Now that my first year as a sophomore transfer is coming to a close, I’ll be accepting any and all questions about USC, and I’ll do my best to answer!
I’ll preface this by saying that I originally attended UCLA straight out of high school, withdrew, attended a semester of community college, and then transferred to USC in sophomore standing. Spoiler alert: I have LOVED my experience at USC!
Hey @Flambeau - great to see you back!!! Congrats on an amazing first year at USC - I know you worked really hard to get there! I have a question or two that I think others would like to know that are coming in post freshman year…what did you major in, and since I know you lived off campus (and a good ways if I remember…) did you have any trouble meeting people? How did you do that? In clubs, classes? Did you hang out on campus as much as you could rather than just hanging at your off campus housing? What was the hardest part of being a sophomore transfer? Did you feel like you were really late to a party by coming in when you did?
Guess I had a few. questions…I know someone in your position this year, and this is what she has asked me. And heck, idk!
Thanks for doing this AMA!
rolls up sleeves Okay, it’s time to answer these!
First of all, thank you very much! I’m glad to see you remembered me! 
I’m a Narrative Studies major and will probably be pursuing a minor in Cinematic Arts. 
Since being at USC, I have also discovered a before-unknown passion for political science, so I may minor in that as well, but I doubt I have enough time to complete all the required units in the next two years!
I live about 6 minutes driving distance, 20 minutes walking distance from campus, and a lot of people think that’s very far, but I haven’t had a problem with it. I actually walk to and from campus almost every day, which gives me some nice exercise! When I don’t want to walk though, I’ll take Campus Cruiser or the USC shuttle (which stops a block from my apartment).
Anyway, about meeting people…I first met a few friends during Summer Orientation but as soon as school started, we almost immediately drifted apart because they were freshmen living in the dorms and I was not. That stung a bit, but I started going to club meetings for a variety of different groups, seeing where I might find my fit. I went to a few meetings of Trojan Pride, Performing Arts Committee, et cetera, et cetera. I met a few friends here and there, and also in classes, but I didn’t feel like I had a core “group” to always hang out with like a lot of other people seemed to.
I ended up meeting my best friends and “squad” through my job with Jumpstart. To any transfer (or any incoming students in general) are reading this, I strongly recommend working with Jumpstart if you love kids. It pays work-study (if you have it) plus a $1,200 scholarship from AmeriCorps at the end of your service. You get to work closely with a team of your USC peers and it’s a very rewarding experience!
That being said, I also STRONGLY recommend considering joining a frat or sorority. I have very little knowledge about the traditional social frats and sororities, but if that sounds like your thing, go for it! However, if you’re more like me and not so much into the party scene, I want you all to know that joining a social Greek chapter is NOT the only way to get involved with Greek life. There are all kinds of chapters at USC, including but not limited to the cinematic arts fraternity (coed), the service/volunteer fraternity (coed), the music fraternity (coed), etc.
Granted, some of these chapters may still have an active party life (cinematic arts frat parties are pretty lit) but they are centered around different activities and professional development, while still allowing you to “belong” to a tight-knit group of friends.
I plan to rush one or two of these frats next semester myself because–even though I’ve met lots of great people at USC–I do want that traditional social aspect as well.
You can also join other clubs and student orgs on campus, but at least from my personal experience, these felt a lot more formal and to-do-list-based, rather than being a good place to form close friendships. Others may have different experiences, of course!
Wanting more years at USC to experience everything! I can’t believe I already only have two years left, and there are so many more classes I want to take, internships I want to snag, groups I want to join…it’s going by so fast! 
Nope! Even being an older transfer (23 when I started), I didn’t feel separated from my peers. No one treated me differently because I was a transfer or because I was older than most of the students.
The classes I’ve taken at USC have been far more challenging, but in a good way! At UCLA, I was frequently bored. My classes at UCLA were easier than my high school classes. At USC, my courses have already expanded my skill set and even changed the way I look at the world. I study and do homework for a decent amount of time, but nothing crazy. I have never pulled an all-nighter, and I don’t feel constantly stressed out by work. It’s just the right amount of rigor.
UCLA was too big and impersonal for me. As mentioned above, the classes lacked rigor and the professors lacked passion. I felt like just a number. In fact, a small anecdote that I use to compare my experiences at UCLA and USC:
At UCLA, even by the end of my freshman year, I did not know the name of my adviser. I had never received contact from her/him even once. At USC, I first met my adviser during Summer Orientation. Two months later, when I had started classes, I ran into him and he remembered me -by name- and asked questions about my course schedule that was only one of many he had helped set up during orientation.
@Flambeau I just saw your reply, you gave incoming transfers some great advice and perspective - it is so awesome of you to have taken the time to do this! Gonna link it in other transfer thread for those folks.
Even though you lived off canous for your first year, would you reccomend living on campus for suture transfer since it’ll be their first year for social reason? Or is it pretty much the same whether you live on or off campus
@Flambeau I have the same question as John6311 up here ^. USC Housing is full, and I’m afraid of living off campus.