Housing for Freshman - 2006-2007

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I am interested in the thoughts/opinions of students and parents regarding housing for Freshman at USC. We have looked through the Housing booklet that came with the Acceptance Letter and Packet. We have formed some initial opinions, based on the Housing Packet.</p>

<p>We have also looked at USC's Housing Website: <a href="http://housing.usc.edu/housingOptions/whereToLiveFRE.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://housing.usc.edu/housingOptions/whereToLiveFRE.htm&lt;/a> - The website is a good supplement to the Housing Package.</p>

<p>I realize that there is a thread from last year (see below), but I would like to start a new one. My hope is that there are more current students (and parents). <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=33021&highlight=freshman+housing%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=33021&highlight=freshman+housing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I am open to any and all opinions. The difficulty will be that each student (and associated parents) may have different needs, concerns, preferences, social-activity requirements, academics-study requirements, etc. Therefore, what might be the "best fit" for one student, will not be the "best fit" for a different students: </p>

<p>I will list a few of our thoughts.</p>

<p>The USC Housing brochure, USC Website, and last year's "CC thread" on Housing, make references to "most social", "less social", "boring", "active scholar", "many activities", etc. To a parent, that can be interpreted in a positive and in a negative way. Positive: Variety of organized activities, and helpful dorm staff, to help the new student meet other students, explore the community, get of the room, have some fun, and overall enjoy one's college experience. Negative: Party hearty. Will there be so much going on, so many parties and activities, that studying will (or may) suffer? Some of the choices that seem to rate high in this category (active) are New Residence College, North Residence College, Birnkrant Residential College, and maybe Parkside.</p>

<p>On the other side, some dorms are considered "boring" (on the CC thread from last year). Trojan Hall, Marks Hall, Marks Tower, etc. To a parent, that can be viewed as a positive: Not as many distractions. </p>

<p>All dorms seem to have the basics (room with desk, bed, storage, etc.), the necessities (bathrooms, laundry, etc.), and some have more amenities than others (TV room, Pool table, Ping Pong table, etc.). </p>

<p>Our preference is a most likely a Residence Hall and not an apartment. We like the proximity to school. We also prefer that our son not be concerned with his own meal preparation, at least not in his freshman year. The meal plans sound pretty good. (I am open to people's opinions on the different meal plans.)</p>

<p>Where I see the difference is the "organized activities" or the "theme" associated with dorms or certain floors. Some high weekly dinners with a special theme, some of organized trips (sports, cultural, community, etc). The themes speak for themselves (ethnic, cultural, social, etc).</p>

<p>To open it up for discussion. To those who live in one of the more active dorms (at least on paper), do you take advantage of the planned/organized activities. Also, to anyone, would you choose differently now. Would you choose a more active, or less active dorm, and why? </p>

<p>Please list any dorms that you recommend, and the reasons why.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

2

<p>this is a bonne idea.</p>

3

<p>On this board, you have a ton of people in the Dean's Halls (Trojan and Marks Hall). We have a decent amount of activities, dinners every Monday night, and several other things. There certainly isn't much partying here at all, but people go to other places to party all the time. Most of us really appreciate that, because it allows us to get sleep and study when we need to, and have fun if we want to. The atmosphere is really nice, and I know that I have enjoyed it a lot.</p>

4

<p>I live in Parkside Suites and I can tell you that most people here, international and domestic students (It's a 50/50 ratio on that, btw) couldn't care less about the Parkside activities. Well, not all of them. I think the only event everyone got involved with was Sprits of Troy, which is when we turn the whole building into a haunted house on Halloween. People go to the once in a while floor dinners, but not the Parkside dinners. Parkside itself is a good place to live as a Freshman, but it's major disadvantage is, unless you're an engineering or architecture major, most of your classes will be far away.</p>

5

<p>Nikara,</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. I am curious how you could compare/contrast Marks Hall and Marks Tower. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

6

<p>Hi, I'm sorry this may seem like a ridiculous question, but do we send the housing application forms only when we are 100% sure we will attend USC?</p>

7

<p>You can send it before, and it's a good idea because then you have a better chance of being housed where you want to be. If you don't end up attending USC you just lose the non-refundable $25 housing fee.</p>

8

<p>Truthfully, I know almost nothing about Marks Tower. It really isn't that popular of a choice. I don't know anyone who lives there, so I can't give a good view of it. One thing that is nice about Marks Hall is that it is much smaller, so there is a larger sense of community.</p>

9

<p>I live in Marks Hall. I reapplied to stay here next year. Maybe that says something.</p>

<p>Marks Tower is a very different building. Since it's a tower, it has many floors. I have friends who live there and enjoy it tremendously.</p>

<p>Marks Hall has only three floors. The bottom floor has two lounges. There is one guys' floor and one girls' floor. There's also a basement. If you live in Marks Hall, you'll most likely know all of the other residents.</p>

10

<p>Can anyone give me advice on which residence hall would be best for me? I am looking for a place that is relatively close to classes, and has a social scene but not raging...so somewhere that does not necessarily host parties 24/7, but is close to them. I prefer to have my own room (I study best alone), and be in a suite, but that's not necessary :) I would try to make the decision by myself, but it's difficult...maybe some current students' inputs would help? Thank you!</p>

11

<p>Unless you are one of those who just got their acceptance letter, getting a single as a Freshman is really tough. What major are you? If you're engineering or architecture, Parkside Suites would be a perfect fit. For any other major, I'd say any dorm other than Trojan Hall is ok (I had friends living there, but hated it so much that they all got reassignments). The only place other than frat row that has a lot of parties would be Cardinal Gardens, so I'd avoid that in your case. But then for studying alone, you can always go to Leavey Library. It's open 24/6 (6 being that it's closed Saturday night)</p>

12

<p>I already got my acceptance letter :) I plan on being a history major, but I also applied for the Baccalaureate/MD program that I might get in.</p>

<p>So steer clear of Trojan Hall and Cardinal Gardens?</p>

13

<p>Hey redski, I had a question about the residence halls at USC...what have you heard about Birnkrant RC, Marks Hall, and North RC? Marks Hall is something about "Deans' Halls"...is that for presidential/trustee scholars? Do you know what it's like? Thanks :)</p>

14

<p>I don't know anything about the Dean's Hall, but I think it's scholars and anyone w/ a good GPA who can apply to it. You might want to ask Nikara about it.</p>

<p>It seems like everyone who is in North loves it. Having been there, I must say the rooms are quite decent. I haven't heard anything bad about Birnkrant either. All those buildings are located around McCarthy Quad. Since you're history, I assume your classes would be mostly in VKC and Taper, which are also around McCarthy.</p>

<p>BTW, you might also want to consider the Radisson. It's across the street from Marks Hall and you're literally living in a hotel room with dorm furniture in it. I know many people who love it there and say that even though they're in the middle of a full service hotel, the social atmosphere is pretty good when it needs to be.</p>

15

<p>Ack one more question...the housing is pretty damn expensive...I just checked prices, and the minimum possible amount, if I doubled up, is $2,790 per semester. Is the L.A. area generally this expensive?</p>

16

<p>Oh yeah, housing in LA is pretty expensive.</p>

17

<p>Do you know of any cheaper options? My parents aren't going to be very happy if they have to dish out like $8000 for me to live in a room for 8-9 months.</p>

18

<p>It's expensive, but in my opinion, completely worthwhile.</p>

19

<p>I'm trying my best to stay away from "party" dorms...I heard on here that Cardinal Gardens has a raging social scene, but I have also heard from another USC student that New RC and North RC tend to be considered the most social...can anyone fill me in on that?</p>

20

<p>Cardinal Gardens is an apartment, so it won't be that social. New/North is definitely the most social. For those who want an active social scene, but not craziness 24/7, Birnkrant will probably be the best choice.</p>