USC does a good job room mate matching. Most kids don’t have one going in and rely on that. They look at major and all the answers on the housing profile - be honest there! If he registered early and puts New North as first choice, he is likely to get it. I think there is only one room type there but if more than one he can use a couple choices at same building. Any dorm in freshman quad is great. If you need more info on other buildings to fill choices, I can send u a post about out earlier.
thanks. big help. please do forward info about other buildings.
@CADREAMIN Thanks for that reassurance. After the interview in February we opted to put the housing deposit down not knowing where the kid would end up. Survey was filled out and my kid is opting to let USC housing people do their magic. There’s just so much going on at school and the kid is fine with letting USC pick roommates. There will be other years to choose.
@CADREAMIN and @WWWard - just created an account solely to say thank you. I’ve learned more about USC from this forum than all other official pages combined.
My daughter is still undecided, although it is hard not to like USC. I guess the not-so-great location of the campus (but I must say the campus itself is awesome), and the ever present too-many-spoiled-kids-there perception is the reason. Any last minute thoughts to make these doubts go away?
@midwestCityParent8 I agree, and so does my daughter, the location of USC leaves a lot to be desired. If you’re right on campus it’s fine. Outside of the campus is pretty yucky. The too-many-spoiled-kids-there perception is not really a big deal. There is a mix of kids from all socio-economic backgrounds. It really comes down to the program she is in and what her other choices for schools are and $$. USC offers a very good education, stellar reputation, fun school, lots to be involved in, etc. If you don’t mind me asking, what are her other choices? Maybe I have some insight into those schools too. Tons and tons of kids in our extended family and we’ve had kids go everywhere. May 1st is very soon, so I wish her a peaceful decision.
@symonaidanasa - thx for the note. She is picking between USC, Berkeley, Cornell, WashU, Northwestern. She is essentially undecided non-engineering major at this point. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
My D is finishing up her freshman year. It’s hard to believe how fast the year flew by. I feel like we just moved her into her dorm!
She went random for a roommate. She and her roommate get along great. Different friend groups outside of the room but they’ve had a great year living together. When we saw her profile, I was concerned. They seemed very different from one another but in reality, had a lot in common.
As far as the perception of too many spoiled kids, my D has not found that to be an issue. There are the Olivia Jade and friends type but my D says there aren’t many of them. And they tend to stick together so she hasn’t had much interaction with that type. She says the vast majority of students are hard-working, smart and passionate people. I believe 2/3 of students receive some financial aid. My D is a full-pay student but she is 100% responsible for her own spending money and has really learned to budget this year. There are many weekends where she eats in the dining hall because she doesn’t want to spend money at restaurants.
@midwestCityParent8 Wow. She’s got great choices. We have friends or family at Berkeley, Cornell, and WashU. I think you can compare Berkeley the most to USC as far as location (city school). Although, I think that USC is a much closer knit campus and the alumni community is very strong. Berkeley’s academic rigor is supposedly very tough. But, the insight is coming from someone who is pre-med. Cornell has a beautiful campus and the little town associated with it is so cute. The reputation of the school is strong. I’m not sure about the academic rigor, I’m assuming it’s on par with UCB and USC. WashU has the dreadful reputation of all work and no play. The weather at Cornell and WashU is far more severe in the winter, obviously, than UCB and USC. I would imagine that Northwestern has that same issue. But, I’m assuming you are from the midwest from your screen name, so your daughter is probably used to it. It really just depends on where she wants to be. I think the one thing that USC has going for it the most is its strong alumni connection that really helps each other out. And, tons of school spirit. So, if everything were equal in your daughters mind, maybe it comes down to money. I don’t think I’ve been much help, but hopefully something I said will spark a decision for your daughter. Let me know what she decides.
@symonaidanasa - many thanks, that helps.yeah, we are from Midwest, we are used to the weather - but no one is too crazy about staying here if there are options in warmer places :). We’ve heard that during admit days at Northwestern two weeks ago it was snowing - and it is April! Since you’ve mentioned that your daughter’s campus location perception is similar - is she already there? Or considering going to USC?
We hear about that strong USC alumni network - but literally any school claims that, so not sure what the practice is. Also, USC is huge school student-body wise, with a healthy number of graduate students. Which brings two questions: (1) the campus is not that big, like comparable to Northwestern or WashU, it seems it would be pretty crowded? (2) some universities have reputation of caring mostly about graduate students and undergrad being treated with less ‘care’. How is it at USC?
@midwestCityParent8 Congrats on some great choices and thanks for kind words. Not gonna sell here, cause this is way too big a decision to try to influence, but will share some of my perspective. May be relevant or not. Yes the area around USC ain’t pretty as they say. But you are two miles from downtown, the Staples Center, LA Live, various public transportation/shared uber to Disneyland and even closer to the beach, Santa Monica and places people dream of. Ok, so that was a bit sellsy. Sorry. As you know, the campus is amazing, meticulous and has gorgeous tucked away areas - it takes many visits to discover them all. I don’t feel the campus is crowded at all but rather alive and robust all the time - it’s just so vibrant - and have always loved that about it. I feel like I am in a mini Times Square when at the Ronald Tutor Center at lunch - the diversity, language, and beauty in many forms is really something to be part of.
The area around USC - well yes, I was concerned about it for the first couple years there, no question, and I am still down there a lot (was there this past weekend) and every time, I think - yuk, man this is one grimy place. Early on, I thought, where’s that idyllic college setting from the movies??? And what’s up with the sirens omg…then I realized the firehouse is next to campus and they go out on virtually every type of emergency call. They get use to that really fast. But honestly, whether it is USC or Yale, or any other school surrounded by that kind of area, the one thing I truly believe (not selling, I really believe this) is that college is really good time for them to learn how to navigate a city, or as I say, everybody needs to learn how to ride the bus. And there is something even safer about learning how to navigate city areas from the safety-base of a campus and with friends. I remember being a 24 year old marketing manager on my first business trip to NYC and getting off the plane in my business suit and pumps looking all young, professional and cute. I’m sure my mom was hoping the cabby didn’t dump me in the Hudson between the airport and hotel. But long story short, I had the experience in a sketchy city environment before I went to work to be able to handle myself young but with confidence in a place like NYC, then Chicago…and everywhere else I eventually traveled as a marketing exec. Many students go off to school often having lived in these bubble-sheltered environments, but it’s experience in those different types of areas that make them very able-minded adults when they are done. Now if they just don’t like it and want a different setting, it is certainly a valid reason to choose another school. But just saying, there is some virtue in that grime. To grime or not to grime, that is the question.
Graduate v. undergrad - Undergrad rules at USC. There are certainly many grad students, but is a complete undergrad experience there.
For us personally, we had the choice of UCB a couple times, and no question, it was USC - flexibility of changing majors and double majoring/minoring with ease was super important to mine. We struggle for everything in California because of the quantity of people, I want them to work hard in college but not struggle to be who they want to be. USC offers that. The urban challenges are about the same between the two. We also wouldn’t pay OOS rates for any public school, but hey, that’s us.
Let’s see the rich kid thing - it is so not an issue. My D has some friends that are on full aid and others whose parents are CEOs of gigantic corporations or won 3 Grammy’s,etc. Every private school has rich kids. And btw, those rich kids tend to have very successful parents and make great connections. So rich kids aren’t all bad, and they aren’t all shallow either. The alumni network has made a huge difference in the lives of my Trojans, no question, it is real and fantastic.
Cornell and Wash U - I have thoughts on those but it’s not based on first hand experience so can’t add anything of value on those.
Whew that was long…Great choices - take a deep breath, go out to a nice dinner - a neutral new place to discuss it all - best of luck - regardless of choice, she is going to a great college. Let us know where she goes!!!
@CADREAMIN - thank you so much. You are a rare type - clearly you love USC and know a lot about it, and you are honest about it, but it never feels like you want to ‘push’ people to go there. You should get some job at USC administration 
p.s. - if you don’t mind and have time/desire, could you IM me? I don’t think I can initiate a private conversation as I do not have enough posts yet.
@midwestCityParent8 Yes, my daughter attends USC now. I asked her about the campus feeling crowded because of so many students. She was very surprised when she first started at USC that the campus didn’t seem crowded at all to her; she said that it feels much smaller to her than what the numbers suggest. She said she has no idea who is a grad student or an undergrad, and it doesn’t seem to matter to the admin. Her professors are incredibly available to her and very helpful. My nephew also graduated from USC and many, many family friend’s kids as well and they all say that the alumni connection is incredible. Honestly, your daughter has no bad choices, she just needs to go where it feels the most right to her. Hope that helps.
Repost about housing for @zeropointzero Sorry for delay I missed your reply earlier (was out and about and checking on my phone). btw love the user name. I use that all the time!
imo, housing is all about a tradeoff of physical comfort for social opportunities - there is no question that a traditional dorm is more social and has more opportunities to meet more people than a closed door suite style. To me, who you live with and around (having ability to meet people) is more important than the physical aspects of building, but some may feel otherwise. No choice is a wrong choice, there really isn’t bad housing, just different choices. The kids know what is important to them, listen to what they want, then should be responsible for the decision, as it should be in college. Us parents are old and less tolerable of inconvenience or discomfort, some kids don’t care so much. After sending four to college, I know a toxic suite with drama, or intolerable suite mate/room mate is much more disruptive than how many share a bathroom. But if you have other friends/peeps, a weird room mate isn’t a crisis either. Luckily USC does a really good job matching room mates. If I was a first time parent of a college student, it would be hard to not persuade them to the shiny new Village or push them to what appears to have the best physical amenities, so I have certainly changed my tune with experience. I have come to realize that meeting people freshman year can be the single most important aspect in determining the happiness over the next four years. You can cover an ugly wall with a poster, but you can’t change the vibe and social atmosphere you live in. Bottom line is they should pick the one(s) that they know checks their boxes. And if it isn’t perfect, well college is about a little discomfort, it is how they grow, it’s ok, really it is.
Here’s a rundown of housing choices…of course individual experiences vary and room mates can certainly impact an experience. If you don’t care about AC and want social aspect (not saying party dorm, just super friendly atmosphere with lots of activities and ways to meet people) then Birnkrant, Pardee, Marks Tower are all great and part of the freshman quad. All three of the towers are popular choices. New North is definitely known as the fun dorm. But keep in mind the academic level of USC nowadays, no dorm is Animal House (that’s for you @zeropointzero). Birnkrant kept it’s honors reputation (it was honors dorm prior to Village) and there is a Starbucks in the bottom of it. It is known as “8 floors of open doors.” I haven’t known anyone that didn’t love living there. Not fancy and a traditional dorm set up, but its academic/social balance remains strong. One has a fitness center, but that’s not a big deal, most use the real gym so it’s sorta a meh feature. Any of these in the freshman quad - the towers (Birkrant Pardee & Marks), New North and Marks Hall - make a very special community.
If you want AC and suite set up, then Village, Parkside or Fluor are super nice, just offer a different social experience than the dorms since they are suites or apartments. Some prefer this, others find them limiting socially, depends on the individual. Fluor is more central than Parkside, it is just outside the freshman quad, but less social as apartments. Parkside is on the far side of campus, but newer building (relative to some others) and nice suites, close to engineering, it feels more like a dorm than apartments even if suites. Lots of study/conference rooms to use in the building.
Do not only list Village for your choices if not a scholarship recipient - or you will be surprised when you are stuck “wherever” because you don’t list enough choices building wise. If not in McCarthy honors, Village is an outlier of random/leftover spots for freshman (other than honors who get McCarthy). Sophomores fill it up with early assignment that has been done already. There are other places on campus where freshman living is focused. I get AC is huge or a must for some people, but I would suggest adding additional factors to that as the highest priority of your USC living experience if you can. Although there can be a couple periods of heat, it is California, not the south, no humidity. There is a reason shacks go for millions here.
Do not put all five configurations in one building because if full, then they get to make your “second choice” and will put you wherever they want. Give them some choices.
From being around a lot of students over the years, what I have heard consistently is the entire freshman quad area (Birnkrant, Pardee, Marks, etc.) is one of the best places you can live, even without AC. It is where you do the most as a freshman and can meet the most freshman. USC is a HUGE school with 40,000 people, a lot of them graduate students. In the freshman quad area it is great to be grabbing coffee at that Starbucks or sitting out by the pond with other freshman. If you are throwing frisbee in the lawn, or studying at a table outside, it is freshman sitting next to you and walking by. Anyone in that area is a freshman - all those buildings might as well be considered one building, they way everyone interacts. So if you choose or end up in the freshman quad area it will be great too. It is so easy to make friends over there. Parkside has it’s own little community on it’s side (although a lot socialize over at freshman quad side too) and is known to have great food.
Sophomores are given housing priority in the Village, so if you don’t live in the Village as a freshman (most don’t), you have a really good chance of living there as a sophomore (but there are some that don’t get it). If you do, you get to experience two different types of housing in college. It all works out!
Kids that are interested in going Greek tend to live in New North. It has been known that way for years. It has a big sorority/fraternity contingency that chooses to live there.
Don’t worry about living by your “major” school, as freshman you will likely be all over campus with GEs and activities. It’s not that big a campus, everything is pretty close really.
You can absolutely change anything on your housing application - preferences, survey etc, up until the moment they close the application without it affecting your original time stamp priority.
There is a place for everyone and there really isn’t a bad living arrangement at USC, truly.
@CADREAMIN or @WWWard. Do either of you know the 1st Year required courses for Dornsife? Aside from any foreign language courses, is it just GESM and WRIT 150?
@CollegeOdyssey2001 My daughter is finishing up her first year in Dornsife. It seems all the freshman take 1 semester of WRIT 150 and one of GESM. Like you mentioned, Dornsife also has a 3-semester foreign language requirement, so depending on scores on AB or IB-HL tests, or the placement test, they can end up with that as well. The students all also have dedicated advisors for their major. My daughter’s advisor has been incredibly helpful.
@TreeAlum Thanks so much for that. S19 is trying to map out his 4-year plan to make sure everything fits before accepting! Did your daughter like her WRIT 150 and GESM courses, btw?
@zeropointzero Back in 2014, Housing suggested finding a roommate and then having both list their preferences exactly the same… and in the same order. My older daughter did so, finding her here on CC. And they got their first choice. By doing so, the earliest sign-up time will prevail, plus you simply make Housing’s job a little bit easier - as they can take care of two applicants together.
@midwestCityParent8 you’re welcome.
@midwestCityParent8 It is hard to overcome indecision, as that implies a disconnect in some manner (unless it is strictly financial). For both of my daughters, during their first visits to L.A. and USC, I sort of took on the challenge of showing them all that is possible to see and explore in a single day while being there. That single day included Venice Beach/Boardwalk, Santa Monica (Pier and Third Street Promenade), Malibu, Beverly Hills (including Rodeo Drive), the Sunset Strip, Hollywood, the Grove, the film studios, the Griffith Observatory (for the views of the city and Hollywood sign) and Downtown L.A. I guess it worked too, as they both wanted to commit right away.
As you stated, USC has a great campus - especially with the Village extension, but it’s overall setting is less than ideal. But there is so much more attainable to a student attending USC and all accessible within a 20-25 minute drive from campus for most and within a 40-45 minute drive from campus for nearly all (including numerous theme parks). Where else can you be literally on the beach and hiking up a mountain in the very same day? Both of my daughters were also interested in entertainment industry careers, so all of the studios and HQs for entertainment giants of course helped. But there are internship and employment opportunities galore available across countless industries in L.A.
I guess that the bottom-line is that it is either the right place for you or not. In my family’s case, it was. But it also helped in terms of comparing it to options (like vs Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Princeton, etc.)… and what all was available in those college cities.
Your point about the “ever present too-many-spoiled-kids-there perception” though really never came up again after the first couple weeks of school for each. They are a significant minority in reality, and that is not the persistent impression once kids are there and meeting new people, making new friends, etc.
As for what seems like a huge student-body # when you factor in graduate students, that has never really been our impression. Other than on graduation day, the campus has never felt crowded at all. And as others have stated, USC is most certainly undergrad-centric.
Good luck with the decision…
And P.S. - based on your daughter’s options… one final point to consider: weather. My kids moved to USC from Florida, and even they were amazed at how much better the weather is there at USC versus what they were used to in Tampa… no extremes in terms of heat or humidity, and the weather is nearly always pleasant. My older daughter now lives in the D.C. area and hates the weather there (hot & humid in the summer and too cold in the winter). But even D.C. is of course rather mild compared to places like Chicago (or the midwest generally) and the Northeast. Weather may not be a huge factor for some, but it is just one more tremendous benefit to the vast majority of the colleges and universities in California. I still live in Florida and go into withdrawal whenever I return here from a trip to USC/LA. The weather is so much nicer there in my opinion.
@CollegeOdyssey2001 I’m not sure this is the case for all USC freshman, but my daughter did actually like her GESM and writ 150. For the GESM, she somewhat lucked out in that the class was fun and she learned a lot, but there wasn’t a lot of homework at all, so that varies a lot. She had that first semester and it helped balance out the course load she had with the very difficult Freshman Science Honors classes (honors chem and bio, both with lab). For WRIT 150, there are a bunch of themes, and she picked the theme she most resonated with, and she got to write papers about topics she really liked, and she definitely saw improvement in her writing, which is the goal. For the GESM, I think the smartest thing is to pick it to fulfill a GE that you won’t fill with your major. Students have to take 2 in category B and C, so she chose one from those categories. She did use Rate My Professor, but even with that, you have to read between the lines, since sometimes you only get the people who hated the class to write the reviews. For the GESM, the thing that is tough is that there are max 18 students per GESM and so for each orientation, only 1 spot opens up. So if it is a popular one, there can be a little bit of luck involved if you register for that first semester. 2nd semester registration is based on standing with how many credits you have, so coming in with AP/IB credits helps.