<p>I am the father of a second semester senior at USC. I have been on this board since he was in high school. I work at one of the largest, and best, state universities in the country located in the "safe" Midwest in a great college town.</p>
<p>This question about safety at USC is raised all the time, every year, seemingly every month. College students universally, everywhere, are at risk. They have things bad people want, they are open and friendly, and they are generally oblivious to their surroundings guided by their belief in the invulnerability of the young. I have seen it here in Madison and at USC where young women who have had too much to drink insist on crossing a major street (by the 209) without going to the corner to cross or seeking out a traffic light. That's unsafe.</p>
<p>The area around USC is made up of students and working class Hispanics. The neighborhoods are clean and ripe for gentrification since they have an amazing late 19th, early 20th century housing stock.</p>
<p>College students are their own worst enemies when it comes to crime. PAY ATTENTION, secure your valuables, and watch out for alcohol, which is the worst enemy of college students, and you will be fine.</p>
<p>Hi Tsdad - Nice to see you posting! Anyway how is your son? Is he going to stay in LA to work after graduation? What an exciting time for you and him. I remember from the beginning when he was a Sophmore and how you helped me and my son make decisions. How time flies and best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>I would give anything to be in LA right now. It's really, really cold here. The last two mornings it has been below zero when I went out to wait for the bus and we're in Southern Wisconsin. I can't imagine what it's like up north on Lake Superior.</p>
<p>Excitement is not exactly the word. It's more like fear. My wife and I are asking ourselves "OK now whats he going to do and will it have medical insurance?" He is spending lots of time finishing a script he and his writing partner have prepared. I don't see much action on the job front though.</p>
<p>On the positive side it looks like my wife will be moving to Madison within the next two months. The Realtor wants her out of the house when it goes up for sale.</p>
<p>I think he will be just fine! My son is writing a TV pilot that he wants to sell . He says the networks buy loads of them for speculation. I told him to finish it while he is still in school so a teacher can advise him! That one script can get some bucks, but in the meantime...
Hopefully your son will stay in LA after graduating and get something entry level while he pitches the script. There is work there just depends on what path he chooses. My son is having a pretty good time right now - he got a sweet part in an indie film (paying (low pay) not interning!) Now if only this film would become the next "Napolean Dynamite"...</p>
<p>As everyone else demonstrated, both anecdotally and with actual statistics, USC is quite safe. Whenever I visit the campus and surrounding area, I never feel like I'm in danger.</p>
<p>I do feel, however, that a visit may be one of the best ways to demonstrate this.</p>
I am always searching for USC safe or unsafe too by myself. Cos I usually go to Norris medical library for my further study and sometimes till to the 10 pm at night and i am really scared to walk down the alley alone. It freaked me out still.I have never seen any sheriff wandering or monitoring the campus area especially at night. It is no good. When there is daylight, i felt safely cos you can still ask for help. When it is night time, USC is not a good place to stay. Once, i met a group of male students , they were coming back from their soccer playing, they joked me around "Hey, where r u going? " , so i rushed to the car parking lot and drove away. That was the last call and i started never stay at the library late at night. If you are girl student like myself , you need to be real careful cos there are too many crime and the worst scenario is raping rate on the campus is higher than the other campus. It is out of control.