freshman housing appeal?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>On my housing application, I listed four residence halls, turned in the app early, and still somehow got put into Arts and Humanities Residential College. I did not want to live here because it seems far away from everything and I'd rather be closer to the larger freshmen community. Plus, if I lived in a residence hall I could save some money that I REALLY probably should save. The problem is, if I appeal and IF there is space elsewhere and they can move me, my roommate will not be based on the personal profile so it could be anyone... Also, I don't know where they would move me too, though I don't think that matters too much.</p>

<p>last question: I heard that people don't like Marks Tower; what's wrong with it?</p>

2

<p>the gist is that it’s old and dirty and tiny</p>

3

<p>I hear Marks Tower is exactly like Pardee Tower which has a good reputation…</p>

<p>Plenty of people are in the same situation as you and are applying for reassignment. Do you have a problem being split with your roommate? Did you guys request each other?</p>

4

<p>Hey I was also assigned to the Arts and Humanities Residential College even though it was not one of my preferences! I’m filling out the Reassignment Request now where I have to write the building that I want to change my housing to and I also have the option of listing a roommate as apart of my reassignment request… do you still want to reassign to another building? maybe we could figure something out? let me know :)</p>

5

<p>Pardee has a good reputation? Ha, yeah right. Marks (both of them), New/North and Pardee are pretty bad. Definitely take Parkside if you can.</p>

<p>And honestly it’s not “too far away” from everything. You have tons of other freshmen in Parkside A&H and IRC, plus the dining hall is right there. Trust me, all those people who live on the other side of campus will be coming to Parkside to eat after they’re tired of EVK.</p>

6

<p>Wow, I had no idea so many people hate on Arts and Humanities. I was so insanely jealous of the new freshmen when it opened up during my sophomore year.</p>

<p>How will you miss out on a “freshman community” in a large housing complex with 90%+ freshmen residents? Saying that is a bit naive and really misguided; I’m convinced a lot of you don’t really understand the Parksides and the area of campus it’s in.</p>

<p>It’s not far away, and Parkside will be your home dining hall – that’s a good thing. EVK is…well, let’s just say it often gets a B rating from the health inspector. Parkside’s food is great. You’ll be very close to the Art, Engineering, Science and Philosophy buildings, which even if you’re not majoring in those, you will most likely have GEs there your first semester.</p>

<p>If you want to visit friends in Marks or New North, it’s seriously a 3-5 minute bike ride or a 10 minute walk.</p>

<p>I guess cost is an issue, but the price different isn’t really that much; with the Parksides, you’re paying for the added benefit of living in newly constructed buildings with more room space, AC and less trafficked facilities. Would you really in all honestly prefer to share a bathroom with 40 other students versus 7/6/5? Do you really want to be in a building that was build 40-50 years ago with bad ventilation and bug infestations? (Oh yes, infestations. Rats in the elevator shaft when I lived in Fluor; ants invaded my friend’s room in Marks and never left; crickets and cockroaches in Cardinal Gardens…Let’s also not forget the pipe in my closet in Cardinal that burst TWICE in 6 months and ruined all my clothes!)</p>

<p>All I’m trying to say is…you should be happy. Give it a chance. There’s no reason to switch. If I could do it all over again, I’d totally pick Arts and Humanities. It is a really nice freshman dorm. Hawkwings is/was a USC student, and I was too – so do take our word for it. I’m sure between him and I, we have a load of horror stories from the “big dorms” that will make Arts and Humanities seem like the Taj Mahal.</p>

<p>Please just give it a try. If you really hate it, you can switch in the first few weeks when housing switches are allowed. I bet, though, you will love Parkside. And, you’ll probably find all your friends will want to come stay with you when it’s 100 degrees out and their New North room is an oven. ;)</p>

7

<p>Zelda’s right. No matter what dorm you’re in, you’ll make friends, there’s people of all types in all the dorms. And everything’s in walking distance at SC, and unless you insist on being lazy, nothing’s too far. I don’t see why everyone wants to be in/near Northside so badly… must be something about wanting to hang with the “cool kids” (read: massive partiers) where “everything’s hoppin’”… bro. And I’d dare say that there are probably nearly as many students in the Parkside area total (IRC + A&H) as there are Northside or Southside (maybe even total!).</p>

<p>If I’d gotten A&H even though it wasn’t one of my prefs… I’d have kicked myself for not having applied for housing sooner, been grateful I didn’t get put in Trojan (<strong>shudder</strong> ick), and at least have given it a chance. But that’s just me.</p>

8

<p>I loved Parkside. It’s really really nice, and I think the rooms there are bigger than any other freshman dorms. When heat waves come along, it’s super nice to have AC as well. I managed to never eat at EVK (other than during orientation, when we had no other choice), but almost everyone I know liked Parkside better. At first, it does seem kind of out of the way, but it’s really not bad at all. I walked the entire year and never had any problems. It’s a mile to the row, but Parkside Express runs between Parkside, Gateway, & the Row every 15 mins from 10pm-2:45am and the tram runs M-F if you’re feeling super lazy. There are plenty of freshmen in both Parksides, and if you want to make friends in your dorm, it’s definitely possible. </p>

<p>Seriously, though, Parkside is super nice. Plus we have private bathrooms that are cleaned 4x a week. I have no complaints about it, really!</p>

9

<p>My son, an architecture major, was thrilled to get A&H at Parkside on the Architecture floor. We didn’t know about the bathroom cleaning though. That is good…no, GREAT, news! I was worried about eight guys taking on that task. When do the cleaners come and do the kids need to be sure they’re there, or how does that work?</p>

10

<p>nope! They have a key that gets them through the suite door (but not the individual room doors, I’m assuming) so they can clean the bathrooms. It’s a thorough cleaning twice a week and a less thorough cleaning twice a week. I don’t know what exactly that means, that’s just what the piece of paper in the bathroom says. You’re supposed to move your bathroom stuff when they clean but I think I was the only one who did that for my bathroom (A/B share one and so do C/D). They come at some point during the day, maybe like 10-1ish?</p>

<p>I didn’t even know Parkside had an architecture floor! That’s cool!</p>

11

<p>Thanks Wisdom, I can’t tell you good that is to know!</p>

<p>The Art & Architecture floor does sound very cool, doesn’t it? My son is super excited about living there.</p>

12

<p>Zelda: still a USC student, though studying abroad this semester. Yes, the semester is still not over for me. Sigh.</p>

<p>I will say that I felt EVK was more consistent with their food, and Parkside had some good meals but some really bad ones too. They remodeled EVK my sophomore year so it’s better now, but it’s still got a reputation. If I want to go to a dining hall, I usually go to EVK because I know exactly what I can expect to be there. I’ve had great meals at Parkside but I’ve also had terrible ones, whereas in EVK there’s always bland but decent food.</p>

<p>The two exceptions to the rule are this. 1. EVK waffles. EVK has wafflemakers that make big, soft, and delicious USC waffles. What are USC waffles you ask? They’re waffles that have USC ironed into them of course! They are delicious straight from the waffle iron. There will be a line. It is worth it. 2. EVK grill, which is in the patio area behind EVK. It’s only open for lunch and early dinner, but it is consistently good. And I mean GOOD. Their burgers are amazing, they have pork chops, fish, grilled veggies, etc. Overall I’ve felt that EVK has improved while Parkside has gone downhill.</p>

<p>I’d still rather have lived in Parkside though. I’d bike to EVK if I wanted to eat there. Seriously, it’s not far at all. And as for freshman population, probably equal numbers of freshmen live in both Parksides as live in all the dorms on the other side of campus near McCarthy Quad. Don’t worry, you will meet other freshmen. HORDES of other freshmen. You’ll get annoyed by how many of them are there. I sure am. Coming back to campus next year means navigating yet another new crop of annoying little freshmen with their 20+ person groups and their lanyards and ugh…</p>

<p>OK rant over. Go live in Parkside, you will love it.</p>

13

<p>I thought they took away the waffle makers because they became an issue? It might have been when EVK burned down my freshman year? (Which was inadvertently started by my friend who put toast in the toaster oven after someone had put toast with peanut butter ALREADY ON IT through…Oh but this is another story entirely…)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>LOLd so hard. LANYARDS.</p>

<p>And I’m going to emphasize what someone else here said about the USC tram, Campus Cruiser and Parkside Express. USE IT! If you’re concerned about not being able to go to parties, the tram picks you up right in front of Parkside dining hall and can drop you off at multiple places on the row. (or, really any other place, for that matter – Troy East, Portland, Ellendale, etc.)</p>

<p>You can’t take a Cruiser if where you’re going is on a tram route, though – so get acquainted with the schedule now. As a former Campus Cruiser driver/dispatcher, I can assure you that being familiar with the schedule/routes will save CC a lot of hassle explaining the system and arguing with unruly drunk freshmen at 1am on a Friday.</p>

14

<p>Oh man, I’ve got a lot of friends that are cruisers, and they share their stories of awful PRs all the time. The one call someone got to take a freshman from EVK to the Galen Center, the one that just wanted to go down to the other end of the row, and lots of “Like duh, I’m not gonna walk, it’s raining!”</p>

15

<p>I could fill up an entire thread with my Campus Cruiser horror stories. Another day, another thread though.</p>

<p>But I will say this to the Freshmen who will read this thread: Campus Cruiser is a PRIVILEGE, not a right. It is merely a supplement to the tram service and exists for the students who live in areas the trams do not go. Do not ***** at the drivers or dispatchers when they tell you they cannot drive you from New North to Parkside, or Marks to the Row. No not make up excuses about how you don’t like the tram. Don’t try and tell them you can’t take the tram to the Row at 11pm at night because you’re “in a rush.” Etc, etc, etc. CC drivers/dispatchers are students, too. They know all the tricks in the book. You’re in no rush to that party, and you’re more than capable of walking/biking or taking the tram to Parkside at 5:30pm on a Thursday.</p>

16

<p>THANK YOU all for your insights and advice!! I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it. I think you have managed to change my mind, Arts and Humanities is starting to sound really inviting. So what I’m getting from this is that it’s not true that A&H is “unsocial” or whatever? awesome!
To ank123, I would have loved to try rooming with you! but I have already sent in my request (without a roommate attached), and now I’m probably going to cancel my request.
Thank you guys for convincing me and making my decision easier. any more insights as to why Arts and Humanities is awesome? :)</p>