Hi, everyone. A lot of people rip on the location of USC in Los Angeles. Exactly how bad is it?
This is an old conversation, but I guess if you are new to checking out schools it certainly remains a valid question (it has been brought up several times on here). Almost 60,000 people apply there every year and it has less than a 16% acceptance rate, meaning it can’t be that bad. The campus, particularly with University Village now, is amazingly beautiful and pretty contained. But it also depends on your perspective. If you have never traveled anywhere or left a small town that is different than someone that grew up in Chicago or going to NYC. It’s subjective. USC isn’t on those most dangerous campus lists, but the schools that are may surprise you. But those are just sensationalist type stories, most college campuses are safe. The area around Yale is even worse, but students want to go there too - imo, kids grow up and go to college and (need to) learn to handle themselves. Part of the process. UCLA is in a “nicer” area for sure, but we didn’t like it. So we like the urban grit of USC, but that’s us, ymmv. I know when my D goes to Europe alone or takes that first business trip to NYC solo, she will be able to handle herself because she learned how to do that at a school in an urban setting. Outside the campus you are down the road from LA Live, Staples Center, zillions of concerts, the beach and the best Socal has to offer. Initially, before my first went to USC, I had concerns, but after he got started, worries vanished really quickly. USC also has improved safety around campus quite a bit since my first attended, I see it now with my third there this year. We don’t think of it as bad at all, but quite fantastic.
I echo the above post. I have two daughters there now at USC (senior/freshman). We have had zero issues or concerns. IMO, you simply need to be slightly more conscious of your surroundings when off-campus. On campus is highly secure. USC has a DPS zone that is extremely well monitored. If you are off-campus and within that DPS zone, you are also fairly secure. Students simply need to take common sense precautions.
I suggest utilizing the free campus cruisers and/or free Lyft rides within the zone allowing for such.
Here is a link to the map delineating the DPS zone if you are curious… it also details a lot of info about student safety measures…
I would also recommend to anyone considering USC to take a few minutes to view this excellent video about USC and its L.A. location…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERe0-E4Zpg
Also to consider… current feel like temperatures: L.A.: 71, NYC: 5, Chicago: -5
Gosh, I made it out of USC alive, so it can be done.
People always exaggerate how dangerous places and things are.
I concur. My son is a senior and has loved every second of life at USC. Our deal with him is that if he lived off campus, he has to live very close to it. So, he lives in ICON apartments across street from campus.
My daughter is a junior and laughs at the concerns about USC’s neighborhood. It is urban and there are certainly areas off campus where you should not be at 2am. But the campus itself and the places the students generally live is fine.
I’ve visited USC several times for school events (also applied this yr) as I live in the LA area. Like said above, there are places off-campus where you should be more aware of your surroundings; however, the campus itself is secure and all the students are generally nice. There was one occurrence where a school bus driver, who left her bus for about 15 minutes w/ her bag inside, was robbed. She found her purse around 5 minutes away from the bus on the floor, and all her money and credit cards were stolen. So as long as you take precautions, you’ll be fine as this does not happen often.
She was not robbed (which means to take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force). Her purse was stolen. My guess is you leave anything anywhere for 15 minutes and probability it is gone when you return is high.
@simba9 & @vistajay To be fair, there have been a couple high-profile cases in recent years of USC students from China being murdered in robbery attempts. So, while these incidents are rare, safety is a valid concern. It would prudent to be cautious, especially at night and if you fit the profile that may be targeted.
@Shimainu, One of the Chinese students was killed near the campus, but the other incident occurred over a mile away. How far away does the boundary of “USC’s neighborhood” extend?
No place is going to be 100% safe. Plenty of students have been killed on or near other universities, too. If USC was that dangerous, you wouldn’t have so many students who could afford to go elsewhere, applying.
The patrolled boundary is fairly far from the main campus. Here is a link to the map delineating the DPS (Dept of Public Safety) zone… it also details a lot of info about student safety measures…
And USC provides free campus cruiser rides and even free Lyft rides within a large zone surrounding campus… so students, especially at night, do not need to be walking alone – unless they choose to do so. As stated… no college or university can guarantee 100% safety… but USC does all it can to keep its students safe. Students have their own obligation to be prudent and make wise choices as well though.
I have two daughters there now. I would not have flown them from FL to L.A. to attend USC had I not visited there and researched the campus, surrounding area and the school’s many layers of safety measures. I am confident in the processes that USC has in place for student safety.
When I visited USC with DS, we arrived at LA in the evening. DS wanted to see USC campus at night, so we drove from airport to campus directly. However, when we try to enter the gates, we were stopped by guards and were told “no night visit allowed.” We then walked to the new Village, but was blocked at the entrance again. We also notices that USC has a fence going around the whole campus, unlike any other school we have visited.
So, good and bad. Good – the school is taking every measure to ensure safety of students; Bad – you know you are in a bad neighborhood when you have to build a wraparound fence and hire guards at every entrance.
We also visited a family friend, who is a professor at UCLA. He told us the usual – UCLA is in a safe neighborhood and USC is in a dangerous neighborhood. Then he said, “but who knows? Last year, when I was in my office, I heard two loud gun shots. Later I learned that a disgruntled ex-student came in and killed his professor, whose office was one floor below mine.”
@bogeyorpar
How late at night did you visit USC? I thought University Village was open to the public until 10pm - at least most nights.
It does seem as if the school takes safety quite seriously. I didn’t notice when I visited that there was a fence around the entire campus. Is that right?
The main campus has a fence around it, but the Village is outside the fence as are many student housing areas. I like the fence since cars and visitors have to pass through areas where they are filmed and license plates can be recorded. They added cameras throughout the area and stepped up security after the Chinese students died. Makes sense to me that they discourage people from being in student areas outside of visiting hours who do not have a reason to be there.
My son lives off campus and has taken all modes of transportation without trouble. The only crime he has experienced at USC was having his skateboard stolen - by another student.
My daughters especially found the Niche college rankings & surveys helpful, as they included the student & alumni surveys and went into a much broader spectrum of topics of interest to them as potential students other than just comparative academic prowess… like dorms, student life, party scene, athletics team support, etc.
Overall, USC gets an A+ and is currently ranked 19 overall among national universities. Its scores were… Academics A+, Value A+, Diversity A+, Campus A, Athletics A+, Party Scene A+, Professors A+, Location B+, Dorms B+, Campus Food A-, Student Life A+, Safety B. There are also a list of rankings on many topics too numerous to mention.
On this specific topic, the location score of B+ and safety score of B do show that there is some reason for concern… or a justification for students, faculty and others to be cautious and aware of their surroundings. But… USC is still ranked as the #1 big college in America (out of 126) and # 10 out of 1501 colleges in America in terms of the best student life.
For the 18 colleges ranked better overall than USC, here are all their scores related to location and safety… basically to serve as a comparison to USC and its scores of Location B+, Safety B & to also show that there are reasons to be cautious at most of America’s elite colleges…
- Stanford: Location B, Safety B-
- MIT: Location: A+, Safety B
- Harvard: Location A, Safety B
- Yale: Location B, Safety C
- Rice: Location A, Safety C+
- Princeton: Location B, Safety B+
- Penn: Location A, Safety B-
- Brown: Location: A-, Safety B-
- Bowdoin: Location C+, Safety A
- CalTech: Location B, Safety B
- Columbia: Location A, Safety B-
- Duke: Location B-, Safety C+
- Vanderbilt: Location A, Safety C+
- Wash U in St Louis: Location A, Safety B
- Dartmouth: Location D+, Safety B
- Notre Dame: Location C+, Safety C+
- UChicago: Location B+, Safety B-
- Pomona: Location B+, Safety B
- USC: Location B+, Safety B
So… in general, as a parent, I clearly recommend prudence and caution in and around every college campus, but the impression of USC (especially spread on websites like CC) as having a dangerous environment for students is clearly being overstated. In the Niche list of the top 19 colleges in America, only one college had a better score for safety than USC. Six had the exact same score for safety as USC. And ten had a worse score related to safety than USC. And these grades are largely driven by the students at each of these colleges and their alumni.
My advice to applicants… choose wisely, selecting the best overall college experience for you. And if you have USC in your sights and manage to gain admission, do not let some faulty speculation from without persuade you to look elsewhere. Good Luck…
@simba9 I think a mile from is well within the radius that a typical college student might travel on occasion, so I would consider it in the neighborhood. I agree that no place is going to be 100% safe, and I mentioned that the occurrences are rare. But I still say it is still prudent to take safety issues seriously. The very fact that USC feels the need to provide the level of security mentioned in various posts indicates that some serious safety issues have occurred in the past that they are taking seriously also.
They are taking security seriously, and for that I am glad. There are a few other university campuses I have visited that would benefit from such precautions.
The patrolled areas around USC is fairly safe. You still have to be on your guard when walking at night. It is no different from some of the other urban campuses like UC Berkeley and Univ. of Washington where there are quite a few homeless transients in the campus areas. Also, sometimes criminals from outside the area go to the campus areas to look for criminal opportunities. You just have to be vigilant and pay close attention to your surroundings, even in patrolled areas around campuses.
It is very different than other urban campuses, including UC Berkeley or University of Washington. The surrounding area of USC is economically depressed and crime ridden. That’s a simple fact. The school acknowledges this and takes steps to make sure their students, faculty, employees, and visitors are safe. They wouldn’t need to do this if there wasn’t an issue. Anyone who lives in Los Angeles knows this.