proudtrojan

To summerinthecity:

Regarding your first two questions, USC is very diverse. There are so many different people on campus, and there is something for everyone. 4 out of 5 students are not affiliated with Greek life, so social opportunites are available elsewhere.

It is very hard to define a typical student. A decade ago, we were truly the University of Spoiled Children, but that classification is as false as it gets. USC is currently a diverse institution with the largest population of internation students in the nation. Interests vary as much as the schools on campus, with different people drawn to the arts, gerontology, liberal arts, architecture, business, journalism, cinema, the sciences, planning, theater, and more.

Saturdays can get quiet, as many students leave campus or go home, but most stay. During the fall semester, many people are on campus for football games.

proudtrojan

To makkuroi:

The GE program encompasses science courses in Categories III and IV. Category IV tends to be more intense. Some students like to take this sooner rather than later; many wait until their second year. I do not recommend taking this course at the same time as Writing 140, as both course require significant work.

You should know, though, that you are allowed to have one course from the GE/USC Core graded pass/no pass, and that this will not hurt your gpa. You have to choose this grading procedure within the first few weeks of the semester, but it sounds like Category IV would be a good pass/no pass category for you if you are not looking forward to it.

proudtrojan

To ForeverA:

It is very easy to acclimate to USC. I have a friend who went to my high school who was a spring admit this year, and she loves it here.

jbusc

I believe all GE category 4's come with lab of some kind. However, consider that you actually have a wide variety of classes to choose from: instead of just physics/bio/chem, I think you can take psychology, linguistics, etc.

DO remember you can take one GE on P/NP, meaning that if you get C- or above, you pass and it doesn't affect your GPA at all. I took my GE Category 4 P/NP, though I admit I wish I had used it for another GE category since I'm a science+engineering major and I probably could have aced a cat-4 class anyways

If you want to do TO or FSH, you should contact the people in charge asap! As denoted by freshmen science honors, TO and FSH are the honors versions of classes you take freshmen year. So your options are either to take the regular versions instead, or wait until sophomore year to apply (and possibly not get in, and also possibly delay graduating - not ideal)

ForeverA

Sorry one more question!

-For the required meal plan, what is the difference between the Cardinal Plan and the Gold plan? It said the samething in the "living at USC booklet".

proudtrojan

There is really no difference anymore. There used to be restrictions on where you could have dinner, but these were eliminated. I'm surprised that they haven't consolidated them into the same plan yet.

Basically, if you live at Parkside, your plan is Gold, and anywhere else it is Cardinal. With both plans you get 10 weekly meals at Parkside and EVK and about $500 dining dollars each semester to be used at various campus restaurants.

PBK Mom

"Basically, if you live at Parkside, your plan is Gold, and anywhere else it is Cardinal. With both plans you get 10 weekly meals at Parkside and EVK and about $500 dining dollars each semester to be used at various campus restaurants."

An alternative is Cardinal "Fast Pass," for the same price, which started the year allowing all you can eat anytime at EVK and breakfast and lunch at Parkside. This semester they added dinner at Parkside to the plan; so it's basically an all-you-can eat plan for the two dining halls. My daughter likes it as she doesn't have to worry about how many meals she's used up or running out of dining dollars. We keep a little extra money on her USC Spirit Card for trips to other campus food options like Carls Jr. or milkshakes at Ground Zero.

saam14

Do we get credit for GCE A level exams?

Sam87

hi, im an international student and im not used to the American system of education since we follow british...anyway, im a business major and wanted some suggestions on what courses to take in my first semester..i was thinkin of math 117, econ 203, one GE course along with WRIT 140...wat do u say?

Sam87

o and another question..

wats your opinion on the Trojan Meal plan? is it worth the extra money

itla_uno

hey, i was just wondering about laptops in class... do people generally carry their laptops around with them to class for note-taking or do most people just take notes on paper?

Ned5555

Trojan Plans- Definitely not worth it. The plan is $2,862 of dining dollars, and it is basically impossible to spend that much on campus food during a semester. The cash does *not* roll-over at the end of the semester, and *cannot* be used on non-food items. My friend still has something like $1200 left over, and ends up buying crates of bottled water to run down the balance.

Laptops- Yes, they are quite popular and many students do carry them all day. Of course aside from note taking, there's a bit Facebooking, E-mailing, etc. All the classrooms have wireless internet, so laptops can be useful tools during class as long as you don't let yourself get distracted.

sunnydaysee

sam87: you can probably take 118 if you do well enough on the math placement exam...after that I'd say it's pretty flexible.
My first semester I took writ 140, cat 6 GE, econ 205, buad 304
Looking back I wished I did writ 140/cat6 in the spring semester because my first semester was really busy and writing is one of my weaker subjects.
I didn't really like econ 205 because the class was huge and the professor was just okay (so I felt like I was wasting my tuition) so I took econ 203 last summer at a community college and in hindsight I wish I could have taken both at a CC.

dnduswo

its kinda dumb question but...do students care or talk about lakers???
believe it or not lakers are really big reason why im highly considering school in LA especially usc and ucla..

kiseki

sunnydaysee,

I'm a business major also. Would you recommend taking macro and micro econ at a CC or at USC? (since I heard the classes are easy and may boost my GPA)