served just purchasing another upon arrival.</p>

<p>27dreams: You do NOT stay in your assigned dorm rooms during orientation. All freshmen stay in New/North during Orientation, separated into guys side and girls side. I notice you say you’ll only be spending the night on campus once, but I’d strongly urge you to reconsider - some will differ, but at least in my experience, I met a lot of cool people and made some good friends at orientation, and it’s the people you meet and bond with at orientation who will be your initial “welcoming party/social safety net” once you arrive on movein day.</p>

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<p>troikamom, is your daughter going to be a Popular Music major? I remember seeing your username on the music acceptance thread, and I think your D and I got into a few of the same programs. How much/what kind of equipment is your D bringing on move-in day? I own a full setup including a mixer, speakers, large guitar amp, mic, keyboard, drumset, and some guitars, but I was thinking of selling most of that and only taking 2 guitars (1 acoustic, 1 electric), my mic, a portable laptop input device, and some extra cords. Do you think I could get that on and off connected flights if my parents take the guitars in their cases as carry-on items? I’d prefer not to check them and I fear that the train might be a hassle because we’re not used to it. Should I bring anything else or buy a new (smaller) amp in CA once I sell some of the other stuff? I have no idea whether or not the practice rooms at USC have amps.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice, Lencias. If you or anyone else has any input regarding my post about music equipment, please feel free to share. The more info the better.</p>

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<p>Lencias, can we ship boxes there before Move In Day? Will they hold them?</p>

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<p>27dreams, I will try to get some answers for you. I do know that even drummers (one of my son’s suite-mates was a drummer) did not bring full drum kits. They used USC’s, both for practice and performances. My son had 2 or 3 guitars (although we live close by, so he could always swap them out) and, I believe (perhaps not, though, I will check) a small practice amp in his room. I know he tries never to check his guitars on flights - doling them out to parents seems like a good idea. </p>

<p>My son didn’t even bother with a music stand (which of course, bothered me, worrying about his neck looking at music on a flat surface).</p>

<p>I think a mic is a common thing for popular music singers to have in their dorms. Will try to find more answers, but the popular music dept. (Erin, Chris Sampson’s assistant) may have some as well.</p>

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<p>Thank you, jazz/shreddermom!</p>

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<p>ah I’m a voice minor (musical theatre) so I don’t know about amps in the practice rooms! I think there may be some, but I can’t really remember. I know there are tons of pianos…</p>

<p>I got a keyboard for Christmas that I kept in my dorm room. It came in handy, as the pianos in the Parkside practice rooms are not tuned well at all. </p>

<p>You can’t ship anything before move-in day, but you can ship things that will arrive after you do.</p>

<p>You probably won’t see your exact room at orientation, but there are tours of all of the dorms. Well, not quite–I know I saw Parkside IRC at orientation, not Arts & Humanities, and the layouts are a bit different. I’d guess they only tour one building at southside (Marks, Marks, Pardee, Trojan) as well, though I could be mistaken. </p>

<p>I didn’t actually make that many friends at orientation, I met most of my friends during Welcome Week & during the school year.</p>

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<p>NC Mom: See wisdomsomehow’s answer (you can’t have anything arrive before movein day). </p>

<p>27dreams:
I agree with WSH (long name -.-), it’s very nice to have a keyboard in your room. What size you need it to be (99, 76, 47, whatever) will depend on what you use it for - pianists probably want as close to a full 88 key rack as possible, but composers/songwriters can do with far less. I personally have the Oxygen 47. </p>

<p>If you have a half decent hardcase for your guitars, sticking that in checked luggage is no big deal. In fact, on one occasion, I tried to take my acoustic as carry on but they ended up checking it at the gate anyway. But now I just check it, and it always comes out fine. </p>

<p>And in terms of the rest of the equipment… You don’t really need a hardware mixer, I do all my mixing in software (Logic Pro), and certainly nothing ultra hardcore - I do fine with a Firestudio Mobile. Anything epic-er than that I’m sure you can use the University’s facilities or something. The speakers and amp, if you really want/need them, have them shipped. With the guitar practice, you can always DI into your computer through the interface and use Guitar Rig (or some other amp simulator) to adjust your tone as you desire and practice through headphones. </p>

<p>What mic do you have? I’d recommend a dynamic over a condenser just because dorm rooms in general have TRASH acoustics and a condenser is really only as good as the room it’s in.</p>

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<p>Forgot about keyboards. My son had a smaller one; his roommate had a larger one.</p>

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<p>Yes, D is popular music major. The main things she wants to bring are two guitars and a fairly large amp that she really favors. If not for the amp, we could have flown and carried on the guitars and checked a lot of luggage. But it seemed like the train would alleviate the hassle of worrying about baggage restrictions, lost bags and the worry that the flight attendants sometimes take the guitars away at the gate, and also allow her to bring the amp. I have heard horror stories about lost guitars and attendants don’t always allow you to carry on. I’m not convinced she should bring the amp, but she seems determined to do it. Maybe she’ll find out more about equipment options at USC during orientation.
We hope we’ll enjoy the cross-country scenery through the picture window on the train and just avoid the flying hassles. Someone recommended it to us as a fun thing to do. Figured it’s worth a try.</p>

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<p>Hey…palm beach county here </p>

<p>My daughter is bringing her blow dryer and flat iron. </p>

<p>Lol. I just wanted to make u laugh.</p>

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<p>LOL, stalkermama!</p>

<p>How can we find the official mailing addresses for our kids? Will they give us that at Orientation? Are the mailboxes in each dorm?</p>

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<p>They need far less than they think they do. For son1 we took the minimalist approach. The trip was over 1500 miles and because of work schedules we chose to fly. Two suitcases filled with his clothes and only essential personal grooming items. Before arrival I found a local Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond where we bought a few basics but again nothing major (no TVs, microwaves or mini-fridges etc). </p>

<p>If they get along with their dorm-mates there’s more than enough sharing going on to cover most “emergencies”. Finally, with airline bag fees being what they are, it’s cheaper to ship the things that they absolutely have to have; so they’ll just have to make due until the CARE package arrives. After all, they’re going to college in LA, not moving to the densest jungles of Borneo.</p>

<p>Musicians present a different problem so I’d definitely ship amps later (like after you’ve talked to your roommate and RA).</p>

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<p>I don’t know exactly how mailing things works for other dorms, but you get an address for the building and then you put your room number. So, for example, if you wanted to send something to your daughter who lives in room 1203B in Parkside (that room doesn’t exist, for the record), you’d send it to
Jane Smith
920 W. 37th Pl.
1203B
Los Angeles, CA 90007</p>

<p>Presumably, if you want to send something to room 11309845 in Pardee, you’d send it to
John Doe
614 Hellman Way
11309845
Los Angeles, CA 90007.</p>

<p>Here are the addresses for all the freshmen dorms. They are all Los Angeles, CA 90007 obviously.
New/North:
635 USC McCarthy Way</p>

<p>Birnkrant:
642 W. 34th St.</p>

<p>Pardee:
614 Hellman Way</p>

<p>Marks Tower:
612 Hellman Way</p>

<p>Marks Hall:
631 Childs Way</p>

<p>Trojan Hall:
615 W. 36th St.</p>

<p>Fluor Tower:
1027 W. 34th St</p>

<p>Parkside IRC:
3771 S. McClintock Ave</p>

<p>Parkside A&H
920 W. 37th Pl.</p>

<p>and I guess Radisson isn’t a dorm anymore? Not sure about that, here’s the address anyways:
615 W. 35th St.
zip code: 90089 (don’t know why it’s different, I think that’s the health sciences campus zip code?)</p>

<p>every room has it’s own mailbox to the best of my knowledge. They’re like PO boxes and if you get a package, you check it out from the CSC (customer service center I think?). You give them your USCard, they verify it’s you, and hand you the package after you sign for it. To the best of my knowledge, all the mailrooms are near/in the lobby and quite close to the front desk. You and your roommate each get a key for your mailbox when you check in. There are 4 mailboxes per suite, one for each room.</p>

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<p>Thanks Wisdom! It will be nice for my son to include the new address with his thank you cards!</p>

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<p>We live just outside Washington, DC, and I would second what vinceh says about shipping stuff rather than carting it along. Amazon and Overstock.com are your friends. I sent one set of sheets with my son and ordered a second set online to be delivered after he moved in, for example. When he moved into an apartment I bought some cookware online which he really appreciated. Nonetheless when he first got out there we did send along two big boxes on the plane, which was cheaper than paying shipping via the postal service.</p>

<p>The other big pain is airfare back and forth, of course. I watch for the Virgin sales like a hawk because they have a lot of nonstop flights and fortunately for us fly into Dulles. Once you’ve done this leg back and forth a few times you really appreciate the nonstop flights. Southwest of course is also good because of the two free bags but most SW flights have layovers.
I can’t even count at this point how many times now all of us in the family have flown back and forth to LA, as a group or singly.</p>

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<p>hello from NC as well. Our son is moving out “alone” in August as a freshman but we know a young couple in LA who we are shipping boxes to and they are assisting with move in. We are thankful. We have heard about moving in a day earlier(which would be great since navigating the crowds may be difficult for a newbie). Any advice?</p>

<p>We plan to visit at Labor Day to help him with things that he needs for his room. Thanks!</p>