<p>can a current USC student(s) just give a brief summary on each of the freshmen dorms at usc and their social reputations, quality, cleanliness, location, type of students, food/gym accessibility, etc.?!? THANKS!</p>
<p>I think you can find this information on a few housing threads here.</p>
<p>as i happen to be avoiding a thematic option essay right now, i will give you a quick rundown. the major frosh dorms are:</p>
<p>-new/north
two buildings that are attached. generally considered one residence hall although technically you live in either "new" or "north"...everyone refers to it as one building "new/north". don't let the "new" fool you...these are the oldest, crappiest dorms on campus. a few of my friends live there and they have ant problems. this is a traditional dorm set up where you have a bunch of rooms on a hall and you all share communal bathrooms. beware of the showers, they are gross. on the upside, the location is great since it's right next to the quad, trojan grounds (trogro), leavey library, and EVK dining hall. it is also known as the social dorm, which is true. however, it is LOUD so if you are not the party type, this is probably not for you. also, no A/C, which is a problem in the beginning and end of the year.</p>
<p>-birnkrant
basically a nicer version of new/north. people here tend to be social, but like to balance social life with school work. also a traditional dorm setup w/shared bathrooms per floor. each floor is coed, but girls are to one side of the elevator and boys to the other. great location (it's right next to new/north so see that for location). i personally would recommend birnkrant over new/north. also no a/c.</p>
<p>-pardee tower
right near the quad on the opposite end from birnkrant. short walking distance from EVK. i believe it is coed by floor, but i'm not sure. people i know who live there seem to like it, but i've never been inside so i can't comment. very close to ground zero coffee house</p>
<p>-marks hall
known to be pretty dumpy. right next to pardee tower. also not very social. however, location is good.</p>
<p>-marks tower
cannot comment</p>
<p>-trojan hall
see marks hall for pretty much the exact description</p>
<p>-parkside international residential college (PIRC)
suite-style residence halls. 8 people in 4 rooms share 2 bathrooms. this is nice because you don't have to share a communal bathroom with the whole hall. the suites are really nice and the building is only about 7 years old. most of the international freshmen live here, but i would say the whole population of the building is only about half international. people who live here love it. attached to parkside dining hall and tutor hall cafe. air conditioned.</p>
<p>-arts and humanties residential college at parkside (PAHRC)
newest dorm on campus. modeled after PIRC. i happen to live in this building. i love it! it actually wasn't on my list at all, but apparently i applied too late to get into my choices (new/north and birnkrant). most of the people here didn't apply for it since it was new and no one knew anything about it. at first i was really dissapointed because i did not want to live in a suite. now i can't imagine being anywhere else. the suites are almost the same as in PIRC, except we have a little (and i mean little) common area in each suite. air conditioned.</p>
<p>-radisson hotel
a few floors of the radisson hotel across from campus have been converted into dorms. you get all the perks of staying in a hotel, which is nice. also really nice is the fact that you have your own bathroom that you only have to share with your roommate and you get maid service! my friend who lives there loves it. it's right across the street from new/north, near the galen center.</p>
<p>-fluor tower
suite-style residence halls similar to PIRC and PAHRC except these are a bit older and have a BIG common area with a kitchenette. everyone i know who lives here loves it. it's right next to cafe 84 (home to starbucks and jamba juice) and the gym, which is why a lot of athletes live there. you will probably have to get the trojan meal plan living here, though, unless you don't mind traveling a bit to either EVK or parkside for a meal. i should also mention that instead of two small bathrooms like in PIRC and PAHRC, suites in fluor have on double bathroom with two toilet stalls, showers, etc.</p>
<p>let me know if you have any more questions.</p>
<p>some freshmen also live in century apartments and parkside apartments. the former is just across the street from campus and the latter is on campus next to PIRC and PAHRC</p>
<p>PAHRC is the best!!!! USC</a> Auxiliary Services Housing</p>
<p>you can't apply for housing before you're admitted right? how fast do the radisson hotel rooms fill up?</p>
<p>Since South Area got something of a short shrift in that earlier description, I'll add some more information.</p>
<p>Pardee Tower- Probably the newest building in the area, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. Has communal bathrooms and laundry machines on each floor. Floors are separated by gender, and there are two elevators servicing each floor. The atmosphere here is less party crazy than New/North, and certainly less than its name would imply, but it is still quite social.</p>
<p>Marks Tower- An older building as exhibited by the fact that the elevators are split up by floors- one only goes to the girls floors, while the other only goes to the guys floors :) A very similar atmosphere to Pardee, but also a much smaller building. There are only about 24 people on each floor, leading to a closer community. The laundry room is in the basement here.</p>
<p>Deans' Halls- These are specialized for TO, Scholarship, and RHP students, but open to anyone (same for Trojan). These dorms have a reputation for being very quiet, but that is really just in comparison to New/North. The main difference in social life is that there aren't many parties happening inside the building. If you want to party, you can always find a group going out to the row, but if you want to study, that is actually possible in your room. Both of the Deans' Halls work together, and are fairly similar. They also share a residential faculty member, who lives in Trojan Hall and plans events for all of the Deans' Hall students. Recent things that he has done include Jazz Nights, Midnight trips for food during finals, and a trip to see a new musical in town. Now that you know the similarities of Deans' Halls, here are the differences-</p>
<p>Marks Hall- The smaller of the two halls, this only has two floors with people living on it, and is separated by gender. The girls live on the 3rd floor, while the guys live on the 2nd. There are two sets of shared bathrooms per floor. About 45 people live on each floor. In the basement of this building there is a very small, poorly supplied work out room, a strange, small library with rather useless books that is a good place to study, and a laundry room. Claim to fame- Jenny's dorm in Forrest Gump</p>
<p>Trojan Hall- This is the bigger hall, as it is L shaped. The office of admission is actually on the ground floor of this building. Guys live on one side of the L on the first floor, and on the entire 3rd floor. Girls live on the second floor. There are about 200 people in this hall, 45 on each wing. There is a laundry room in the basement. The bathrooms in this building are somewhat more modern than those in Marks Hall. Claim to Fame- Will Ferrell live on the first floor his freshman year at USC.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>hopefully someone will know the answer to this but what are the cons to the Fluor Tower?! it seems really isolated on the map of the campus so I'm kind of iffy about it, but I love the suite-style. and what dorm would you recommend if I don't like to share bathrooms with lots of people & isn't party central? Thank you!</p>
<p>ALSO, the Radisson seems absolutely perfect but will living completely across the street from the campus & living in a hotel room hinder a person from truly experiencing the 'college life' ?</p>
<p>bump! 10 char please :]</p>
<p>Keep in mind that although it is at one corner of campus, the campus itself isn't too large, so you can easily visit your friends whenever you want to. Flour Tower is also right next to Cafe 84 and the Lyon Center, which is nice. And the University Village is just across the street, which is convenient if you need to buy groceries.</p>
<p>I'm not too sure, but I think at Parkside (can't remember which one, but the one with the suites, at least) but you only have to share your bathroom with your suitemates only as well. So that's another possibility for you.</p>