<p>I used the catalogue on the website and a link that someone provided to reviews of professors to make my list of classes. I'm taking the chem, physics, and Latin placement tests. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue with Latin in college, but I guess I might as well take the test, I love the language so maybe I will.</p>
<p>how about for those people who can't attend any orientation sessions at all (that's me >_<)? is it really that bad?</p>
<p>why can't you attend? i don't know, but i think it will be a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Yeah...you are gonna get the "bad times" for classes....but I think you are really just missing out on your first USC experience...Im so excited to get back to campus and meet a bunch of kids</p>
<p>i am sure the orientation is going to be a lot of fun and i would love to attend any one of them. But I live all the way in the east coast (Boston, MA), so it really wouldn't worth the time and money of buying a round trip plane ticket of $400 and staying only for 2 days in LA.</p>
<p>I guess I will have to stick with the "bad times". That's what people get when they are poor (like me >__<).</p>
<p>LA could be a great place to visit. Maybe it would be worthwhile if you stayed longer than 2 days.</p>
<p>Jltrex:</p>
<p>Two years ago USC had an orientation session at the end of May at Newark airport. Do they still have that? My son had to go to the one in Dallas because the Newark session overlapped with his prom and graduation. He couldn't make any of the LA sessions because he was working at a summer camp in the Poconos. It was worth the money to go to Dallas to register for courses, take placement exams, and to get an explanantion of how housing, food and medical plans, and the credit union worked.</p>
<p>To straighten some things out:</p>
<p>1) Orientation is really fun, you should try to go if you can. </p>
<p>2) In years past, they held about 4 or 5 off-campus orientations in places like Dallas, Chicago, DC, etc so that people from far away didn't have to pay that $400 plane ticket. You should look into those if flying to LA is an issue for you.</p>
<p>3) You are all already getting the short end of the stick with classes because all of the upperclassmen have already registered, so unless it is a traditionally freshman class (writ 140) a good number of the best times/classes are already full.</p>
<p>4) I have never heard of them holding classes so that it is even between registration dates. I have heard of people who went to the last registration dates complaining because they didn't get the classes they want. </p>
<p>5.) If you are unable to go to orientation, you will register for classes online or by phone. Call the orientation or admissions office for what time you will be allowed to register. </p>
<p>6.) Choosing classes: Let me tell you a little story about how I went to my orientation with a list of classes that i thought i would be taking and a rough outline of the classes i would take over the next four years. As of yesterday, I am now a senior, and I took, mmmm....maybe 5 of the classes that were on that original list. Plans change. It's good to know what your options are by reading the course catalog prior to orientation, but the key is being flexible.</p>
<p>6.) If you can manage it, you will probably want to schedule your classes so that you avoid classes before 10 am, after 6 pm, or on Fridays altogether. Although it may not be possible, that would generally be thought of as the ideal schedule by most SC students. </p>
<p>7.) Placement tests are useful if you are actually planning on taking the class that the test was a pre-req for. I would not advise, as some people have said, that they just take the test for the heck of it. It will take time away from other fun options that they have going on at the same time, and most don't get you credit (though some do) they just waive a pre-req. If you ever decide later on that you want to take that test, you can always do it during the school year. </p>
<p>8.) Other good things to do at orientation: get your USC card and student activity sticker, set up any payment plan you might need, buy some USC gear (esp. the USC liscence plate holder if you are bringing a car), visit the student activities booths, set up your e-mail account, buy parking, eat food at both cafeterias and commons to see what type of dining plan you will need, get a checking account set up at the credit union, oh, and meet people ;-)</p>
<p>I don't think I could have possible missed anything, but if I did, ask away.</p>
<p>Trojangirlie - Don't you have to take the foreign language placement test at orientation? How hard is it? My son did 3 years but the 3 years ended 2 years ago - he hated foreign language. (his was Spanish) Ive been trying to tell him what you guys are suggesting - to try to review to test out of it. but he wants to wing it.</p>
<p>The only off-campus orientation seems to be in Honolulu this year.</p>
<p>Plus for most east-coasters, Jetblue flies to Long Beach for about $139 each way. That's what I'm flying down to orientation.</p>
<p>Plus, I just booked my one-way for August on American for $104 each way!</p>
<p>tsdad- your son worked at the Poconos? That's awesome. I used to go there every summer.</p>
<p>You aren't required to take any placement test at all - but you may be required to take extra courses if you don't take them, or can't score high enough on the ones you take. </p>
<p>If your son is in a major (anything in the college, annenberg, some others) then he will be required to meet a 3rd level foreign language requirement. If he wants to meet that requirement with spanish, then he will be required to take a placement test in order to enroll in a spanish class at USC. Or, if he can prove that he has 3rd year equivalence already in spanish, then he might pass out of his language altogether. </p>
<p>If, for example, he was tired of spanish and wanted to meet his requirement with German or something, and he had never taken a German class then he wouldn't have to take any placement test at all, just sign up for German 1.</p>
<p>redski59, where did u book your ticket? $104 is cheap, all I found is around $200 or more.</p>
<p>Im going the July 5ish one, I think</p>
<p>jltrex, I got my ticket from aa.com. But I'm flying from Washington; I checked out Boston and saw that their fare is $179.</p>
<p>I recommend you try sidestep.com. It's a search engine that looks at all the travel websites (Orbitz, Expedia) as well as all the airlines at the same time.</p>
<p>Nikara:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Tsdad- your son worked at the Poconos? That's awesome.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well my then 17-year son didn't think so. Against our advice he asked to be the counselor to a group of 12 year old boys. He bitterly complained that they didn't listen to him and that they were dirty and smelled.</p>
<p>As a parent, I'm not sure what he expected, but I knew what he was going to get.</p>
<p>what does one do if they cant make it to the summer orientations? i have full time job and those stupid things are all on the weekdays, I know I can take my placement tests before this summer, when my job starts, but what about speaking with advisors about classes?</p>