im trying to find a place thats social and where i can make friends since I won’t be knowing anyone. if anyone has advice on the different housing options on and off campus + maybe some advice about finding the right roommates, and anything else i should know that’d be helpful. thanks!
Troy would be a good USC Housing option, but I believe that they transitioned Troy to graduate housing primarily. But all USC Housing (other than specific freshman housing) can be assigned for undergraduate transfers if space is later available. Or that is at least how I understand it. You may wish to simply call or email USC Housing to have them identify what spots may remain within their housing options. Tel: (800) 872-4632, (213) 740-2546 / Email: housing@usc.edu
The only actual on-campus housing residential halls and apts which may be available to you would be Webb, Parkside and whatever may be an option still in the Village. My older daughter lived in Webb as a freshman & chose Century for her sophomore and junior years because the units there are relatively cheap, larger and there is A/C throughout the units. They also have a pool and parties, etc. at Century.
The housing websites offers a description of each building, including their features:
As for non-USC Housing, I would recommend looking into Gateway. It is private but still offers individual leases. And it is directly adjacent to the main campus. It is primarily filled with students too… so you should be able to meet people quickly there.
Good Luck
Did you apply for USC Housing? I know they never got through their waitlist, so I’m not sure if there are any spaces available. When I was an RA there, Century had a large transfer community, so I’d recommend looking into that or Cardinal Gardens. The Village is definitely a no-go (not even rising sophomores with later lottery dates could get into it), but if you’re lucky, you might be able to grab a spot in Webb or Parkside Apartments. That said, none of these options are particularly social.
Not sure of your budget, but Icon Plaza is really nice and you have the option to get your own room, it’s super pricey though. Apart from Gateway, there’s also the Shrine Apartments. They’re just behind Gateway and are somewhat cheaper. The security isn’t as top notch, but the units themselves are recently renovated (I stayed there last summer, would recommend). There’s also Victory on 30th, which is brand new and relatively cheap, and West 27th Pl, which is a little further away, but has a pool and everything. If you’re on a budget, I’d recommend looking at places past Vermont, as they’re somewhat cheaper than NUPC (North University Park)/the area between campus and Adams.
For places that don’t offer individual leases, I’d look at the USC Facebook group called “USC Sub/Leases and Housing.” People are constantly looking for people to take over their leases, or for an extra person to sign a lease. A lot of the places advertised also houses/apartments owned by Stuho, NUPAC or First Choice Housing, in addition to Gateway, the Shrine, etc.
If anything, I’d just recommend staying away from the Lorenzo.
That was an awesome post. ^^^^
I would just add to stay away from Stuho (property managers). I thought they went out of business but not sure. Absolutely horrible to work with.
@LayraSparks @CADREAMIN Will off-campus housing like Victory on 30th, West 27th Place, Gateway etc. match me with roommates or do I need to find them independently?
@mavsp1 I think Gateway had roommate matching at one point, but I’m not sure if they still have it! I would call and ask, same goes for Victory on 30th. I don’t believe West 27th has it.
@LayraSparks is correct, Gateway does have a room mate profile you fill out and they match you. A good thing to do is to make “friends” with someone in the office that is coordinating your rental. Some are fantastic and as expected, some are not! So just call them and ask what they do to get people matched up or any other questions you have - they will be helpful, they want to rent units! If you find out they don’t do this anymore, can you come back here and update us? Thanks!
I had one there recently for two years and we never had a problem. Fixed things fast, the wading pool and fitness center are great to have and what I liked best…wait for it…is packages got to the recipient. Seriously, in some of the houses/apts around USC (including one of my other’s apartment off Adams) we could never mail anything. First, all the mailboxes were broken and if they left anything, it would be taken, so everything had to go the post office (too big a pain for a college student). And all this for $3650 a month for 3 guys!
Always felt very safe at Gateway and it’s right there!
All of the above is excellent advice and certainly more recent and boots on the ground than what I could offer. My suggestion would be to ATTACK this issue as housing is one of USC’s biggest weak points these days, as addressed on other threads. Certainly contact the university housing office and talk to some of the large apartment companies, but if you are in any way whatsoever local to SoCal, you should ABSOLUTELY come down to the campus, get a room at the Vagabond Inn or the Radisson for a day or two (maybe even an Airbnb), and WALK THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Housing is an issue all around Los Angeles and if you do your homework on this it’ll make your life a lot easier while you’re in school here. USC is expensive, period, and better to spend a little bit more on rent so you’re not stuck living waaay off campus, as you’ll pay for that in other ways.
Beyond that, USC until recently had an office of transfer and veteran student programs (looks like it doesn’t exist anymore… naturally) although this resource looks promising:
@USCAlum05 @CADREAMIN @LayraSparks hey this might be a really dumb question but do i physically have to be there to sign a lease for off campus housing? lol im not from the los angeles area, nor am i anywhere close to it, so im assuming i can handle everything online right?
You should be able to handle all of the paperwork online and may have to do either a fax or a scan/email of whatever lease/contract you have to sign. If you’re a traditional-aged student (i.e. no experience with this sort of thing) then you should also definitely have your PARENTS go over the paperwork with you too.
The other question with housing is whether it’s a 10 month (no summer) or 12 month (academic year plus summer) lease as another X factor is whether you plan on staying the summer and working in L.A. Can’t speak to everyone’s experiences, but having gone through the film school I only went “home” one summer, and it was a complete waste of time. L.A. has a lot of fantastic professional opportunities over the summer in any number of fields outside of arctic engineering, and summer work/internships plus food/housing/transportation is something you’ll also have to figure out.
For your first year here, I would just try to have multiple housing options as that was one of the biggest pains of going to USC. I ended up just getting a neighborhood apartment and otherwise wanted to go Greek but my parents wouldn’t let me, although that’s another story.
Good luck!
What are your opinions on tuscany? when people say tuscany and icon are far away from things, how so?
@jnunez32 Icon is not far away! It’s literally right across the street from campus, on Figueroa. It’s closer than a lot of the off-campus USC Housing, and it’s right next to a lot of the Marshall buildings.
Tuscany is slightly farther down Figueroa, across from Expo Park, and it’s about I’d say 3-5 minutes from campus, but only because you have to cross both Exposition and Figueroa, and the traffic lights are slow. I’ve only been to Tuscany only once and don’t know many people who live there, but I haven’t heard anything bad. It’s pretty spacious, there’s a hot tub, and there’s plenty of dining options on the ground level (Coffee Bean, Quiznos, Cold Stone, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and a poke place). Sorry, that’s pretty much all I know about it tbh.
@CADREAMIN hey, i signed a lease to live at Gateway and Im wondering if you know when ill hear back from the about unit and roommate assignments. Move in date is August 15th and i still havent hear anything, other than a confirmation email about my lease.