We attended the admitted student’s day and were sort of disappointed with the experience at USC. There were long lines with 60min+ waiting to tour residential halls. I wish USC organized this better knowing the number of visitors each year.
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To be fair, they haven’t had an in-person admitted student day since 2019.
Reading reviews of other admitted student days this weekend, it appears that most tried to hold activities outdoors and limit the group sizes and spacing of people indoors. Very few had dorm tours. I’m surprised USC did.
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I agree. The UCLA Bruin Day had a mock-up of a dorm outside. The furniture was the real deal, but the size was definitely not to scale😀
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Apparently UC Davis did something similar.
Looks like we went to the wrong event. We went to “Explore USC” event at the beginning of the month and that did not have any residential hall tour.
Explore USC is capped at 300 people, and there were 5,800 people yesterday, so I think you lucked out with a bette experience tbh.
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Parkside Arts & Humanities and International dorms have suites and air conditioning. McCarthy does too but it is only for students in the Honors program.
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You’re lucky you got to attend a USC admitted day. My freshman son and all sophomores didn’t get to experience that at all last spring.
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USC has a box that lists all admitted/tour type events and it checks what is included/not included with each event. Explore has always been more intimate, admitted students day at campuses is more like a party with crowds.
Yes, kids admitted during, or in college through covid time, really missed a lot of things during this phase of their life…I hope it is back to normal from here forward. By the time we went to admitted student day at colleges, we had already visited (once or more) and used the admitted
day for fun and just to be sure and confirm final answer, versus it being the whole banana for information and impact.
I still remember being with my current student who had been to USC a zillion times with siblings and for events (and had a lot of other great schools in contention - letting her be her own person of course)! At her admitted student day, she was ahead of me and when she turned around, it was something about the way she smiled and the backdrop framing her that I knew she was home and this was where she should be going. My elusive Hallmark moment happened, so I think of the day with fondness.
This year still, for so many, it’s the only visit and some don’t even do that, so it’s great if they can see it at all. Just happy we are working our way back and out of this!
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Honestly, I feel it is not well organized. Here is a sample for Georgetown, which is very comparable to USC.
https://m.georgetown.edu/new_students/gaaphome2/_/event_schedule
I am not bashing USC. I think they can do a better job, next year!
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Hello! Georgetown has about 7,000 undergraduates compared to 19,000 at USC.
They are not comparable in that regard.
There is always room for improvement. However, I think – as stated in an earlier post – that many kids did not get to visit schools last year and they may be taking advantage of admitted students’ day to see the campus for the first time.
My son has been at USC as a freshman (no admitted students’ day) and all of my experiences with USC have been very organized. For example, move-in day, parents’ weekend, communications from the school and the President, etc. USC’s campus tends to be bustling in comparison to other schools that are more subdued. One thought (which may not be practical based on where you live) might be to visit on a random Wednesday, walk through campus, each lunch, etc. and see if you/your student get a different vibe.
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Thank you. We went to USC twice before and were very excited about the school (hence, high expectations). I am not at all saying there is something wrong with USC. Given our expectations and how well the event in Bay was structured/organized, we felt that they could have done better. Please, please note that I am not bashing/criticizing USC.
The lines were long for the dorm visits but we were so happy to be able to see inside. It truly was worth the wait for D to really get a sense of what they were like. When we arrived for the box lunches later in the afternoon they were completely out — but they sent us over to the Alumni restaurants for a complementary meal. They rolled with the punches. I think there were more people than expected.
It was so lively and spirited though. D got emotional a couple of times (we did too). She so loved the Price discussion. It was a long day but we left feeling our major questions were mostly answered and she had the info she needed about USC. Really memorable for our family.
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No offense taken at all. 
It is a valid point that they could improve.
Our son is a sophomore. His first year he was virtual, so he missed the dorm experience. This year he was in a 2 bedroom apartment in the Village (McMorrow) that he shared with 3 roommates. The units in the Village are new and you can’t beat the location. He’s had a great experience.
We live in Southern California, so the advantage of USC housing is that the lease runs for the school year (our son plans to spend summers at home). Also, you’re only financially responsible for your student’s portion of the rent so you don’t have to worry if their roommates are delinquent. Unfortunately, he wasn’t offered housing through the University for his junior year.
For next year, he and five friends are leasing an apartment from Orion Housing in an area just west of campus. It’s a short walk from campus and within the free Lyft zone. Generally speaking, the pricing for anything close to campus seems to be higher than comparable units that are farther from campus (which makes sense). He and his roommates are paying $6,450 per month for a 3 bedroom apartment, which doesn’t seem outrageous based on the other pricing I’ve seen (although he was late starting his search so there was no availability in some of the more popular projects).
The building they will be living in is relatively new and the units are furnished. However, I’m not thrilled with how Orion does business. My son told me that Orion quoted rent of $6,450 per month. However, when I reviewed his lease documents (which he didn’t send me before signing), the rent is actually $8,100 per month, but discounted to $6,450 so long as “all terms of this Lease Agreement are maintained.” This language seems intentionally vague and designed to give the landlord the option of raising the rent if the kids commit some minor violation of the rules in the lease (of which there are many). Not sure if this discount structure is common with private student housing around USC (this is our first experience). We also had to co-sign, so we are potentially on the hook for all of the rent if one or more of his roommates flake. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will work out.
Moral of the story: There are a number of options for private housing close to campus, but make sure your student is careful and understands what they are signing up for.
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What did you feel about the dorms?Which one did you get to look at?
We looked at several locations and definitely read the lease(s) before co-signing. I did not see anything like what you have in your lease.
Really happy for your daughter. I know that she has a lot of choices but I’m glad that she was able to take a good look and get a feel for what life would be like at USC.
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My son is a freshman too and he really enjoys USC and the campus. Everything has been very organized, I agree.
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When do freshmen move in to the dorms in August?