<p>My D is seriously interested in USC for undergrad based on academics and social life. However, my dear wife has read about crime and safety issues around USC campus. Therefore, she is discouraging her from even applying. I would appreciate any information/thoughts you have (direct and/or indirect experience).</p>
<p>There are many, many posts on this subject. A quick summary- campus is actually quite safe- there are fewer crimes on USC's campus than UCLA's or Stanford's. The area around campus isn't quite as safe, but it still is fine. I've never been the victim of any sort of crime in my three years at USC, and I've lived off campus. The Department of Public Safety takes good care of us, patrolling all of the areas where students frequent. Search through the boards and you will find lots of comments on this subject.</p>
<p>The campus is fine, its just a the surrounding areas that might set you off... I do know a person that got robbed but other than that, long as you don't walk by yourself @ 2 in the morning with ipod in your ear, you are going to be fine. There are like what, 16 thousand undergrads going to USC without any problem.</p>
<p>Since I live within an hour of the campus, I know gazillions of kids who have attended over the years and have never heard a negative thing about safety or lack thereof. It is urban, though, so let common sense be your guide. Has your wife visited USC? I thought I hated it until I actually accompanied my son on a college information visit to the campus; it moved from the bottom of the list to the top of the list very quickly.</p>
<p>Thank you Nikara for pointing me to other threads.</p>
<p>I am a rising senior at SC. The school is very safe. I have never had a problem on or around campus in my three years here (living on/around campus). Like people said, it is in a city so you have to have common sense, but that is true for nearly every school in the country.</p>
<p>In USC: as safe as most other large universities in large cities. I actually have heard about several incidents on campus. </p>
<p>around USC: Very little to worry about during the days, At night, might be dangerous if you lose common sense. Be either on a public transportation or on a car when you travel from outside into the campus. Do not ride your bicycle beyond Western and Adams and Figueroa and Adams. Do not walk to UV at night.(Most stores close before the sunset.) The campus is safe but the neighborhood is not.</p>
<p>Agreed with socal523, the campus itself is VERY safe. DPS does an excellent job of maintaining a visible presence via a fleet of Ford Explorers and Segway chariot scooters. There are also a bunch of those emergency, blue-light "poles" every few hundred feet away, I never once felt in danger on campus.</p>
<p>However, off-campus is very different, especially after sunset/when it's dark. I would strongly advise staying on campus during the night (if you can help it, stay around the dorms and heavily populated areas... a night walk from Parkside to New/North is not necessarily that safe either, IMO). I had the DPS emergency # first under my "favorites" list as a precaution. </p>
<p>Be street-smart, and you will be fine; we are talking about South Central LA here.</p>
<p>My older daughter just graduated from SC...younger one coming in spring. Older daughter said that she always felt totally safe on campus. Off campus, during the day she felt fine but didn't go wandering. At night she had a simple solution: If it is very late, you are wandering around on foot/bike and you are impaired (I am assuming that driving a car impaired is automatically out)...you are begging for trouble. Very late and alone, but not impaired: What are you thinking?</p>
<p>I met a retired police officer at an audition who asked me what I thought of campus police. I said that my daughter felt totally safe. The police officer said that the USC campus police force is considered one of the state.</p>
<p>We get crime reports every time something happens. 9 times out of 10 the time of occurance is well after midnight and the victim is walking alone.</p>
<p>There is no reason you need to walk alone at night between trams/ Campus Cruiser and DPS.</p>
<p>Beg to differ, but from what my sophomore daughter (lives on the row) tells me, Campus Cruiser and the Trams are a joke. There is a tram stop right in front of her sorority but she has never seen one, and she said the wait for Campus cruiser is at least an hour. I wish the Univ. would stop touting these modes of transport to ease parents' fears. That being said, she feels relatively safe and understands that there is safety in numbers. I have been there half a dozen times and do not feel any less safe than if I were walking in the vicinity of UPenn in west Philly. USC is in a poorer part of a big city and you have to use common sense.</p>
<p>The idea is that you know that it will take an hour for campus cruiser to get there, so you call early so that they will get there when you want to leave. Also, if you ever feel that you are in a dangerous place and need a ride, the DPS police will be willing to give you a ride.</p>
<p>Property crime is a problem, so please don't be like my S & leave your wallet & cell phone on the campus gym bench, unattended. Otherwise, he has not mentioned any safety issues in his two years of attending USC. The campus IS in an lower-income urban area, so if treated as such, there should not be a problem--safety in numbers when off campus, particularly at night. During the day, the campus has LOTS of people all over it and should not pose any dangers.</p>