USC Freshman: Ask me Anything

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>I've seen Freshmen at other universities creating similar threads to help out prospective students so I figured I would do the same. </p>

<p>I just finished my first semester at USC and returned home a few days ago for winter break. </p>

<p>I have pretty diverse friends at the school who are involved in many different areas, so if there is anything I haven't experienced personally, there is a good chance I've heard about it from one of them. </p>

<p>I would also like to say that I came to USC with the highest of expectations; expectations that couldn't really be fulfilled. There are aspects of the school that I love but at the same time I feel it may not be the best place for me personally. While it is likely the best option I had based on where I applied, I feel that my current career goals could perhaps be better achieved by attending a different institution. There are also several things about the school, such as the pervasiveness of the Greek system, which I wish I knew about prior to enrolling.
All that to say that I am completely unbiased and understand both being enamored with the school and being doubtful towards it. </p>

<p>Please post any questions you have and I will try to answer them as I am free these next few days.</p>

2

<p>Why haven’t we fired Lane Kiffin?</p>

<p>Why does Blackboard suck so much?</p>

<p>Can we stop getting false alarm DPS notifications?</p>

<p>When’s the next bookstore sale? I need a sweatshirt.</p>

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<p>Please share more about what your career objectives are that you don’t think are a good fit with USC. Also more about how the pervasiveness of the Greek system affects you. You imply that there are other things that you wish you had known…what else? Thanks.</p>

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<p>How come you chose USC? What other schools did you apply/get accepted to?</p>

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<p>Our D is a freshman, also had high expections…and she LOVES USC. She did not rush, it’s just not something she wanted to do, but she loves the classes, the opportunities, and the diversity of the students. Did not love the football results this year (big football fan for years), but enjoyed the games anyway. Her suite mates are great friends, a variety of majors…they plan to stay together next year.</p>

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<p>What classes did you take? Did you like the professors?</p>

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<p>amandasmom- My career requires more education after undergrad. I will need a large amount of money in order to pay for this. USC offers great financial aid relative to other schools, but it was the most expensive option for me, so I know there are cheaper comparable schools where I could receive the same benefits I receive at USC with a lower net price. I also perhaps could sacrifice a few benefits and return to my well respected state school in order to save a huge amount of money, therefore setting me up better for the tuition I will need to pay after completing undergrad. There are many factors that play into this and it’s something that requires a lengthy explanation if you wish to fully understand my very unique situation.
The Greek system, as any representative will tell you, makes up something like 30% of the student body. This is a very deceptive figure. Rule out all international students and those other students that usually hide in the shadows and that figure grows to something like 50%. Now the Greek portion is also very vocal and therefore seems even more prominent. I suppose where you live on campus also greatly influences your experience with Greek life’s dominance. This affects everyone in the way that it really pressures you to get involved in it and join a fraternity or sorority. I came in with no intention of rushing, but a few weeks in found myself pledging at a frat, as did many others I spoke with (I dropped shortly into pledge semester but will be returning for Spring rush). When Greek life is so big it makes it a big part of what people talk about and what they do each night. I have lots of friends in many different fraternities and sororities, but it is impossible to get really close to them without also being in a house of your own. I also think it is important to know that there is great superficiality with people being judged solely based on the house they are in. Girls in Kappa, Theta, or DG are automatically considered hot, while certain other sororities (that I feel are inappropriate to mention) are considered the opposite. The same thing happens for frats, with Phi Psi, Sigma Chi, and Lambda the equivalent “top” houses. I’ve seen people meet, exchange which houses they were in, and the conversation and countenance of each individual completely change as a result. Lower houses and top houses, for the most part, interact very little with one another. There is a great aura of superiority. That is at least my rough take on the situation. I can talk even more about specifics if anybody would like me to. For being at the school only one semester I have been well immersed in the system and can provide an honest analysis. I wish that being in at least a middle tier house wasn’t so important, but because it is, I’ll be going out and perhaps joining next semester.</p>

<p>Curious- I was accepted nearly everywhere I applied and therefore probably cast my net a little low. The best schools I applied to were Stanford, USC, and Emory. I was rejected at Stanford, accepted into Emory and USC, and I also received a full tuition scholarship at a nearby state school. USC was the most expensive option, as I said earlier, so naturally I had some reason for choosing it over a school like Emory. I entered undergrad with the intent to study engineering, where USC is very highly ranked and where Emory does not have its own program. This was huge. I also knew there was a possibility I would switch majors (which I have) and wanted a school that had many options. I believe USC offers the most majors and minors of any school in the country. Finally, a huge part of my decision was influenced by the student bodies of the respective schools. USC was just much more alive and down to earth. The freshman facebook page, for example, had constant activity and I just saw myself fitting right in at SC. Los Angeles and the weather sure didn’t hurt SC either ;)</p>

<p>Mom2m- That’s great to hear! The classes, the opportunities, and the diversity are all great at SC. I’m sure we were all pretty disappointed with the football results. To go from being expected to play in the BCS to unranked! How despicable! I assume your daughter lives at Parkside or Fluor, as you have referenced suites. I live in the north area and consequently don’t have suite mates, rather the rooms lead to a communal bathroom and hold only 2 students each. I have also had a great experience with my roommate, despite not knowing him at all coming in.</p>

<p>kagw- I took Writing 140, two engineering classes, Calculus, and a Philosophy GE. The Writing 140 professor grew on me as the semester progressed, despite her having what I perceived to be some pretty radical opinions on certain issues. The engineering classes professors were just alright. Nothing to comment negatively or positively on. Calculus had a very lively and nice professor, but she was a terrible teacher. She wasted lectures on material that she specifically told us would not be on any exam or quiz in addition to having extremely unfair exams and grading practices. Finally, Philosophy was INCREDIBLE. The readings were all very relevant to my interests and the professor was absolutely fantastic. He was passionate about the course material and I actually found myself excited to attend his lecture each week.</p>

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<p>His contract has a buyout and we are still on probation, if he doesn’t perform this coming season, he will most likely be fired and will forever be the scapegoat for the reduced scholarship/probation years. This season was probably the most disappointing season since 2001 due to the extremely high expectations going into it, and he is on a short leash. </p>

<p>What exactly is wrong with blackboard? Is there some functionality that you absolutely must have that isn’t included?</p>

<p>Other than that last one, I haven’t ever gotten any false DPS notification.</p>

<p>There is usually one 25% off sale each semester, but cheaper priced gear can also be found online.</p>

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<p>Do you feel safe on the campus? How would you describe the eating options? What about getting around outside of campus?</p>

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<p>How was your first day of college? Was you really nervous and overwhelmed? Did the professors give you a lot of homework on your first day?</p>

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<p>Also, do you know what the average grade for a calc class at USC is/was?</p>

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<p>Good questions. </p>

<p>katie- I feel very safe on campus. I know this is a big concern for a lot of people but honestly I’m never worried. Campus policies are only making it safer, so I think you are well covered in this area. Now if you are going to venture more than a few blocks off campus (outside the DPS safety zone) you may have an issue. I rode my bike several miles to a store a few weeks ago and I must say there were several times I felt very nervous during the journey. Of course this was at night and there is absolutely nothing USC can or should do about it. Bottom line: stay on or around campus if you don’t have a car or a very large group.
Eating options are actually pretty good. A lot of people complain, but they are miles ahead of what I hear many other schools offer. There are three dining halls if you have a meal plan, all of which have great options (Parkside is usually considered the best). There is always a made-to-order section where they will have some food of the day, such as stir-fry. You tell them what you want from the bar and they cook it in front of you. Very near to campus are restaurants like Denny’s, Subway, FreeBirds, BurgerKing, Jack in the Box, McDonalds, KFC, Chic fil a, Chipotle, etc. There are also other non-chain restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk from campus.
Getting around can be tough. If you have a car you can pay $500 for the year I think (might be a semester) and attain a parking permit. This is pretty expensive but there is just no substitute for having your own vehicle. Public transportation is notoriously lacking, but the metro is useful to get strait to LA Live, Culver City, and other nearby places. It does not go directly to the beach, so you would need to connect with a bus after the metro if you wanted to get there through public transportation. There are also several Zipcars around campus. I have used these only once. They are expensive but can be great if you really need to get somewhere on short notice.
The average grades depend on the class. Calc 1 I do not believe was curved and fell somewhere in the high 80s. Calc II was somewhere in the 60s going into the final (will obviously be curved). Can’t speak for Calc III’s average but I heard it was a difficult class from a few friends. </p>

<p>curious- First day of move-in or first day of classes? Both were pretty good if I recall. For classes I’m sure I was quite nervous and unsure of where to go, but they have booths set up to help direct the new freshmen if you need help finding a building. There are also tours during welcome week where you can give them your schedule and they will take you to the specific locations of your classes. There was probably little to no homework on the first day; I can’t really remember. The first two weeks of each semester are relatively light, as they are allowing flexibility so students can add/drop as needed. </p>

<p>Hopefully that answers all y’all’s questions!</p>

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<p>What activities or events was in Welcome Week?</p>

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<p>The number of active greek members at USC is more like 20% - around 3500 members to over 17400 undergraduates. They tend to be vocal and the party scene at 28th street is robust, but there are so many students and organizations that are not part of the greek system, you just need to take time to get involved in non greek events and opportunities.</p>

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<p>Last year’s welcome week brochure is here: <a href=“http://sait.usc.edu/ca/images/wweek_brochure2012.pdf[/url]”>http://sait.usc.edu/ca/images/wweek_brochure2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
Most of the events are pointless but people go to meet new people and get free stuff.</p>

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<p>The Greek system seems a lot bigger than it actually is your freshman year, because freshmen often don’t know about other social activities besides going to the row. It calms down dramatically sophomore year, as people have a social circle that isn’t just their suite/floor and random frat parties.</p>

<p>Welcome week is awesome for free food and free marginally useful giveaway stuff.</p>

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<p>Is there a lot of hazing at USC frats? And if they are how bad is it?</p>

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<p>And while on the topic of greek life…
How much does it cost to go greek? Would you be living in greek housing all the time? Would it cost more to live in on-campus housing or greek housing? Is greek housing nice?</p>

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<p>aces- You present a question that is one of the most common but most difficult to answer. Hazing varies from house to house, but an individual can only be in a single house at most, therefore anything else they tell you must be rumor or something they heard from a friend. Stories from friend to friend often are significantly embellished and the result is a representation that is far from accurate. I can, however, tell you what I’ve heard.
Certain houses are notorious for hard hazing. I heard one house had all their pledges dress up in suits, locked them in a room, and stood around them smoking while forcing them to work out for hours. This resulted in numerous pledges throwing up and was just a generally unhealthy and harmful experience. Another house saw a pledge vomit and forced other pledge bros to roll in the vomit. Yet another took their pledges, one at a time, and had them stand on the ground while a group of actives stood on the roof and continuously yelled degrading comments and threw things at the pledge. There is a lot of physical “fitness” type hazing, such as forced wall sits, etc. Another house had their pledges all get in a line and eat an apple pie, one by one, using nothing but their mouths. You can imagine the spit and germs pooled in the pie tin by the time the final pledge took a bite. Of course there is also memorization: Name of every house on the row and its location, Greek alphabet forwards and backwards, etc. And the most obvious aspect is probably the forced drinking.
I feel like if you want to experience minimal hazing you may want to look into a lower house. While there are certain top tier houses that simply aren’t big hazers, you can feel relatively safe in the low houses because these houses are just desperate for pledges and can’t risk having too many drop. The top houses can afford to weed out a huge group, because there is an endless line of aspiring pledges happy to fill an open spot. Bottom houses don’t have this high demand and consequently must be careful about what they do.
Hopefully that gives you some insight into the situation.
No, I haven’t heard of any house doing the elephant walk. </p>

<p>thethinice- I’m assuming you are asking about fraternities? The answers to your questions will be very different if you seek information on sororities. Let me know if that is the case and I will type an amended response. Frats: House dues also vary significantly. One house I considered pledging at was going to be 4k for the year (1.5 during pledge semester, 2.5 EACH semester following). I think most houses are close to that. A certain off-the-row, low reputation house has dues that are about half that, but this also means they have a smaller budget for parties and what not. I’m sure first year dues could be upwards of 6k at some houses.
In regards to living in the house: You can always be Greek and not live in the house, but you cannot always live in the house just because you are an active member of the fraternity. The houses have limited space and therefore there is often competition for rooms. You can get an edge by earning house points, aka spending time at the house and with the brothers before you intend to move in. Fraternity housing can often times be cheaper than other living alternatives. Seeing as how you have to pay dues whether or not you live in the house, it is usually economically wise to pay a few thousand extra and live in the house IF YOU CAN (remember, house points). For the most part, fraternity housing is simply terrible. You put a bunch of obnoxious college guys in a house with no accountability and it won’t take long for the building to be beyond repair. There are certainly exceptions to this, and pledges are there year round to do necessary cleaning, but constant parties and rowdiness take a heavy toll on the houses. I think you will be hard pressed to find non-fraternity housing that is in worse shape. </p>

<p>That’s once again my experience and my personal take on these issues. Hopefully it helps!</p>

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<p>My question is about partying. As an intended journalism major, I realize that I haven’t signed up for the most difficult course of study and therefore hope to party some. That said, what kind of partying is there on campus. Obviously the row is huge, but when do people party (wknds? Thurs thru Sunday? All nights?)? Usually with big time football schools, you get all party all the time, and I want to make sure USC students know how to separate work and play. Thanks!</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID4 using CC</p>