<p>D also pledged. She made it through the various rush elimination periods and each time SHE had to decide which to cut, finally coming down to two on the final day. She's not blonde and though from Dallas has strong family ties and has spent most of her summers in NE Ohio. In fact she and a friend from USC were in Ohio this past weekend for the birthday for one of her closest cousins.</p>
<p>The sororities all have their own personalities and the reason she really liked the one she ended up pledging from day one was the fact that they not only say but practice the belief that they want you for who you are and don't want to change you into someone else.</p>
<p>There is currently a dorm that has sorority floors for those wanting to live with their sisters but who can't (or don't want to) live in the houses which are absolutely beautiful, huge, new mansions in Greek Town. The houses have very strict rules regarding intervisitation etc and for that reason many choose not to live there. There is some still unresolved question as to whether that dorm will remain Greek housing even next year but for the time being it is an alternative to living in the houses.</p>
<p>D lives in Capstone but plans to move to south campus as well for all the reasons PA Mom mentioned plus South Quad is the preferential housing for sophomore Capstone Scholars. She does have a requirement to spend one year in the House and plans to do that junior year.</p>
<p>As PA Mom also said, freshman dorms at USC (and honestly virtually everywhere else we visited) aren't the nicest. Columbia is suite style sharing a bath between two rooms but has an unusually long counter (with sinks etc) that runs down one side of the room that really chops up the room into a sleeping area and a dressing area. It is bigger than many rooms we saw in other dorms but we were also comparing it to Capstone when we toured and honestly weren't being very objective. It is very convenient though for many core freshman classes which are located nearby. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info eadad. I had no idea that there was a requirement to spend 1 year in greek village. I don't think D would have a problem with the requirement. The area is beautiful and close to the wellness center, which she loved.</p>
<p>as far as I know, all the freshman center dorms have laundry facilities.S is in Maxcy and it too uses the Carolina card swipe to pay for a load.
S is applying to live next year in the Horseshoe area Honors apts,they are much smaller buildings and don't all have laundry facilities.
Won't be a tragedy for him though,he only washes when he absolutely runs out of stuff to wear.He brought me home a duffel full of dirty clothes over Christmas, he dumped his laundry bag into the duffel.
I made the mistake of asking whether he had ever changed his sheets."Once", was the answer,because I spilled juice on them.</p>
<p>Not sure that all houses have the residency requirement, I just know that D's house has one. When you consider how expensive those houses have to be, it makes sense that they need the guaranteed revenue stream to make the math work.</p>
<p>Location near the Strom and Coliseum is great plus having a place to park cars right next to where you live which isn't always the case.</p>
<p>Ok, now my head is spinning. I stumbled across some type of Greek Forum thing....very similar to this.........and I've been reading up about sorority rushing etc. (and this while I am in work!!!)</p>
<p>Some of the Southern Sororities look kindly upon written letters of recommendations from sorority alumni. OK, the closest thing we have to anything greek is my son in a frat which is the devil of them all frats at his school, (in fact, they are on double secret probabtion forever.........)</p>
<p>So............do we have to worry if she doesn't have any connections?</p>
<p>momwithquestions - My daughter did not get any rec's ( as I said earlier- we were clueless about the process). It did not seem to be an issue for her. I would not worry too much about it.</p>
<p>From what my D has told me about the process, USC is FAR less formal about the whole rush process than many other Southern schools. U Texas for example requires special rush photos and in some cases a mini portfolio of pics to accompany the application. </p>
<p>She did say that recs can give you a leg up to a specific sorority, especially if there are any legacy factors involved but that at USC (as PA MOM has already stated) the lack of recs would not preclude you from getting a bid.</p>
<p>Hi all, I was wondering what the best freshman dorms are as well. Wheres the best area on campus. I plan to be a business major, but still want to be in the center of the campus. I was also wondering what different options they have avalible for freshman. Such as suites, apartments, regular doubles etc. Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>My S has been accepted (waiting to hear about Capstone) and we have visited USC twice. If you want suite style dorms, Columbia is fairly close to the center of campus and right next door to Capstone, which has a cafeteria. Both are a fairly close walk from Russell House student center (many dining options there, along with mail). However, Bates House is close to the engineering building, seemed to be about 4 - 6 blocks from the horseshoe --a good bus ride away! There is a cafeteria in Bates that they say serves great breakfasts. My S is majoring in engineering but chose not to stay in Bates. Although the freshman Engineering community is iin Bates, he did not care for the distance and the fact that there are only hall bathrooms. Bates West has apt. style rooms, but they are only for upperclassrmen. Freshmen live on the hall bath floors. Bates seemed to be older than Capstone or Columbia, also. The one plus is that there is a parking lot right there at Bates. I would not be crazy about having a D live in Bates---it's a long walk from most of the main campus areas.</p>
<p>S is looking through housing options for freshmen booklet that was sent in acceptance packet. From what we can figure, it seems like options for freshman who aren't honors (male students) are Capstone,The Roost, Bates House,Columbia, and Mc Bryde. Others have mentioned that Capstone is Honors only. Maybe it is Honors by floors? The Roost seems WAY OUT THERE. Any info. on McBryde, it mentions that it houses some frat members.</p>
<p>Capstone houses Honors students and Capstone scholars. I don't know if there are any rooms left over or not - I guess you could always list it as a choice and they would just move to your second choice if you were ineligible.
I think Columbia is the same situation - but I'm not 100% sure.</p>
<p>septmom
did you see Greenvilles post on page 2? It answers alot of your Q's
Columbia is not Honors and is right next door to Capstone of you like that location.Roost is by the stadium area I believe.
S has friends in McBryde,its next to the Library.Says the outside and corridors look like a prison but the rooms were nicer than his in Maxcy.Dont know if there are still frats in there.</p>
<p>Hi cathymee, I had read greenville's post. Still seems to be some confusion as to whether Capstone is honors only. Went to USC website and they list it an freshman option, not just for honors. They have pictures that offer a panoramic view (not that it is much of a view mind you). All the rooms seem pretty standard fare. Guess the big decision is do you want suite style and location on campus. As I said to son, it is a place to sleep. As a soph. you have far more options. Thanks also for all the previous answers. Think the bike idea is a good one.</p>
<p>suite style means you clean your own bathroom !!and buy your own TP...LOL
Capstone and Columbia will have the same views,I was up in the Capstone restaurant and thought the view was nice.Oh... I just realized you meant the view OF the room not the view OUTSIDE... LOL
Theres wider options for girls as there are many female only dorms
S has decided to stay on campus next year and is in the lottery for Honors apts on the Horseshoe,he likes that location though there are nicer apts in the newer Quads.
Are any Quads a freshman choice?
I priced some local apt complexes, they arent any more expensive than upper class dorms.</p>
<p>Oh my, hadn't considered that toilet cleaning issue!! Well, I'm glad it won't be me. It doesn't seem that quads are available to freshmen. All options are either traditional (hallway bathrooms) or the suite style. Upperclassmen have quads available though. I like the Horseshoe area also, can see why the kids want that area. Well, so many decisions to make. Seems S crosses something off list to be replaced with many other things to do.</p>
<p>I called USC about whether the Capstone dorm is open to all freshmen. This is what I was told :The first few floors of Capstone House are overflow from Honors. The rest of the dorm is priority for Capstone scholars, by invitation. If a Capstone student lives in Capstone House, their roommate must also be a Capstone Scholar. If your S or D hopes to be a Capstone scholar and live in that dorm, they should pick Capstone as their first choice on the dorm list. Once all Capstone scholars have been selected, then students can "sort" potential roommates on VIP by Honors College, Capstone, etc. Some Capstone scholars may prefer to live in Columbia (right next door. ...just a few steps away.) From what I understand, some overflow Capstone scholars live in Columbia, and I believe - not sure - that Capstone scholars in Columbia Hall do not have to have a Capstone scholar roommate. We toured both Capstone and Columbia on our fall visit. Both dorms were very nice, with similar room set-ups. I think that Capstone rooms seemed a bit more spacious, but the bathrooms seemed smaller. Also, there is a cafeteria in the basement of Capstone. Several parents ate lunch there and said the food was quite good. Columbia rooms have a built-in vanity that takes up a good bit of floor space, but the rooms were still nice. I think the Columbia dorm had a fairly good sized kitchen area on each floor, Capstone had a small kitchen , and not on every floor. Both dorms seemed nice...sort of a toss-up to me. Columbia Hall and Capstone are both freshman dorms. I do know that the Roost also has suites with a small living area. But quite a few people told us that the Roost is very near the athletic fields, and that is where most of the athletes live. It was a good bit away from the main horsehoe area, also.</p>
<p>Greenville,
Thanks so much for clearing this issue up. It would have been a lot easier if the housing brochure had stated this as clearly as you just did!</p>
<p>let me put a plug in for the U Choose option on the VIP system at USC.After they enroll and give the housing deposit the kids have a chance to register on there and do roomate choosing.
S did it, connected with another guy ( a Carolina Scholar) but being guys, they missed the deadline to "match".He has a random roomate who has turned out fine but has become really friendly with his missed "match" and they are rooming together next year.
Its also a fun way for them to read about people and meet up with them before they can get on the USC Facebook ( they dont get their USC email address until June).</p>
<p>One option on housing is to go ahead and sign up and pay the housing deposit now (we did so weeks ago). We did this as soon as South Carolina came into sons top three list and he was accepted into HC. The thought was to get the housing request time-stamped early in the event he wants in Maxcy which does not have room for all first year HC students. You have until June 30 to request a refund (well, $100 of the $145). You can edit dorm preference later. I have the refund request date in my calender !!!</p>