Hey fellow students!
Has anyone on here been or is a non traditional student at USC? I am likely entering in the fall (unless I go to Tufts REAL program) as a 26 year old undergrad and I am curious about your experience at the University of Southern California being older than most undergrads and not being in a specific program for resumed education.
Many thanks in advance!
I was somewhat of a non-traditional student. I was 22 when I transferred in. I assume most students are 21-22 when they graduate, but I was just starting my junior year at 22. Honestly, I sometimes never noticed other non-traditional students. I was taking an astronomy course and I was shocked to learn that one of my group members for a lab assignment was 27! I would have never guessed that was his age. Better yet, there was a girl in my Spanish III class that looked exactly like Eden Sher. I was equally shocked to find out she was in her 30s! She seemed so young and energetic. You don’t really have to announce your age. You should blend in fairly well. I think you’ll be fine 
Feel free to ask any other questions.
Even as an undergrad it won’t matter at all. There are also so many graduate students at USC - age is pretty irrelevant. I think you would feel it is a mature campus (age wise) when walking around. People in their thirties don’t look out of place - it’s a melting pot of everything!
@zettasyntax Hey thanks for your reply! You also helped me on another USC thread. Much appreciated! I do have a question for you though, did you get your associates degree before going to USC?
@CADREAMIN Good to know! I would hate to have troubles being older. Thanks for your input.
@jiggity I did not. My community college had a health requirement and a PE requirement. I would have gotten my AA if I wasn’t too embarrassed to take a dance class or something and complete that physical education requirement.
@zettasyntax Okay I get you. I was curious because I have not paid the deposit yet and thus I was wondering if they entered you as a sophomore or a junior. I am praying they will enter me as a first semester junior!
I had a ton of units. I think 100? They weren’t all USC transferable, but they did start me out as a junior
You really, truly should get your AA/AS before leaving community college, if you can. The difference is that if you have to leave school for any reason you will have a DEGREE rather than the infamous “some college.” “Some college” is not the same thing as a DEGREE. From an employer perspective, having a degree means that you completed a course of study and thus started something and finished it. That’s not the same thing as “some college.”
With transferring units, you have to go on offense. Schools have articulation histories and agreements with various feeder institutions, but you have to make sure that you have copies of all of your course syllabi, outlines, projects, etc. so that the relevant classes get transferred in as meeting requirements for your MAJOR rather than just generic units. The difference is having to retake classes - at USC prices - when you already know the material. With the cost of college these days, that’s a boatload of money, and that’s before you start running into issues of meeting “satisfactory academic progress,” meaning that you’re actually on your way to completing a degree rather than being a professional student… see above about the difference between a DEGREE and “some college.”
Hi @USCAlum05 I do have my AS. However, I am waiting for my transfer credit report to be sure that USC will accept my credits and enter me as a junior.
@jiggity that’s where the devil is really in the details and where, as I said above, you have to have your ducks in a row to be able to prove to the course articulation office that X course at X school is equivalent to Y course at USC. The burden of proof is on you, and your incentive to win those battles is that you’re paying $72,000 per year to attend that university… my parents thought the cost was insane when it was half that much, to say nothing of having to pay loans on the back end while you’re trying to build a career.
Good luck!
@USCAlum05 So should I send them my course syllabi or wait for them to request? I also got a full scholarship to USC
@jiggity I would have copies of all of your course syllabi put together for when you do have to sit down with them and go over your transfer credit evaluation. I wouldn’t assume that the USC evaluators will know everything about the institution you’re coming from, even if it’s UCLA or Santa Monica College or L.A. City College.
BTW congrats on the scholarship! Just keep in mind that there are plenty of other expenses too, and university scholarships don’t always cover those expenses. Good for you!
@USCAlum05 Thank you so much!
You should have a USC ID number by now. Log into OASIS and look at your STARS report to see where they applied your CC credits and where they screw you. Down at the bottom is a section called “OTHER COURSES…” If you think any of these should count for a requirement, make sure you bring your syllabus and all graded work to USC with you. Remember that you have to take some GE’s at USC. If you’re in a degree with a FL requirement, please PLEASE finish level 3 before you transfer. Good luck!
@ttrojan What’s wrong with completing a level 3 FL course at USC? I placed into Spanish III and it was one of the best courses of my USC career. I even loved the fact that we went on a little field trip to have tacos
@ttrojan Hey so I have my associates so there is no going back now and I did not take a single FL class so I will be doing all three at USC
@zettasyntax Its funny you say that because I was telling someone today that I was deciding between USC and Tufts and he asked me if I liked tacos, when I said yes, he was all… “you have to go to USC then!”
I was a non-traditional student at another university and I’ll be a grad student at USC this fall. I’ll be ok.