USC Class of 2027 — Regular & Early Action Decisions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
2219

^^^ Follow the excellent advice above via @CADREAMIN regarding freshmen housing. For those admitted who want to post a housing deposit… this should be the link:

Welcome to the USC Housing application portal!

The banner should eventually explain how and when you can do so. It should be updated soon.

Even if you are not 100% certain about committing to USC, it is worth the $55 or so housing deposit to secure your spot in line. It’s the best way to get preferential housing assignments. And you can even do so without paying the overall commitment deposit to enroll at USC. Get your spot in line asap… you can always change your requests and the order, research and select a requested roommate, etc. many times before the final deadline.

The actual best way to get exactly what you want… or at least one of your top two choices… is to locate a roommate (CC or facebook, etc. is a good starting place… or within the housing selection portal itself) and then select each other and match your preferences (1-5, etc.) exactly the same. By doing so, you make the housing office’s job super-easy, as they can match you two and accommodate the goals of two freshmen simultaneously. They also go with whichever of you had the higher preferential order in terms of signing up.

You can check the Housing Options for Freshmen via USC Housing | USC Housing

These links may be helpful to both new students and their families…

https://parents.usc.edu/

https://orientation.usc.edu/

https://housing.usc.edu/

USC Hotel

The USC Hotel | Official Site | Hotels Near USC

The USC Hotel & Conference Center offers an unrivaled location for prospective students, parents and returning alumni, pet-friendly rooms, modern amenities, free WiFi and a 24/7 fitness center.

Additionally, there are a series of excellent videos available at Housing Videos | USC Housing . So, research well and decide on your own preferences. More videos are available via YouTube.

For freshmen, the options are:

FRESHMAN RESIDENCE HALLS

FRESHMAN SUITES

FRESHMAN APARTMENTS

(All of these freshmen options are on campus, except for Cardinal Gardens, which is next to Century, and thus adjacent to campus.)

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2220

Thank you so much. And you @CADREAMIN. With my son out of wifi range, and me having trouble with his login, this may not happen for us tomorrow morning. We’ll do what we can.

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2221

Check to see that she put your phone number on the app – and/or check your spam? We are receiving emails (as parents). I imagine this can be fixed (if you want emails) with a quick email to admissions.

2222

We received our first parent email literal minutes after I posted that yesterday. :joy:

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2223

Today’s question :slight_smile: Any advice for the Explore USC events? We are definitely going down for one of the weekday ones and considering going for the big Sunday Open House this weekend. It’s a 6 hour drive if there is no traffic (ha!), so it would be a big commitment, but we’re happy to do it if it’s worth it.

2224

You might want to check if your student can sit in on a class during a weekday one. If I recall correctly, my son was able to sit in on a class that he really liked – but that was several years ago.

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2225

That’s a great idea. The weekday one is on Friday, but we’ll be there Thursday too, so I’ll have her look into it.

2226

What is she interested in studying?

2227

It’s not a huge problem. USC guarantees housing to all freshman, so he will definitely be okay even if he doesn’t get his first choice!

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2228

I sent you a DM.

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2229

She was accepted into the SCA Game Development and Interactive Design and will likely add either Economics or Computer Science as a double major if possible (and from our research, it seems like it’s common in SCA to add a double major)

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2230

Congrats to her! Sounds like a great combo.

2231

Getting into SCA Game Development and Interactive Design alone is a huge accomplishment. Getting into any SCA major is ultra-competitive. My younger daughter loved her years in SCA. Congrats!

2232

Thanks! Besides USC being her dream game program for so long, she is especially honored to be admitted since she submitted a game she made in her portfolio, so to be accepted really feels like validation!

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2233

At this point, students are probably passed superficial evaluation of the schools they’ve been accepted to and are looking for information to really guide their decision. What are your student’s main questions? For my daughter, she wanted a small cohort within a larger university so she used her time to dig deep into the offerings and culture of her particular school (Price). She also was looking for a collaborative, not cutthroat environment. She talked to a lot of students, Price administrators and faculty. We also stood in a really long line to see Birnkrant but it was worth it!

2234

I wouldn’t say she has many questions. It’s more a feel thing at this point. She knows (and loves) so much about her program after years of research and conversations. And I would like her to see Birnkrant before 100% giving up on McCarthy. :joy: We are leaning heavily towards going down for both the open house and normal Explore USC.

2235

We have done that drive close to a hundred times in last decade (seriously, have athlete at USC and lots of kids there ha).

If you can drive on Saturday - it is a sweet drive either direction almost any time of the day. Coming home on a Sunday afternoon is always going to be bad - getting out of LA, over the Grapevine, up 5, all of it very busy. But if no accidents, it moves at a steady pace once you start heading up Grapevine.

If going on a Friday, we would leave no later than 5:30am. And I wouldn’t try to get out of LA on a Friday after 2pm.

101 adds a lot of driving time - prettier but a lot longer.

You will love the Southwest $49 flights - we did a lot of “just for a day visits” so flying wasn’t always as convenient cause we needed to be there at odd times for events and wanted flexibility.

The more visits you make, the more it starts feeling like home for them.

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2236

For those who do SIR, Southwest will release their Thanksgiving and winter break flights on May 4.

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2237

If it’s a feel thing then a visit seems important

2238

We decided to do both. Will drive down Saturday and bring my husband and younger daughter who haven’t been at all yet! Then I found $49 flights on JetBlue for next week!! So will only have to do the drive once. We will be dreading the drive home on Sunday, but no way around that!

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