<p>I live in the Bay area so have no clue.
Does anyone know how hard it would be to live near USC during the summer and commute to Santa Monica College for a class? How long would it take? I assume you would have to have a car? thanks</p>
<p>It would probably take about 45 minutes with a little bit of traffic... Shorter w/o traffic.</p>
<p>What time of day is the class? Traffic on I-10 varies dramatically.</p>
<p>To answer your last question, yes you would need a car. Commuting on the bus would be pretty impractical. Also, the time of day is extremely important. The 10 can be just 'okay' or 'pure hell'. Haha.</p>
<p>You would absolutely need a car. A bus would take two hours or more. I believe that you would have to transfer at least once. We do not have decent public transportation here. If the freeway is crowded than there are surface streets. But you would be going against traffic. Be aware the parking at SMC is very difficult. A parking permit in the lot gives one the opportunity to cruise around for quite awhile. When my daughter went to SMC for the summer it was easier to find metered parking, expensive, but easier. Near the school parking is restricted to residents so one has to park 6 or more blocks away for free two hour parking. But don't push the two hour thing: the parking people are hawks, you will get a ticket. Tip: arrive early or take an 8 o'clock class (yes, I hear the groans!)</p>
<p>Future, have you already registered for a class at SMC? If not a suggestion would be to look into Harbor College. Though it appears to be "far" from USC, it's only a straight drive to get there on the 110, and access to the 110 is right by USC. I have done it in 15 mins. With bad traffic it would be no more than 25 mins. However, you'd be going against the traffic in the mornings so it would be smooth. It's so easy to get to, right off the freeway, and parking is easy too. Not the most attractive of the CCs but a lot of my D's friends have taken classes there (15 mins from our area), particularly those who wish to transfer to UCLA.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. I will check out Harbor College. He wants to take Physics and with the class he wants, you have to take 2 community college classes to meet the one USC class. At Santa Monica College I think he only has to take one. If he stays home, and we don't have a 12 month lease on an apt, then we will just go to local cc. UC Berkeley is down the street from house but cc cheaper and less cut throat plus quarter system</p>
<p>Also check out LAColleges.net:</a> Home Page for a listing and map of other community colleges in the LA Area. LA Trade Tech is very close (like 5 minutes) but I think it's more of a vocational school. On the website you can also search by subject area (like Physics).</p>
<p>LA Harbor is just as far from USC as is Santa Monica. If you have a car, it takes 15 minutes to get to each campus assuming no traffic on either freeways. LA Harbor and SMC are about 15 miles in different directions. However the down side to SMC is the parking situation, and if you're taking public transportation it will definitely be a lot longer than heading to LA Harbor. LA Harbor has the benefit of having a Metro stop that is near it. However it will still be about an hour on public transportation.</p>
<p>The closest community college to USC's main campus is LA City College. You just take Vermont straight up North( i believe for about 5 miles). If you don't have a car, its 20-30 minutes on the bus. It drops you right in front of the campus. The buses on Vermont are very frequent as it's a major street. Do checkout assist.org to see if they offer the courses required. The proximity is manageable both in car or on public transportation.</p>
<p>Have you been to LA City College or know of other students who went there? How were the classes? My husband went to visit LA City College on his last trip to LA to see if he thought it was a good option for summer school. My husband did not like the area and does not want our son there.</p>
<p>Vermont and the environs are becoming trendy again. It is an up and coming area. Please read this to mean: It isn't a great area, maybe fine in 10 years but for now, not great. But they do have an excellent theater department. I would never counsel anyone to take a bus to and from that area in the dark. Too problematic.</p>