I’ve heard from some people that USC is unsafe… especially for female students (I’m asian female). Are they right? I definitely think the education there is great…
The campus is safe. The surrounding area is not the best.
I recommend looking through the various survey results found via the Niche Rankings. I believe that they are far more accurate than the US News Rankings, especially in terms of qualifying and quantifying all of the aspects that eventually prove important to students once they are there in attendance… including safety both on and off campus…
https://colleges.niche.com/university-of-southern-california/
My daughter is currently a junior there and has had zero problems there thus far. And she leaves campus weekly for various functions all over the area… travelling into Venice, Santa Monica, Hollywood, downtown L.A., etc.
The campus and surrounding blocks are well-patrolled and monitored by USC safety officials and police officers. There are clearly areas relatively near campus that are best left unexplored… but it becomes clear very quickly where those areas are. Campus Cruisers provide free rides within a rather large area, and even when they are busy at night, USC will even pay for free Uber trips within that same defined area near campus.
I suggest reviewing the info on this webpage if you wish to learn more about safety at USC…
Good Luck…
There are a ton of threads on this over last couple years. Search USC safe and other threads will come up.
And if you are someone who wants crime stats, you can go to the U.S. Department of Education website and compare schools to each other.
I hope you do this, because if you do, you will see how well USC stacks up against other schools, at least as far as crimes are concerned. http://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/#/
It is relatively safe if you are in the patroled areas, especially the well lit streets. Safety at night is not much different than UCB. Just be vigilant when you are walking home from the library at night, whether it is around USC or UCB. Since you are a female, at least walk in pairs (safety in numbers). This is probably true for any college campuses in a large metropolitan area.
As safe as any urban campus can be. The outside area is not good, but within the campus you should be fine. It is always better to walk with someone during the night at any campus.
It’s an urban school and unfortunately the vast majority of kids who matriculate to top colleges nowadays come from suburban areas where they have tons of book smarts but very little street smarts and/or common sense. On campus is fine and the off campus area is heavily patrolled. Still, you are not in the middle of a cornfield nor are you in a sheltered / fascist suburb either.
Note also the comments about USC paying for Uber rides. I don’t know if this is above and beyond the Campus Cruiser service, but the whole USC neighborhood runs quite well and is also undergoing massive gentrification. Most of the murders/crimes against students in recent years have been scumbags from FAR away from campus going in to deliberately attack students, not from the immediate neighborhood.
Here’s an article on gentrification in neighborhoods to the west of USC.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jefferson-park-flips-20160831-snap-story.html
Yes @uscalum05, the free uber within a 2 mile radius of campus runs from 7pm - 2am (sometimes extended if special events) and is above and beyond campus cruiser. Supposed to be used when campus cruiser is more than 15 minute wait, but the kids I talked to don’t even know that or choose to disregard it and just call uber. They all just tell me they have free uber, which frankly, is how they should think. Getting off the street when it is late and/or dark, whether a bit disoriented or not, should be easily available and it seems to be. I strongly believe this is the single best safety measure they have put into place in last 18 months or even years. Even more than the yellow jackets. Was recently at USC visiting current students and sitting through 3 1/2 hours of Meet USC for the zillionth time. (Ready to give it myself. 
)
It is interesting how their presentations have changed dramatically over the last few years. But I’m an ol’ marketing/PR exec, so perhaps I am over analyzing them.
University Village is a game changer. Big progress from even back in August when I was there last.
Thank you guys! Those are really helpful comments!!