<p>I visited once and although the campus is very beautiful, I was a bit turned off by how extremely crowded it was. There were many families, not just students, wandering around. However, I visited on one of those days when USC was competing with UCLA. Did I just visit on a bad day or is USC always that crowded?</p>
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Wait - are you talking about a football Saturday vs. UCLA? Rest assured that a random day at USC would not be quite as crowded…
Actually, most USC fans consider any “vs. UCLA” day to be a GOOD day!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My guess is there was a lot going on that day, UCLA as you mentioned brings in a ton of people and if over winter break, many families are visiting campus with their high schoolers. I have been to campus many random times (I have an athlete there) and while there is always hustle and bustle at USC, I feel like I am the only mom in the crowd. The only place I feel the big crowd is around the food center which seems like a street fair - I love that atmosphere (even if I am older and out of place 
) So I think you were there on some kind of event day. I never liked how Stanford feels more like a tourist destination than a school (way too many buses and giant groups of people with cameras). USC is nothing like that madness, but there is always stuff happening, I love how alive the campus feels. And if you are there on a football game day - that is an experience all it’s own walking the streets of LA to the game!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I meant ‘‘bad’’ day like not the best day to see what every-day life is like there. I actually visited towards the end of November, during Thanksgiving break.</p>
<p>@CADREAMIN That’s exactly what I don’t want, for school to feel like a tourist destination. I do, however, love a vibrant student body.</p>
<p>USC is also an urban campus, so it’s going to be more compact, and it has about 18,000 undergraduates, plus a large graduate presence, so it’s not a small private college. My son ended up not wanting to even visit it as he felt it would be too big and chaotic. My daughter will visit and likely apply in 2 years. Certainly, though, visiting on any school break will increase the number of people, yet alone a football game against arch rival UCLA.</p>
<p>Any home football game is going to be crowded with students, families and other fans. The Thanksgiving weekend which is either going to be UCLA or Notre Dame will be exceptionally crowded (we’ve gone the past 2 years). This is not an average school day. My daughter was turned off by Notre Dame when we visited there for the USC vs. Notre Dame game (prior to her decision of where she would attend). She said there were far too many “old people” and hardly any students. Any school with a devoted alumni base is going to be filled with alumni (“old people”) for football games. That’s one of the things that makes it great.</p>
<p>Ya, Thanksgiving weekend is all about the UCLA game - many students are only home for a day or two over Thanksgiving rather than the standard four because they flock back to the big game, mine included. It’s a short visit home, but they don’t deal with the chaotic travel day on Sunday this way But certainly jinx123445, you were there for one of the busiest times for students and a ton of non-students - alumni and families were everywhere I am sure!</p>