<p>Big news today that should dramatically affect the number of beds available through USC housing. I don't know any more details than the article below, but this should be very interesting.</p>
<p>Thanks for this info--wonder how that will affect those currently in the Conquest Housing System, since I understand they used to get priority for subsequent leases once they were "in the system." </p>
<p>I'm sure that's a good thing for USC housing pool to have more housing to offer, but must make things a bit more complicated, particularly for folks currently in the Conquest Housing system.</p>
<p>What is Conquest housing? Are they apartments? Do upper classman or grad students live there?</p>
<p>Conquest Housing is the largest landlord (other than USC Housing) for the area around USC. They rent apartments and other living quarters near USC. I believe they require 12-month leases. Any individual can apply to rent from them--my S who is a junior has a 12-month lease with them on a one-bedroom apartment that is just across the street from the USC soccer field.</p>
<p>They are an option to consider for transfer students who can't get on-campus housing. I don't think they care whether you're a freshman, upperclassman or grad student.</p>
<p>Do you think students will be able to sign up for these new apartment options through the official USC Housing Renewal process? That's starting in just a week or so, and I wonder if these apartments will be among the choices available for next year. Anyone know?</p>
<p>I don't think anyone really knows what is happening yet. There is nothing about it on the conquest housing website yet: CONQUEST</a> HOUSING</p>
<p>Hopefully more information will come out soon.</p>
<p>My son lives in one of the Conquest buildings that was sold. The new owner is Westar Associates but the Manager is USC. </p>
<p>I'm not sure what will happen with the current tenants priority for other Conquest Housing- my son has other plans so I'm not going to pursue the answer on that.</p>
<p>My S is still trying to decide whether he wants to stick with Conquest next year (he's in a building that was not sold). He is running out of time to decide--it really seems a bit early for these kids to figure it all out, so soon after returning from winter break. <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>Can those of you in-the-know help with suggestions about housing choices for my soon-to-be sophomore? Are there certain apts that are extremely desirable in the lucky chance he gets an early lottery pick? Is on-campus always preferable?</p>
<p>Webb and Troy East are popular choices for upper division students, but it depends on where they have their classes and how noisy/quiet they prefer. Many sophomoes do prefer on-campus housing, but off-campus is a good option as well. Not sure how these new housing units may affect choices.</p>
<p>Madbean - </p>
<p>D lived in a dorm freshman year, then Parkside (too far away from campus for hers/our liking) her 2nd year, and then Tuscany her 3rd and 4th year. Tuscany was BY FAR the best choice as it is the newest bldg. and is so conveniently located (directly across the street from the school and Coliseum). Additionally, as parents we were happy to have her there as the bldg. is quite secure with 24 hour security and gated underground parking (staffed with security). Another perk ... ground floor of the bldg. houses several food establishments :)</p>
<p>kaorj,
Can you give me an idea of rental/utilities/other expenses costs for living in Tuscany?
I can't find this information in their site (even though was updated in 2009!)</p>
<p>Thx so much, HImom and karoj. Tuscany looks like it might go very fast. Any tricks to getting into the building?</p>
<p>The day before they start taking next year sign-ups for Tuscany, people line up outside the office and sleep on the sidewalk overnight. It is very expensive, also.</p>
<p>No one really knows how expensive it will be next year. If you look at the article above, you will see that different units had different prices, even if they were the same size. It's a mystery how things will change.</p>
<p>Re: Utility prices at Tuscany... Asked husband and he remembers approx. $60 per mo. Please know that this was a 3 bedroom/3 bath apt. with 2 to a room (6 girls in total), so that was D's share of the utilities. As far as tricks to getting in...D was already a member (so to speak) of the Conquest group, so when Tuscany first opened up she and her roommates had 1st priority as current Conquest tenants. The only other cost I can think of was parking. She and her roommate got one space between them and the roommate didn't care if she had it, so D worked out a plan with her roommate so that the roommate paid less per month (example: D paid $825, roommate paid $775).</p>
<p>Thank you for the info kaorj !</p>
<p>I have to correct the information that I gave in my original post re: housing. After dorm housing D was in Palisades (NOT Parkside) on Adams her second year, and then Tuscany her 3rd and 4th year. Palisades was further away from campus than we were comfortable with at that time.</p>
<p>I live in Palisades and overall I like it… it’s a nice place to live. Not that far from campus really, especially if you have a bike like most USC students do. It was bought out by another company (no longer Conquest but also not USC). It is still relatively new, and the new management has so far been a positive… although just about anything would be better than Conquest. I would strongly advise against Conquest, especially now that they don’t have their nice buildings like Tuscany and Palisades (which was the draw for them before). They have terrible, terrible customer service, took forever to fix maintenance requests, and the staff were generally rude if you had a problem or complaint. I went without internet for a whole week (only to have it break again a week later for another 3 days and several more times throughout the semester) while living with Conquest. Besides, the only buildings they have left now are the crappy buildings they couldn’t sell off to USC or another housing provider. </p>
<p>As for living on campus, most students don’t after freshman year, it seems. Also, if you live in USC housing, you will likely have to move to a new building and go through the lottery system each year and possibly even move if you stay for the summer (versus most other companies which will allow you to resign your lease). USC housing provides furniture, which can be a plus or a minus (depending on whether you prefer that or would rather decorate your own place).</p>