Housing question

<p>Just got an email saying that housing decisions/placement are based on when you applied to USC. This seems a bit odd. Can anyone tell me if this is true. If so then there is no rush to get housing application/fees in??</p>

<p>This has been true in past, although is you look on facebook (university of south carolina class of xxxx) you will always find people complaining that someone who applied later got housing sooner. I think some of this has to do with the fact that living/learning communities are assigned first (including honors and capstone). Now with several dorms out of play for renovations, housing procedures for current students have changed, but as far as I know, all freshman are guaranteed housing. You can post questions on housing facebook or call, but I don’t think you have worry about getting it in before you hear about honors, capstone, scholarships, etc.</p>

<p>It’s supposedly true, but housing at USC is a shady process at times.</p>

<p>I have a friend who got Patterson because her mother knows a big-wig at USC. I have another friend who got Patterson as a freshman and sophomore because she had a relative work in the Housing Office.</p>

<p>I think for the most part it is true, but I do know it sometimes doesn’t work out.</p>

<p>There was a girl my freshman year who applied as soon as the application was available and she wanted Quad housing and didn’t get it, but people who applied during regular decision did.</p>

<p>Just be prepared to be very frustrated. While the facilities themselves are nice and it is pretty easy to switch dorms if you have problems, the initial period of assignments is a very stressful time for everyone involved in the process.</p>

<p>The problem with putting the quads (apt style) as first choice as a freshman is that if you actually read the housing guide they are not considered general freshman housing…those are the hall and suite style dorms. Now obviously in the last few years USC has had to use them to house all freshmen, but I wonder if they hold them out for last. Things like living/learning communities or being an athlete (housed in on certain halls) makes things not so straight forward in those dorms. I do agree that housing is the least organized and thought out part of USC.</p>

<p>when can we apply for housing?</p>

<p>You would rank tour top 10 dorm preferences in your USC VIP account during roughly late February to early May.</p>

<p>Yeah. I’m not really sure how apartment housing works out, because they also don’t save it for upperclassmen, either.</p>

<p>I know a lot of people last year who wanted apartment housing as upperclassmen, but weren’t able to get it, but could get things like South Tower and Bates. And then of course, you have freshmen in pretty much every single apartment style dorm on campus.</p>

<p>The entire woman’s quad is going offline next year (Sims, McClintock, Wade Hampton), so that’s at least 500 people getting shifted. That’s likely to mean even more freshmen in apartment-style housing.</p>

<p>I live in an apartment on campus right now, and probably 75% of the students in my building are freshmen.</p>

<p>Housing is just a really confusing process overall and it doesn’t help that they change the system every year. My year, we only could choose five places (and we could leave some blank), but we could list a roommate and two suitemates. Last year, we had to choose ten (and couldn’t leave any blank), but freshmen weren’t allowed to put suitemates on the application. This year, all current students have already had to submit housing requests… and I think that the application only asked about building type and learning community… not a specific building. (Could be wrong about that, but that’s what I remember seeing.)</p>