Congratulations! Mine died, even though I started at 9:00 on the dot. I called and they told me to logout, and now there’s no way to log back in. He may be sunk for his first choice, but if everything works out for him to attend, he’ll live wherever they have space! I’ll keep trying later.
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Just close the tab within your browser. If that does not work, close the browser and start again.
And… 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.
To all…
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.
So… I would recommend doing so today.
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I suggest reviewing the posts 2160 & 2181 above in this thread.
Thanks for the responses. The housing post is very helpful. The post refers to the Village. What is it? Is it on campus?
On a separate topic, our family has a few summer trips booked. Now we are a bit worried about potential conflicts with USC schedules for freshman. Would someone give me a rough sense when the orientation week will be and when the move in and fall semester would start? Are there any other events specifically for Freshman that we should be aware of and plan for?
Many thanks
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Yeah, my credit card is ready! LOL. I set an alarm and everything. 
Since my kid is far away, he’ll have to look at roommates some other time. The housing portal doesn’t even open anymore. Just “try again later” 
There are a set # of spots open and available in the portal. As people log off, spots open up. I would just keep trying. Good luck…
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The Village is an extension of the main campus. It’s immediately adjacent to it.
Here’s a link to the campus map:
University of Southern California (usc.edu)
There are multiple orientation weekends. This link will detail it all:
USC Office of Orientation Programs
Link to academic calendar:
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portal is saying service unavailable right now
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Yeah, this is not a disaster. (Haha, when I was a teenager, I would have thought so! That’s how I was.) I’m just frustrated for a lot of reasons this morning, and I’m taking it out on the USC server. 
But one reason being that I was in one of those spots. 
I’ll check later. Considering we don’t know yet if kid can go (waiting on FA), I have to just remember this is all part of the process.
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Village is for honors merit scholarship recipients freshman and housing for sophomores. The USC housing website is very thorough and will list freshman housing, location and room configurations.
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Woohoo! Done. Later on, he can decide if I picked the right dorms, but for now we’re in the queue. After all that, I do have a question for everyone. Does anybody know if there’s a particular dorm where Thornton students live? At some schools my son’s applied to, there are dorms that are unofficially music dorms. I don’t think he needs to be there, and in fact might not want to be when he makes his own choices, but I’d love to know.
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My D was Thornton - they don’t all live in a certain dorm but most dorms have special rooms that are suitable for instrumental stuff, even the old originals. Like any office building has conference rooms, USC dorms have music rooms.
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Out of the 4 residence halls, which one or ones are closer to engineer college or tend to have more engineering students? Also any of these one may have more student’s interest in ROTC?
Thanks
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Don’t need to be closer to engineering as a freshman you are all over the place. But Parkside is closest.
@wwward linked map above her it is again - the housing page also has map.
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Sorry- late to the game with this post!
Rejected 4.0/4.4 11 APs, leadership, athlete, volunteer work etc
My side of the family has been involved with USC for generations. My husband went to USC and so did several of his family members.(Proof that legacy has very little weight). My kids started their life out in Trojan onesies :-). It’s all they’ve known and all they’ve dreamed of. Unfortunately, the application experience has been exactly opposite of what we thought it would be. When my oldest applied, we couldn’t get an email reply from the AO even though we reached out three times (with legitimate questions). When my next kid applied, we were happy to see that there was a different AO than the first. We thought for sure we would have a better experience! Not only did this AO ignore emails, he totally flaked on the college day at their school. He didn’t contact the school to say he wouldn’t be there and he never responded to the counselor when asked to reschedule. There was a room of kids that sat there waiting for him the whole period hoping he would show up.
We’ve never had an experience like this with any other school, and are so disappointed with USC. We had a lot of hope, but did not EXPECT our kids to get in. We did expect the bare minimum.
For everyone that will attend USC – Fight On! For the majority, like us, picking up the pieces of heartbreak - I feel you! Wishing everyone good luck and much success.
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My daughter will be in ROTC as well. Great question.
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ROTC is centered within and around the Physical Education Building (PED). So, Parkside and Webb would be closest.
But, as suggested above, freshmen crisscross the campus a great deal due to all of the GE courses.
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
- McCarthy Honors Residential College
- Parkside Arts & Humanities Residential College
- Parkside International Residential College
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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I do not have a student in Thornton but I’ve heard parents talk about some dorms having music practice lounges and others having music practice rooms. In particular, there was a parent whose daughter lived in Cowlings and was trying to find a private room to practice for a (singing) audition. I believe her daughter found a friend in a different dorm and was able to reserve a room through the friend.
Some of the dorms list specifics in their description. Ex. Parkside says, “performance space, a multipurpose room, music practice rooms” while Birnkrant says “music practice lounge.”
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Did they offer you TTP?
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Sorry for the results and yes agree wholeheartedly, there is huge room for improvement of the advisors. So inconsistent that a few get one that is responsive and others totally ignore any inquiries. Years ago we spoke to one on campus and the arrogance was palpable.
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