<p>alrighty here's the thing: i think USC is the perfect fit for me academic wise and i love california. however, i've never visited campus (i plan on doing so in the near future) and i get the feeling the student body is very centered around greek life, heavy partying, and lot's of drinking. </p>
<p>now don't get me wrong, i'm extremely outgoing and i love to have fun, but i would HATE to be stuck in a school that resembles animal house, and frankly that's the kind of vibe i sometimes get from USC.</p>
<p>can any current student tell me if this is true? how's diversity? i appreciate your help and hopefully i'll be able to see some new light since other than this, the school is pretty much perfect. thanks a lot!</p>
<p>My daughter is a USC undergraduate. She's gone Greek and, from what I can tell, Animal House is a pretty good description of the seemingly non-stop party / social scene on 'the Row.' Two things I gather from my distant perspective - 1) The Greek scene is pretty inclusive. If you decide to go Greek, you'll find a frat / sor. for you. Even if you don't join - there are sufficient opportunities to attend parties on the Row for everyone. 2) USC is huge and only a minority of students are Greek. If it's your thing - you'll probably join up. These type of things tend to be self-selecting. If it isn't, there are a zillion other things to do with all different types of people.<br>
As someone who wasn't Greek in college - I've never really understood the appeal. But for a social / party addict like my daughter - it is her oxygen. Just because a group of party animals band together doesn't mean that they're necessarily having a better time - or getting more out of college - than anyone else (although they definitely think that they are). I would definitely not tune out USC because of the (deserved) reputation of a few. It is such a great school - beautiful campus, incredible weather, first class facilities, outstanding sports, and a huge academic opportunity.</p>
<p>Partying and Greek Life won't be a problem for you if it's not your thing, plenty of other things to do with plenty of people who feel the same way.</p>
<p>Only like some 20% of students "go greek", certainly with 15,000 undergrads you will find lots of people like yourself. USC is a huge school and it's quite easy to find other people with similar interests, even ones that are a bit of a niche.</p>
<p>On the contrary, USC is becoming less and less of a party school. Many students complain that the social scene has been going downhill these past few years. The student body is not very centered on Greek life at all, and all the real partying occurs off campus. Drinking/partying is actually quite easy to avoid if that's not your thing.</p>
<p>As a side note, not all Greeks are into heavy drinking and partying.</p>
<p>Sample is slowly (but surely) shutting down the Row. Two more frats were "kicked off the row" this summer. SC is an academic school if you want it to be, and a party school if you want it to be. Dont worry about the frat-boy image of SC, it is a remnant of the past.</p>
<p>One fraternity got suspended from the row because DPS caught them having a party where there were illegal drugs. Another one simply lost the right to occupy a house on the row because they no longer had enough active members: Many had graduated in May, and a good number of the ones left dropped out at one time. So, that second one has nothing to do with partying.</p>