Hello! This is for you and WWWard. What are the chances of getting a spot at McCarthy if you have a lesser merit scholarship (from inside the major) but in a very selective program - IYA? Is there a penalty for selecting McCarthy first and then using the remaining 4 slots for Birnkrant, Parkside, New North etc.? Is it worth the shot? Thanks for your attention.
Doesn’t hurt to try for McCathy, they will just move to next choice if not one.
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Nope. Tried a different browser too. They need to figure out rolling housing slots like rolling admissions!
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It’s annoying, but as Dori says in Nemo, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming”
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got in and submitted application at 1:03EST (10:03PST)
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Got in and submitted at 10:04 PDT. 
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For those trying to get in for USC housing:
Bookmark the webpage link (housingapp.usc.edu) on your browser and keep clicking on the bookmark until you get in.
Refreshing the “Server Busy” weblink might keep telling you the server is busy ad infinitum.
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Also, what finally worked for me was resetting the password.
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Is this early housing preference for today the scholarship recipients only?
Wow we finally got in. I went back to the housing page and restarted the process by clicking on the housing application button and that worked right away. Perhaps it was luck. He’ll be a presidential scholar so he chose 3 options in McCarthy and two options in birnkrant.
So thankful to @CADREAMIN for the advice! I would never have thought to sign up for housing before commiting.
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still not in
do you think if i just complete it tonight i’ll be fine? i’ve been on here for over an hour
Thanks for the kind words @baymom1 !
Those signing up today (and before noon PST) should have no issue getting their top choice or two - just depends on what they are allowed to have where. But things are really opening up.
It sounds a long way off for those selecting housing, but the senior class is just waiting on news of graduation - exactly when and where! Fortunately, many seniors are already at USC (rode out covid there) others made plans to get here by graduation once they said it was on a few weeks ago. So fortunate to have a real ceremony. You are getting housing, seniors are graduating…things are happening for these kids, yay!
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I am curious, is there not enough on campus residential housing for all of the freshmen? This would be a game changer for many I would think?
There is always enough for the freshman, they have a lot of real estate there (they own a ton around campus as well) if they had to do a major move, but they just close/limit options off to upperclassmen first. Frankly, not many junior/seniors want to live on campus anyway, time to move up and out. There is plenty of on campus housing for freshman. Housing will never be an issue for freshman (aside from entire shutdown of course). Very confident saying never.
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Agree with @CADREAMIN. I mentioned in another post that my call to the housing office confirmed that housing is always available for Freshman (even Spring Admits).
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This was something that surprised me about UC Berkeley when we visited- they don’t guarantee housing for freshmen. I’m sure everyone finds a place but coming from the east coast this was a turnoff.
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Yep… it’s a freshman guarantee related to USC Housing. And… if you commit to living within USC Housing as a freshman, they also guarantee it for your sophomore year too.
However, if not… if you do not live on campus as a freshman… you lose your place in the system and may never be able to secure USC Housing again. That happened with my younger daughter… as she chose to live with her senior sister near campus and not within USC Housing as a freshman. But, it still did not matter to her as she lived in a sorority house for two years and is now at Gateway.
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I am Cal alum and Berkeley has had a housing crisis for years.
For USC, the limiting factor is what density LA County will allow in the fall. This year LA County did not allow students at any of the universities (Pepperdine to Pomona and everything in between) to move into the dorms. Schools in other counties allowed students to move into rooms as singles. If LA County only allows singles next year, that will greatly reduce the amount of on campus housing that is available. The good news is that the LA County Board of Supervisors was previously more restrictive than the state but in recent months, they have been aligning more with state guidance.
nope