What I was afraid of...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Wow. I really shouldn't even respond to this, but oh well. </p>

<p>candid- you obviously have not been in the "GHETTO". Yes, USC is an oasis in the middle of an area that is not pretty. It is not always safe. But have you been to Skid Row? Have you been to other areas of South Los Angeles? Believe me, USC is lucky to be where it is. Maybe not as lucky as Pepperdine or UCLA in its location, but compared to where it could be... And while I am sure that people appreciated you alerting them to this DT article, maybe we should finally step away from USC's safety issue. It's really been discussed in all the ways that it can.</p>

<p>I'm sorry it seems strange to you that a person would want to help others. You say this website is for people trying to figure out where to go to college. Check out all of these forums. These high school students have questions about their prospective colleges. How are they supposed to get their questions answered on here about housing or parking permits if everyone else on CC are high school seniors with no experience of the college? </p>

<p>And I thought I already answered that a lot of the reason I was on here is because I procrastinate heavily. I'm sure I do have better things to do with my time. I also am, I guess, a bit of a dork, because I like coming here and trying to answer questions. Excuse me for trying to help. I am a sophomore, btw, who, I guess, can do a lot: I can be heavily involved in multiple organizations on campus, hold leadership positions in them, do homework, have a social life, and, gasp!, spend time on the internet, including time on CC for a few minutes here and there. I don't think I should have to explain why I spend time on here. And yet I do...</p>

<p>Look around at other school's forums on here, candid. There are students just like me, answering questions. Look at UCLAri on your forum. I think it's great that college students come out and try to help, no matter what school they're from, and you should appreciate it a bit more. UCLAri offers great advice for incoming Bruins. I tried to answer questions you had, when you were looking into USC. I even offered to show you around if you wanted an inside look, and even to show you what student housing looked like. I guess I've learned my lesson to not be so nice. </p>

<p>Well, it seems that you have already been infected with USC hatred in the short time that you have accepted UCLA over USC. I honestly wish you good luck at your new school, and I hope that you can be as happy there as I am here. Maybe you will even want to come onto CC in the future and help some students who are looking into UCLA just as you were this year. I'm sure they'd appreciate your help and advice.</p>

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<p>very well said</p>

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<p>we love you uschika, just ignore candid. i appreciate your help.</p>

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<p>It would be nice if we can see some pictures of USC - dorms, neighborhood, the schools, etc.</p>

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<p>"Best of luck to all of you Trojans...in your own little world...SHELTERED...because you have to be."</p>

<p>so this a person who means no offense? what is it with people and forums when they pretend they are not petty but then say stuff like this.</p>

<p>anyhow, if you say USC is in "south central" i have doubts that you're from or have been to LA, either that are you're part of some sort of questionable rivalry and use it as "ammo".</p>

<p>USC's area is ever improving, but at the moment it is not pretty. USC's main problem is the people living in the surrounding area, they are very unhappy with what USC would "like" to do to the area, but they just about have the power to do it.</p>

<p>but in the end alot of schools are in bad areas. USC is not in watts or compton or anything like that though and that is south central. USC is just south of downtown and that is most definetly not south central, heck is isnt even really east LA yet (albeit not west either).</p>

<p>in the end it's people who have issue with USC that most like to talk about the bad area or use it for catcalling, when it's the people that actually go there that for the most part could/should complain about it.</p>

<p>and again other schools have this issue, Columbia is in the city just like USC is. Yes, in New York the public transit system is great so you dont need a car to go someplace cool, but you still need to "go" there, and that still takes a while, just like someone who goes to SC. In LA you simply need a car, even as a UCLA student it is highly reccomended to have vehicular transport. Granted with USC it's a bit more important LA is LA, but USC's situation overall is not wholly unique, alot of top schools deal with this same issue.</p>

<p>and i dont know where to find good high res photos of USC, i'm sure they're on the website somewhere though.</p>

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<p>I really do love answering your guys' questions, so keep 'em coming! I definitely try to give real, unbiased answers.</p>

<p>jltrex- It's finals week, so I won't be on campus that much this week, but when I am, I can snap a few pictures. I don't know how to upload pictures right onto here, so I can just put them on a website and direct you guys to them.</p>

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<p>I agree with uschicka and spincut - if candid thinks that USC is in the "GHETTO", he has obviously never been in that part of town. Or maybe he's a spoiled rich kid that doesn't know what a real ghetto looks like? I was just up to USC two weeks ago for admit day. From rumors regarding the surrounding area, I was expecting the lowest of the low end projects, and when I got there, I was like "Where's the Ghetto?" I actually have a very wealthy friend who has a house near USC. On the north side, but there you have it. My mom also has a friend that grew up in the Area around USC. We told her we took Hoover and then Jefferson to get there and she said, "Oh you drove right through the ghetto." It definitely wasn't that bad. The campus itself is absolutely gorgeous. And if anyone has ever driven Alvarado(?? I'm not sure if that's the right street name. I live in Hawaii so forgive me. that trip I just took was my frist trip to LA since I was 8.) out to Occidental College, the area along that street is much worse and far more aesthetically unappealing than the area around USC.</p>

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<p>I don't want to be too negative, there are lots of things I LIKE about SC, and no, crime and gangs are really not that much of concerns, but it's still hard to compare it to Columbia. I didn't exactly LOVE Columbia either (at least compared to NYU), but the subway is right outside campus and takes you anywhere in NYC you could want to go. On the other hand, the LA rail system MIGHT have been useful, except for the fact that MTA, in their eternal genius, built the blue line over a mile away from those thousands of SC students some of whom I'm sure would have been happy to use it. By the time you take the bus or walk to a Metro Rail station, you would have been better off taking the bus to whereever you were going in the first place, or better yet, driving.</p>

<p>MTA is really good at building rail lines to and from nowhere (Green Line) and lines that go through nowhere (Green Line AND Blue Line) Same deal with the Green Line, the obvious place people want to go between El Segundo and Norwalk is LAX, right? So it would make perfect sense to build the green line directly to LAX right? Wrong, at least, in the MTA's world. Let's build it miles away from the airport and make people take a bus, that's a GREAT idea! Gimme a break MTA, you could have EASILY continued the Green Line down the 105's right-of-way. They just don't want to upset the bus unions. Expo line is coming, but not until we're long gone.</p>

<p>But yeah, even at UCLA I would want a car. The problem is just exacerbated at SC. Now let me say something positive about SC, the engineering department is pretty good. They have a lot of money and they're #6 for grads according to USNews. (not that USNews is all that reputable of a rag but hey it's something)</p>

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<h1>6? i thought they were 7, did new rankings just come out?</h1>

<p>anyhow, yes thats the interesting part. USC has a similar issue to columbia, but admittedly the public transportation in LA just plain ol' sucks, so having a car, just like at almost any school, but especially an LA, is pertinent and gives you the access that the NYC transit system would as a columbia student. What makes it not so bad is simply being "a" student in LA, having a car is pretty important most of the time anyhow.</p>

<p>of course once you get a car the situation is different. I would very much like to be in a place like new york where i can hop on a subway to get anywhere or take a hopefully shorter cab ride. At the same time though it is nice to be able to have a car, makes one feel a little more independent in their transportation.</p>

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<p>6, I don't know, that was just from memory. Could be 7.</p>

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<p>anyhow, i have asked myself at times, why didnt i even consider UCLA, what with the nicer area and all? and the equivicable academics?</p>

<p>well, i came to realize almost everything about my education was almost all unique, and that was ultimately why i chose it. Currently earning a B.S. in business with a interndiscplinary comm/design minor and a cert. in video game production and design from engineering.</p>

<p>The area bummed me out a little at times, but after looking at BU and Ann Arbor, i was not really enticed enough to go to either, nor were the areas so much better to me, i do live downtown but it's actually somewhat nice, and i like my setup atm.</p>

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<p>jltrex- I started a new thread with pictures I took today.</p>