That’s so funny regarding the Tuscany apartments. That building is not cheap, but you can’t beat the location to campus. The Village is only for sophomores, with the exception of McCarthy Honors dorm for freshman. The Village filled up on the morning of the second day of the apartment lottery, but there was still room for sophomores in Cardinal Gardens, which is student housing right across the street. If USC offered student housing for juniors/seniors most would take it because of the proximity to campus and the price. Student housing is only guaranteed for sophomores who lived on campus freshman year.
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usually around 4-5pm PST
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They may like the proximity, but most juniors and seniors (and frankly a lot of sophomores) want the freedom (i.e. no rules) that outside housing provides. They are very limited socially in the dorms in terms of people coming and going. Before the Village (which just opened in 2017) almost all sophomores went off campus. Even with Village, a lot of sophomores end up going as well cause they don’t get the housing assignment or room mate they want - or they just want to venture outside the dorm rules and food. 
But it sure is nice when they are on campus - they can actually get packages and mail without stress and move in/out is way less.
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My son is a sophomore and loves living in the Village with his friends. He was lucky to get an early lottery time. The apartments are nice for what you pay and living next to Starbucks, Target, and Trader Joes, plus the gym and so many restaurants makes it a popular place for sophomores. You’re right though - the demand is much higher than the supply but USC provides other good options for sophomores.
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Ya mine liked it too, and better as a sophomore than as a freshman. And omg, Target was sure handy! When she went off campus, she literally lived across the street (on Hoover) so everything remained right there. We just paid for it price wise - but it was sure safe and sooo convenient and had secure parking which was fab.
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When it comes to housing on or near campus, the key thing IMO is to run the numbers annually before comparing pricing scenarios. They can vary widely, especially since the payment requirements vary widely too. It’s not as simple as looking at the monthly rent.
My older daughter was in USC housing for years 1-3 and then in a shared / private 2 BR / 2 Bath (4 girls sharing) at only $725 per month per person. But that… like many private housing scenarios… was for an 11-12 mos lease. It was also a joint and several lease.
USC housing instead charges by the semester. She was in an apartment in Webb (on campus) as a freshman and then in an apartment at Century (adjacent to campus) for her sophomore and junior years. She sought out such apartments because she wanted more space, a private bath and A/C throughout the unit (which is rather rare in terms of USC housing). My younger daughter was in that shared / private apartment as a freshman, in a sorority for years 2-3 and then at Gateway for her senior year.
The great thing is the abundance of options… both within USC housing and via non-USC housing. But start the search process early… and negotiate for deals. I think her year at Gateway was like $1070/month after the concessions. Like USC Housing, places like Gateway and Lorenzo have individual leases. But many houses to rent and private apartments have joint and several leases… meaning that you need to choose your roommates very carefully.
And watch out for scams. There are an abundance of housing scams at all colleges.
Curious (and hopeful parent of a soon to be Trojan 
) what is the rental at the off campus, safe, close proximity apartments? We have students at 2 other colleges (1 in a big city and the other in a remote location) and the off campus rental prices are very similar at around $1600/month. Due to the lease being a yearly one, both students have had to sublet for the summer months when they returned home.
Rentals at off campus apartments can vary widely. Both USC and non-USC options are available. As stated above, my older daughter rented an USC apartment, Century, for both her sophomore and junior years. While off campus, it was adjacent to campus. Her senior year (2017-2018) was in a shared / private 2 BR / 2 Bath (4 girls sharing) apartment on Royal at only $725 per month per person. I’m sure the pricing has gone up, but at the time, it was the cheapest quality option that we found. It was off campus but within a couple blocks, basically half-way between campus and fraternity/sorority row. My younger daughter was at Gateway for her senior year. I think her year at Gateway (2020-2021) was like $1070/month after the concessions. Gateway is off campus, but also adjacent. It is likely more expensive now too. But, you can find deals and negotiate concessions… especially if you start early. I did it for a group of four girls all looking to share one unit. Doing so (offering them four leases simultaneously) allowed for the best pricing quotes via Gateway, Tuscany and Lorenzo. All three offered better than advertised deals. They ultimately chose Gateway based on feedback from @CADREAMIN as her kids had rented there before plus it being so much closer to campus than the other two apartment options that they were considering. A group of their friends then used the pricing given to rent at Tuscany. I concur that Gateway was very good… and for a number of reasons.
I can’t imagine finding something in the $700 range even shared these days, but maybe. We were on the other end of the spectrum paying around $1850 for a studio (non shared) with parking. The studio was literally on other side of Hoover (street the Village is on).
At Gateway we paid $1150 but we had parking there too. Gateway lets you pay more per month to get a nine month lease. It’s safe and just off campus. No worries living there besides the normal maintenance issues which they took care of.
The gotcha is the 12 month lease as subletting isn’t that easy cause there are soo many. But easier to sublet the closer it is - people don’t want to be walking a distance in summer when not that many around. But privately owned homes/apartments will be 12 month. So know your room mates cause if they leave, the other(s) need to cover that rent.
We also had a 3 bedroom that 5 guys shared, so in that case the shared rooms were around $800 before utilities and the one with the single room paid $1200, but that was on Adams, safe (until someone left door propped open to apartment building and they got robbed), but some distance from campus. Also had one where 10 lived together in an 8 bedroom townhouse and that was a hoot - it was about 10K a month.
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To net it out, there’s a lot of housing choices around USC and the parents (me) are likely more picky than the student is, so one is certain to find something that fits their price range. Some students are fine renting a tiny room with people they don’t know - they are more flexible than some of us adults, that’s for sure! They do what needs to be done.
Yes, the subletting was always an issue for us, and we just ate the cost since we were happy they wanted to be at home. Seems like the USC off campus housing will be similar to what we’ve been paying at our other 2 schools.
We still have to get in! Hoping we have the option. The wait is torture.
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Exactly. Since we are on the “left coast” I wasn’t sure what the difference in rental properties may be. Seems it will most likely be the same as we are paying currently for our other 2 college students. Now the hard part - getting in!
Off campus housing costs depend on variables such as, single vs shared room, furnished vs unfurnished, proximity to campus and amenities (weight room, pool, washer/dryer in apartment, etc.).
I’m not sure that there is anything in the DPS zone that is in the $700 range anymore. For an unfurnished shared room, we found that prices started around $900 and went up above $1200 for a shared, furnished room in a complex with more amenities (ex. Tuscany, West 27th, Gateway, Icon, Hub, etc.).
I have kids at other schools and, anecdotally, it seems that more USC kids chose to live in single rooms. I assume it is supply and demand. If parents/students can afford and choose a single, apartments will offer more singles. That said, many USC students are on a tight budget and are able find safe, shared-room apartments at a lower cost.
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I found this to be quite interesting…
USC establishes a new campus in the heart of Washington, D.C. The campus will serve as a coast-to-coast bridge for interdisciplinary study where students and faculty will collaborate with global opinion leaders.
Link to article:
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I read this yesterday and thought it was amazing. Another reason to love USC!
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Just saw that on the USC website. Very cool new opportunity.
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Is Century available through the lottery and if so, does a rising junior have a chance of getting in? For this, it would be possible to only rent for fall semester and not spring?
Century was so available back in the period of 2018-2020, and according to the housing options listed as undergraduate apartments at https://housing.usc.edu , it remains so. My daughter secured it that way for both her sophomore and junior years. It was not available for her senior year, as it had already filled up prior to her lottery spot… and especially since sophomores and juniors take priority. You can rent it for both semesters.
All of these are listed as available, as USC owned UNDERGRADUATE APARTMENTS:
- Annenberg House
- Cale and Irani Residential College
- Cardinal ‘N Gold
- Cardinal Gardens
- Century
- Cowlings and Ilium Residential College
- La Sorbonne
- McClintock Apartments
- McMorrow Residential College
- Nemirovsky and Bohnett Residential College
- Parkside Apartments
- Troy Hall
- Webb Tower
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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Awesome! Saw that yesterday. I live 10 minutes from DC and there are quite a few national and international campuses that have satellite wings here. What a great opportunity for students and reasearch grads.
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