My time at USC....

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I have a friend who recently wrote a novel (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/KissTheGameGoodbye"&gt;https://www.facebook.com/KissTheGameGoodbye&lt;/a&gt;) about his love-hate experience at USC (excerpt below with his permission) and I would like to ask the guys here how accurate his depiction is, particularly the social aspect. How big of a Greek presence does USC have? And how materialistic is it?</p>

<p>"The last time Alicia and I partied together was at Sigma Nu, which was the frat Alicia’s new “friend” Bobby Tillman was pledging. I danced with her for a while (I still didn’t dance much) and was doing shots with several other people when I noticed Bobby and his posse giving me dirty looks. Soon after, they tossed me out. And then I ran into them again at the Del Taco at the Figueroa St. intersection next to the TKE house later that same night. It was there where an all-out brawl ensued. Instances like this always made me miss Troy. Unlike in high school when I had the option of calling for backups, the people who hung out with me in college were chickens and pacifists, especially when they were confronted by frat douches.</p>

<p>After Bobby Tillman and his pledge bros publicized the fight, I became untouchable to anyone with the faintest social aspiration. Alicia and Erica stopped texting me. Even Scott Trask, who wasn’t pledging a frat but sucking up to everyone who was, kept his distance. Once again, I ruined everything. Once again, I had put myself at the bottom of the ladder and had to start from scratch. After that, college became one big sausage fest. I couldn’t even get girls to friend-zone me. In the month of October, I tried to fraternize with a diverse range of different groups—guitar-toting Metallica fans, weirdos who watched SpongeBob, South Park, and Family Guy in their dorm rooms 24/7, potheads from Parkside Apartments, Asian nerds, Asian frat guys, members of SCIA (Southern California Indo-Americans), ROTC army guys, members of business organizations, gamers, ravers, and athletes from Fluor Tower—yet still ended up alone in my dorm on Halloween. To make matters worse, I was having trouble finding people to eat with at the cafeteria. It was partially the result of them not willing to risk incurring Bobby Tillman’s wrath and partially my being a victim of my own pride. And since I would rather starve than eat alone, I was barely eating. While other kids battled freshman 15, I was suffering from reverse freshman 15 and stopped working out. The weird thing was the more I felt rejected in college, the more I clung onto the high school self-image that clearly didn’t resonate with the sort of people I was forced to associate with in college. Deep down I knew I was done socially in college after Halloween, yet subconsciously I was still trying to claw my way back to relevance. I didn’t know how to give up, accept my failure, and move out of the spotlight.</p>

<p>On several occasions, I had to resort to eating in the cafeteria with my RA and a bunch of leftovers floor-mates. The thing that annoyed me the most was the nerds acted so territorial. They were so smug about their geek status. Speaking to them was like talking to a wall. We had absolutely nothing in common. It was insulting to me that I spent so much time and money on clothes and grooming yet I was still stuck with a bunch of losers who reminded me of Leonard Ashby and Oliver Snyder. I was dismissive of them when they discussed geeky topics while we ate, and even downright violent when they disrespected me. On some days, when I was in a more social mood, I poked fun at them for not having a Macbook (Are you a gamer? was a common refrain among the Greek kids to diss those who used PCs), and for having to do their own laundry (I paid for Soapy Joe’s laundry service). I stubbornly refused to go to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffle with them and the RA, which was their monthly bonding ritual. And since I did everything in my limited power to let them know that I was better than them, it wasn’t a big surprise when they eventually wised up and ditched me. I was practically begging for it."</p>

2

<p>That title is already under copyright by a popular female author of thrillers and mysteries.</p>

3

<p>What’s the title of this book? Your link is broken.</p>

4

<p>@Georgia Girl It is my understanding that book, song, and album titles cannot be copyrighted (just look at the number of songs with the title “I Get Money”…<a href=“Can a Book Title be Copyrighted?”>http://biztaxlaw.about.com/b/2010/04/21/can-a-book-title-be-copyrighted.htm&lt;/a&gt; but I’ll give him a heads up regardless.</p>

<p>@Pepperjinks It’s called “Kiss the Game Goodbye”. College confidential doesn’t allow me to post FB links.</p>

5

<p>Agreed. I’m in “that” business and titles can’t be copyrighted. I’d still advise the author to choose something different. It’s a small industry (similar to film) and those types of things can backfire in other ways.</p>

6

<p>ArtsandLetters,
Thank you for the correction regarding copyrighted titles.<br>
GG</p>

7

<p>@Georgia Girl - no problem. You are always the voice of sanity on these boards!</p>

<p>New authors do it all the time but it “ticks” off fans of the existing titles and becomes confusing when doing book searches. So simple to just do a search of existing books. It’s a basic mistake a lot of self-published authors make and I often wonder what they think will be gained by it? And while titles can’t be copyrighted, some things can be trademarked which makes things even more complicated. Which is why I couldn’t release a new book called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, for instance.</p>

<p>As for the excerpt posted above (which violates fair use by posting a large section of the content on a public board unless there is written permission from the author) I found it very one sided and even if true, the passage was not representative of USC as Greek life is one of many aspects of the campus - certainly not the majority of it. Felt stereotyped and lacked editing. So I’m assuming self-published because it doesn’t come up in search engines.</p>

<p>Also - only 2 posts - makes me say hmmmm.</p>

8

<p>@ArtsandLetters - Well, I’m still in high school currently hence the low post counts. I’ve been doing research on colleges as I’ll be applying in the fall and USC is one of the schools I’m seriously considering. As I’ve stated previously, a preview of the not-yet-published book was forwarded to me by a friend of the author. I certainly agree with you that his depiction felt stereotyped. My inclination is not to believe him and a similar thread here <a href=“My Time At USC - A Senior Looking Back - University of Southern California - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1640348-my-time-at-usc-a-senior-looking-back-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;. I appreciate all the responses on the board. Apology to the author if I violated any rules. Is there a way to edit old posts and remove some of the contents?</p>

9

<p>My first reaction to the post was, “Is this serious?” Seems a bit over the top, and I would assume most students there never deal with something so high schoolish. But some reading it may believe every word, so I will tell you, that is not at all like any of the experiences my two have had at USC, ever. Not saying such drama doesn’t exist, but each student brings their own expectations, goals, and experiences with a level of maturity that will define how much non-sense they deal with in college. To answer the question asked, that kind of drama doesn’t occur in the USC world I know. Sure, crazier stuff can happen, but typically there is a cause/effect dynamic in play, an experience like that doesn’t randomly happen to people. It doesn’t have to be part of your world either, that is up to you. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

10

<p>I couldn’t even read it. My eyes glazed over after a few sentences.</p>

11

<p>Actually, there is a lot of drama at USC, if you look for it. Read The Billionaire Boys Club and Less Than Zero, which are both fact and fiction. You put spoiled rich kids with jocks, frat boys, sports fans, liquor, insecure kids, attractive men and women in one place and you are guaranteed drama. </p>

12

<p>^^^I do believe that as well! Some are inclined or choose to be part of it more than others…while certain students successfully avoid it altogether.</p>

13

<p>@Cadreamin - Thank you for your thorough response. Other than this account and some of the comments on this thread <a href=“My Time At USC - A Senior Looking Back - University of Southern California - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1640348-my-time-at-usc-a-senior-looking-back-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;, I’ve heard nothing but great things about USC. I also agree with you on maturity being a huge factor. I’m a very non-confrontational, laid-back person, so I highly doubt this would be an issue for me.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>@SeattleTW - My take is that there is a lot of drama at every school, if you look for it. I doubt USC is any worse/better than the average college. I guess, at the end of the day, college experience is what you make for it. Thank you for replying.</p>

14

<p>@GetMoney3‌
There is drama. But you’ll find the same drama at a lot of schools. But it is also true that USC is a very large campus with a lot of students and a lot of diversity. A great many have nothing to do with Greek life - and even within Greek life it’s not all “Animal House.”</p>

<p>The thing that tipped the scales for our family was that my D could come on campus and make her own experience and find like-minded people who shared her interest. Wishing the same for you. So far it’s been fun and she’s loving it. And yes - she’s had some negative things to say about frat parties and now just avoids them in favor of the billion other things there are to do for recreation. On the other hand, she watched someone urinate off the roof of Gateway Apartments during a party last fall and while it initially colored her opinion of the campus atmosphere, it appeared to be an isolated incident. So stupidity happens all over not just on Greek Row.</p>

<p>With every college you’re going to run into a spoiled, and/or immature students away from home for the first time. Luckily there are many more people on campus and at Frats who have their act together.</p>

15

<p>What’s wrong with urinating off the roof of an apartment?</p>

16

<p>If this is real, your friend is an ■■■■■■■ and an idiot and has a hardon for Bobby Tillman.</p>

17

<p>@ArtsandLetters Thanks for all the insight.</p>

<p>@psydent LOL I don’t know the dude personally. He’s a friend of a friend. But I agree with you. From the excerpt I browsed over, he seems like quite a neurotic, self-absorbed d-bag.</p>

18

<h1>CallItLikeISeeIt</h1>

<p>To less callously answer your question, his experience is extremely specific and unlikely. There’s ~16,000 undergrads. Even if you don’t fit in with 1,000 people, you have 15,000 left.</p>

<p>How big of a Greek presence does USC have?
I think the number is still ~25% of undergrads. It’s quite present and you’ll see it, but if you wanted you could avoid it pretty well. Yes, you can have a great social life without it. However, if you want to party every weekend it is the best avenue to do that. If you want to party every weekend but not join a frat (or sorority) then you just have to work a little harder and set things up yourself.</p>

<p>And how materialistic is it?
Specifically Greek life, it ranges by house. Some are not any more so than average but I’ve heard one or two might judge you for the price range of your clothes or car or watch or w/e. If you explore it, you’ll see that the most important thing is finding a good fit. I’d rather be in an average house and have a ton of fun than be in a top house but not enjoy myself because I don’t fit in.</p>