It should not affect your financial aid - my understanding it is just where the money is sent - to USC account if on campus and to you if off campus, but I would take the time to call financial aid to confirm as this is pretty serious stuff so I don’t want to guide you wrong. Also, committing to on campus could be good idea if you are talking next fall and you can still do this, rental places are already getting scarce, but I am not sure what you would lose if you changed your mind. I would think at this point you are committing one way or another. Also - heads up on renting - virtually all leases are 12 months, meaning through the next July. Some offer an option to pay a higher amount for just 9 months, but you are paying more to do that monthly. On campus would just be for the 9 month year. I know this painfully well as I have two apartments to pay rent on this summer, ugh.
Thanks for the information! I will call the financial aid office to make sure, once I decide what I’m going to do. You’re right, most places are already being leased, it’s crazy! There is one I have my eye on though, and I think I’m going to snag it instead of applying for on-campus housing.
Oh, so you weren’t able to sublet your apartments during the summer? I’ll have to ask the leasing agent about that tomorrow for the property I’m looking at.
Pardee Dorm, really? What student could pass that up?
Great it sounds like you are well on your way! I suppose we could try to sublet but not sure what my students are doing this summer - they may be around part time, then you never know if psycho thief will be your renter! I hope you like the place you are checking out, that area is fine and safe, of course better to walk with someone and don’t be the guy with the headphones rockin’ while reading his iphone/Samsung as he walks. “Situational awareness” - a term every student/kid should know and practice. And btw, you will love USC, welcome to the Trojan Family!
Thank you again, Cadreamin! I appreciate you taking the time to respond to all these posts and giving me helpful advice. I’m excited to finally be a part of the Trojan family. USC was the school I originally wanted to go to but I ended up going to UCLA first. Blegh. Very happy to finally start USC this August!
Why no like UCLA? Would love an honest answer about that, it is hard to get true perspective on a school’s own thread, people get defensive. Curious cause I have another student looking there in addition to a zillion other places, but I really just know USC (but have spent a good amount of time at UCLA as well so very familiar).
And I see from other thread you found place you like - woohoo and congrats. Just get involved with things right away, join some groups/clubs in your major, connect with people in class. If you like watching certain sports find others that do as well. People live all over so you will be fine, just make connections however you can. Did you end up in Adams area?
Well, of course there are thousands and thousands of students that absolutely love attending UCLA and find it to be the right fit for them, but for me, it just wasn’t. It was all too impersonal to me, and I didn’t feel “at home” there. A lot of the problems I encountered would be found at many big schools (hard to get the classes I needed, large lecture halls [even for some upper division classes], red tape, etc), but yeah. I wasn’t impressed by the education I was receiving either; as I said, I even took some upper-division classes my freshman year and was never challenged by any of my classes or felt like the professors really cared about the students. On the contrary, when I went to my local community college afterward, I felt like I learned a lot, put in solid and meaningful work, and had professors that were engaging and helpful.
And when I needed letters of recommendation for USC, I emailed my professors at UCLA well in advance, sent them copies of my work in their classes, offered to drive out to LA to meet with them, and not a single one of them would help me out. Many didn’t reply at all. One of them said I should ask the TA for the class for a recommendation instead, and one of them [for an upper division class, I was one of the only freshman in it] even said “Well, you got an A- in my class, and I only write letters of recommendation to students who get an A.” I don’t know, I just find that kind of stuff off-putting. Again, on the flip side, before I even started at my community college, I met with an academic counselor and told him that I needed a letter of recommendation for USC -before- I even began classes at the community college, and he still happily talked to me about my academic goals and history and agreed to write the letter on the spot. Without him, since no one at UCLA would help me, I’m not sure what I would have done for my USC application. Yikes.
But again, that was my experience, and I know that many people have a markedly different one and really love UCLA. What other schools is (s)he considering, and is there a particular program at UCLA that (s)he’s interested in?
And thanks for the congratulations! Yes, I did find a place and it’s on W. 21st Street. I’m excited!
Good news on the digs. You tapped into exactly what I worry about at a school like UCLA, it being so big that it can be a lonely impersonal existence. USC is big, but somehow manages to feel personal. My student will do CS but may want to totally change majors (another reason it may not be the best choice). So I have 2 at USC and loooove it but trying to be open to other schools but admittedly, I am a private school snob for the reasons you mentioned. This may sound petty, but a little thing that turns me off about UCLA is for as amazingly organized they are with so many students, they don’t bother to room mate match. So an engineer or pre-med student could live in a triple with students totally unlike them in academic goals. And I have a couple friends whose kid had a miserable first year experience (even transferring) because of a horrific room mate. Yes there is facebook to do it yourself, but that isn’t for everybody. My engineer at USC was put in a suite with 8 like minded, like-scheduled, like-goaled students and on a floor with similiar guys/gals and now all of them and their individual connections are his best friends and apartment mates as a sophomore, and the circle is always growing. They will create an amazing company together someday soon 
You will find some great circles there too!
Appreciate your honesty. My advice for USC coming in second year is to get as involved as you can - find “your people,” put yourself out there. They are a mature welcoming bunch, and the professors will be as close to you as you make them by asking questions, going to office hours, looking for opportunities. Watch the website of your school/major, they are updated well with goings on from fun to serious stuff. Even if you don’t like football, go to a game and stay for a quarter, experience it all. Time goes so fast there, but even when it’s over you will have the USC alumni network, and I can tell you, they are dedicated to their fellow Trojans all over the world. You made a great decision - enjoying living it!
Oh, yeah, definitely! That was another thing, the roommate situation. I was placed in a triple randomly, and my roommates and I had very little in common. I’m glad to hear USC does a much better job and that your engineering student found his/her circle so early and so enduringly!
Thanks again for the advice! I’m absolutely going to the football games. I’m not a football fanatic or anything, but I do enjoy it, and it seems like a major and fun part of the classic USC experience. Very much looking forward to it! And I love the school spirit at USC, another thing that was lacking at UCLA, as well as everything I’ve heard about the alumni network. 