Thanks scmom, coleman and ahsmuch for the really great feedback on all things relating to the honors college and USC.
Here’s another question you might all be able to help with; it appears that Honors College has roughly 1600 students enrolled. At the same time there are 518 beds in the Honors Residence and another approximate 180 beds in “honors” apartments designated for upperclassman around Horseshoe. Roughly, that equates to about 700 beds for honors undergraduate students. Each year the incoming honors freshman class are always guaranteed on campus housing. While number of freshman entering honors college will vary from year to year, I would guess that approximating 400 new students each year is a pretty reasonable estimate.
Doing quick math then, that would suggest that roughly 1200 upperclassman (1600 honors students less 400 incoming freshman) are competing for the remaining 300 beds (700 total "honors designated housing options less 400 freshman beds).
Certainly, that number might be skewed a bit considering most juniors and seniors actually prefer to live off campus, but even with that adjustment factored, clearly there are not enough beds for all of the Honors College students to remain on campus for their second year and beyond. Yet most posts on CC, plus what we heard from our campus tour and visit, indicate that while never guaranteed, “most” Honors Students will be provided on campus housing beyond freshman year if requested.
How does that work out when numbers strongly suggest otherwise? Perhaps honors students are provided priority placement in alternative upperclassman on campus housing opportunities, even in non-designated honors residence locations like the Capstone Residence, Greek Village (if applicable) or other location(s)?
What can you share that you’ve learned in having kids enrolled in HC and getting to stay on campus in second year? Was it luck via lottery system? Do they know of o friends in HC that were denied second-year on campus housing?
I am a strong advocate of living on campus. My D is one of the lucky ones who is a senior and has lived on campus all 4 years (3 on Horseshoe). I’ll answer what I can. As far as I know honors students only have priority in honors housing (not Greek village, etc). I will say that most of D’s friends that want to stay on campus have been able to. But I have heard of students not getting second year housing. I’m reluctant to say how students are picked since it seems to change frequently, but usually you put in housing request along with roommates and they are assigned priority based on credit hours. There is probably some type of lottery since it’s not based on when you apply for housing but I do think that someone with senior hours has priority. Sometimes there are also ways to jump the line. One year a group won their first choice housing from a drawing held at a meeting about housing. It seems (anecdotally) that it is easier to stay in Honors resident as sophomore than getting on Shoe but worked out for my D.
Several things go into students not ending up in housing. Many only want spaces as groups - it is much easier to go in as single, but since shoe is apartment style many don’t want to do that. When a group can’t get housing together, sometimes they just move off campus to stay together. Last year there were single spots in some apartments and an email went out to see if there were honors students that wanted live there that hadn’t already signed up. Partly, its a timing thing. off campus apartments try to insist that students commit early so they don’t wait to see what happens with on-campus housing.
I think you are correct that many upperclassmen want to live off campus. A group of D’s friends that previously lived on Shoe moved off this year as seniors since they felt it was less expensive and they were going to around during the summer. Also, you have students who decide to live in Greek housing or with a group of friends that are not all in honors. And then some do just prefer to live off campus.
After a few bad years I think housing on campus is going to loosen up. Last year the whole women’s quad was offline during renovations. Next year the final two honors dorms on the Shoe are being renovated on staggered scheduled but upperclass honors is getting space in new dorm being built behind Darla Moore to make up for that space. Several new private dorms are being built on fringe of campus so there will be a lot more walking distance options for students in the future.
@SECfan1234 scmom12 highlighted the key points to your question. I think that most students who want to live on campus are able to live on campus. Sophomore year you will have honors students living in fraternities/sororities in addition to living off campus or in honors housing. You will also have students who will study abroad for a semester their sophomore or junior years. By senior year, I would agree that a majority of the students will want to live off campus. All of these factors open spaces for students who want to live on campus.
Thanks again everyone for time and great insight into USCHC and its second year housing options, considerations, etc. Providing some insight from your D or S experiences is really appreciated!
For what it’s worth, my D got on-campus for next year and so did her roommate, both in the Honors dorm; and my son- who isn’t in HC also got on-campus housing for all 3 years so far (incl. his junior year for next year). He chose to live off campus this current year but he did get on-campus housing (just didn’t accept it). He’s going to be back on campus next year though- he misses the convenience. So from my perspective, it seems very possible for upperclassmen to remain on campus, due to reasons scmom12 and atlkaw6 gave.
My daughter has several friends that live on the shoe as sophomores. My daughter lives in Greek Village. I think she had a couple friends that did not get on campus housing but just ended up getting an apartment off campus. They are building a brand new apartment style dorm behind the new business building that is for honors students and business students. But it is VERY expensive!!!
I can add a little more information to this topic, however my daughter, a freshman, is NOT an honors student, and is currently living in Patterson. She desired to live on campus next year for the convenience. She and a friend (also NOT an honors student, but is in the same major as my daughter) applied to Green Quad, South Quad, Preston, and the new apartment complex, 650 Lincoln (owned by both the school and a private company, Holder Properties) that is currently being built down by the Darla Moore School of Business and across the street from the Greek Village. It is within walking distance of the Horseshoe. Both Quads and Preston required an application with about five questions that my daughter took very seriously, and spent quite awhile answering on each of the three applications. There was NOT a question application for 650 Lincoln, however, anyone who called the office about this complex was told that it was to be housing mainly for athletes, business majors, and honors students, so my daughter and her friend, who were none of the above, had very little hope of getting in there. She and her friend both received an email in late December informing them that they had not received a spot in 650 Lincoln, but that they would be placed on a waiting list. Soon after, they both received an email stating that they HAD been given a spot in 650 Lincoln, not in the two-bedroom that they had requested, but in a four-bedroom unit. In early January, my daughter received an email from USC Housing saying that she had been accepted into both the Green Quad and Preston. Her friend was accepted into Green Quad. The girls decided to accept the four-bedroom unit in 650 Lincoln, as they felt that once there, all they had to do was continue to pay the rent in order to be able to stay there for the next several years, and thus not have to hope to be selected for on-campus rooming each year. Of course, the fact that the apartments come with a dishwasher, washer/dryer, wall-mounted TV, and a pool, were, of course, not at all crucial in making their final decision.
^^Glad it worked out, but if 650 Lincoln is filled by USC, then they may have to reapply next year. What they will have going for them is higher priority based on credit hours. Being a joint project it’s a new deal but don’t get your hopes up. But it’s great they ended up with several options to live on campus as sophomores. I think the fact that major renovations to womens quad are complete and new dorm are adding more capacity.
Re the having to reapply: early on in the process I sent an email to the person handling the applications for 650 Lincoln. She said that for next year current tenants will be given first priority.
Re: the 650 Lincoln, it’s not as expensive as you think when you compare to the other apartment styles on campus (i.e. Green Quad, East Quad, South Quad). When I did the math, I considered that washer/dryer- AND parking is included in 650 Lincoln whereas with one of the Quad- or other apartment styles, you still have to pay for laundry and more so, parking- which is approx $680-$700/year so once you figure those in, it’s < $500/year difference… and those don’t have dishwashers either!
My son ended up getting East Quad (Pre-Med Pre-Health LC) for next year but his chosen roommate ended up elsewhere so when they checked with Housing, they were also offered 650 Lincoln and at first, I was concerned over the price but once I added everything up, it wasn’t a big difference, unless you’re comparing with suite style dorms, which is where my son’s friend ended up …and his friend didn’t want to pay the higher cost so they’re both staying put but at least both got on campus which is great since they both share an apartment off campus this year and don’t like having to drive in every day. Ironically son gave up on-campus last year to live off campus! Go figure…
@ahsmuch - you’re right- I just checked and parking is not included at Lincoln:
The cost to park in the attached, secured parking deck is $320 / semester (Fall & Spring). Parking is provided on a first come first serve basis. … as opposed to $340 / semester at Blossom.
So I guess there’s no savings after all. East Quad is ~ $7630 ($3815/semester) and Lincoln is $8700 ($4350/semester), so Lincoln is still ~ $1k per year more, considering parking for both.
