The very long housing post for Feb and March admits…ymmv!
I’ve had one or two students consistently at USC for last 10 years and spend a lot of time on campus, so this is what I have learned/seen over my time there and gleaned from my kids and their friends. I try to update this best I can, sometimes they add a building to the freshman housing list, but generally it stays the same. And hopefully other posters can share thoughts. But generally speaking…
First for the merit students - you obviously have priority for McCarthy and many will choose it, but there are also those merit students that go a different way because they don’t want the suite style, or their non-merit room mate choice can’t live there, they want to be in freshman quad area, or they just want the typical old school college experience of a regular dorm. There is no wrong choice. It is your choice and preferences that matter. As a sophomore, you will more than likely have choice to live at Village, so if you want to do it one or both years, that is up to you. I don’t know about a requirement to live in McCarthy to live in Illium as a soph, it wasn’t like that for my D, but it could be now, so ask if that concerns you. The Village is really a sophomore community, but the honors in McCarthy becomes it’s own little family, and any dorm can feel like home if it is what you want. (Future reference/mental note - if your student applies for Village at some point, keep in mind that the loft layout is beyond TINY. (You really do get what you pay for in dorms.)
Many love the wowness of the Village. There are great things about McCarthy besides the obvious shiny newness of it - they check in a few days before everybody else and start their bonding activities, then have their food and everything right there. It certainly has a regent feel to it. They have done a better job getting this group to bond/have activies more than they did the first year it opened, and have done a good job making it more social for the freshman. But if a merit student wants to choose something else because of a room mate that can’t live in McCarthy, or just preference, that’s ok too. For students accepted during regular admission in March, keep in mind that housing at Village is for merit student freshman that choose it, and how much more has been freshman housing keeps evolving, it was created for sophomore housing (and some upperclassman) so don’t use all your choices on the Village.
And don’t stress it, there are so many great places to live and you will become a family in any of them; meeting people during the year that become college/lifelong friends is way more important that being 100 steps closer to Wahlburgers (although they have very yummy burgers). Talk to friends, check on line and decide what you think you will like. If you aren’t that social, the suite/hotel style may be more isolating (but only if you let it) than being in an open door/floor type experience, so be sure to get involved with things and people early on. Think of how you will/can grow. Maybe a little discomfort is good for that. You know yourself best.
For the most part, who you live with and around (having ability to meet people) is more important than the physical aspects of building. An 18 year old is adaptable, more than us old parent types! If the student doesn’t care about AC and wants a good 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. New North is definitely known as the fun dorm. But keep in mind the academic level of USC nowadays, no dorm is Animal House. Birnkrant kept it’s honors reputation (it was honors dorm prior to Village) and it is known as “8 floors of open doors.” There is a Starbucks in the bottom of it. 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. All these are just across the street from the Village shops and food. Birkrant could be labled studious and social, but frankly they all are. If you look at stats, there isn’t a real difference between students at USC, so you aren’t gonna find housing with a “certain kind of student;” they are all great Trojans.
If you want AC and suite set up, then Village, Parkside A&S or Webb Tower all offer that. Webb has large apartments but has been more closed door feeling at times. Parkside is on the far side of campus, but newer building (relative to some others) and super nice suites (pretty large), close to engineering, tends to be social for suites, and they include 8 person suites. Parkside residents do a lot together because they are off to themselves more, but of course make their way to the freshman quad area and Village too - the campus isn’t that big! Also known to have great food.
For those accepted in March, 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. Do not only list all 5 choices in the Village - or you will be surprised when you are stuck “wherever” because you don’t list enough choices building wise. There are other places on campus where freshman living is focused. I get AC is 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.
Again, give them some choices of at least two buildings.
From being around a lot of students over the years, what I have heard consistently is the entire freshman quad area (Birnkrant, Pardee, Marks, New North, 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 likely a 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, and students are really happy there too, it’s just a bit of a haul (relatively speaking) to the other corner of campus. I think they do a great job room mate matching if student answers the questionairre honestly.
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. It’s not all those interested in Greek, just seems to be a repuation that follows it.
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 and there’s plenty of great options!
