an honest portrait of usc, please

whitecadillac · 10-22-2009, 05:11 PM

hi, everyone. i'm a senior right now trying to narrow down my college choices to the ones i really honestly think i could see myself attending.

so while i am interested in usc, i was wondering you guys could give me a completely honest portrait of what it's like to be a student there.

maybe you could answer the following questions?

1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? i know most are small, but does that mean that everyone is put on the spot to for lots of discussions/debtates? cuz i'm more a quiet observer who likes to listen in class and occasionally voice my opinion. would i not fit in?
2.) i'm a bi guy, and i know usc is gay-friendly, but are there plenty of bi guys/girls too? i want to make sure i fit in and everything. also, i generally get along better friend-wise with straight or bi guys than gay guys. i do have gay friends though, but i want to be able to have all different kinds of friends, gay, straight, bi. are all orientations well-represented at usc?
4.) does it get boring at usc? i hear that the neighboring city doesn't offer much and that it can boring. of course, i know you can go to LA for fun and stuff, but if i were to stay on campus most of the time, would it be boring? i visited usc in september and it was a really beautiful campus but it also seemed REALLY quiet and peaceful. which could be good sometimes but i also would like college to be a place of lively enthusiasm and lots of activities going on and all. so what's usc really like on campus?
5.) speaking of LA, how long does it realistically take to get to a fun, interesting part of LA from usc? how about to westwood?
6.) what do people generally do for fun at usc? i'm interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don't like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?
7.) i know it's probably a lot of BS, but a lot of my friends say anyone who gets into usc AND ucla chooses ucla. i'm guessing that isn't true, but could any of you testify so i can get my friends to shut up about it and also ease my mind a little? :P

and any other info about what it's REALLY like to be at usc would be really helpful.

like is there any certain criteria i NEED to fit to be happy at usc? (for instance, it's a lot better to be liberal at brown than republican.) does anything like this apply to usc? thanks a lot guys!

musicalstudent · 10-22-2009, 07:48 PM

I'm a freshman at USC now. Lemme see how I can do with this.

1.) My classes range from engaging and enjoyable to deadly boring. It really depends on the kind of class it is. I'm in a Category 5 GE called "Love and Death in the Russian Novel" right now. It's a 20-person class and I've spoken maybe 3 times this semester.
2.) My roommate is gay and there is a huge LGBT community here, there is also the opposite. I've found that you can find people across the full spectrum.
4.) It's a bit boring if you're staying on campus all the time. I was lucky enough to be cast in two shows this semester, so I'm in rehearsal all the time. I don't have time to get bored. If you want to be entertained, you can be. If you want to be quiet and peaceful, you can be.
5.) All parts of LA are fun. Westwood is about 25 minutes away. Downtown LA and LA Live (Staples Center, NOKIA Theatre, ESPN Zone) is about 7 minutes away. There's plenty to do right around campus. Getting there is a bit more of a problem. You need a car.
6.) Drinking and partying doesn't extend much past The Row (Greek life). Clubs and student organizations have events all the time. You can be as involved as you want to be.
7.) I got into UCLA and I'm at USC.

tocollege · 10-22-2009, 08:14 PM

I'm a sophomore. musicalstudent covered all your questions well, so I'll just add thoughts on two:

1) I am also a quiet observer, and I rarely participated in discussions in high school. I chose Thematic Option for GE, and I find my classmates to be so smart, interesting and thoughtful that participating in discussions is effortless. I have surprised myself with how much I have participated.

7) Admitted to UCLA and Berkeley, chose USC.

Kulakai · 10-22-2009, 09:18 PM

Keep in mind USC will also have a subway stop on 3 out of 4 corners of the campus starting at the end of next summer so you'll be able to take the subway downtown, up to hollywood, etc.

whitecadillac · 10-22-2009, 10:49 PM

thanks for all your replies!

and kulakai, that's really cool cuz i don't really like driving that much. :P

but i guess the main thing i'm worried about in regards to usc is the campus life. are there strong ties to the campus at all? frequent campus-wide events? do people actually get involved in clubs? or do people just kind of stick to themselves/to LA? :-/ one of the reasons i'm not applying to nyu is that there's no real campus and no real connection between the students. is this what it's like at usc?

Kulakai · 10-22-2009, 11:00 PM

If nyu isn't your campus type, usc is close to the exact opposite in my opinion.

Campus events: USC Events Calendar
student events: USC Student Campus Calendar - Weekend Signature Events - Weekend Events - Upcoming Events
student organizations: USC Student Organizations

Google for the subway map to get an idea of where you can get to without a car. The only thing you would need to hitch a ride to is beaches or ski resorts theoretically once the subway stops open.

Georgia Girl · 10-22-2009, 11:20 PM

Caddie,
One of the parents posted some time ago how she took some time to wander around the campus to see what the students were doing other than attending classes or working in labs. She found a spot where a huge calendar listed various student activities. She wrote it was amazing how involved the students were in all kinds of activities from theatre, hiking, lectures, ski trips, community service, cultural trips, sailing, trips to Catalina, all sports and so on.
There are 600 organizations. When I attended SC the problem was finding time to participate in just some of the things available to us.
The School of Cinematic Arts is constantly having screenings, exhibits and lectures. If you click on the Schools of Theatre and Thornton you will see a long list of options for you to attend.
In addition, there are about 80 religious organizations which offer all kinds of programs.
If you are from an eastern state you will find the weather in southern California allows you to participate in outdoor activities all winter.
RAs and some organizations sponsor trips to the Getty Museum, Huntington Library, Norton Simon Museum and other cultural venues.

Taxi1113 · 10-23-2009, 01:39 PM

"one of the reasons i'm not applying to nyu is that there's no real campus and no real connection between the students. is this what it's like at usc?"

I felt the exact same way when I visited NYU. Like kulakai said, USC is pretty much the opposite. There are strong ties the campus and university that stem far beyond the city of LA. It's not even comparable to NYU. I don't know if you have visited or not, but if you haven't, I hope you get the chance to take a look at the campus.

whitecadillac · 10-23-2009, 01:44 PM

^i haven't visited nyu but i did visit usc. the campus was beautiful; loved all the flowers, majestic buildings, all of it was really pretty.

but my visit is actually what made me unsure. i was there on a monday, normal school day, in the afternoon. and it just seemed really quiet and peaceful, not much really going on and no real feeling of "life". i mean, college is supposed to be an exciting, lively, active time (imo) and i didn't really get that feeling at usc. :-/ it's weird though since usually people cite "academic AND social life" as a big part of usc. i just didn't really feel that...it seemed more like a small LAC or something, which seemed strange to me for such a big university...i really hope that it was just an off day or something cuz i really love everything else about the school. one thing i'll say about the people, though, is that they all seemed extremely nice. seriously, every person i talked to was so friendly!

FauxNom · 10-23-2009, 07:41 PM

Remember, many college students are nocturnal! I assume many of them were in classes or studying when you visited. And some were probably asleep.

My son devoted himself freshman year to finding every possible activity, and dragging his friends along. He went to loads of film screenings, lectures, poetry slams, concerts, organized trips to the Getty or up to the Hollywood sign or to the mountains. He and his friends also just goofed around on campus a lot, and took zipcar on some weekend adventures. He absolutely loves USC, and LA. I can't imagine you'd have a problem finding things to do there.

tumblweed32 · 10-23-2009, 08:45 PM

well, what can you expect, it's a Monday afternoon during midterm season

go there on a thursday or friday night and you'll get a different vibe entirely. As for your questions:

1.) I think classes depend of professors, and like all school, some are good, some are not so good. The only big lecutre hall classes are really GE's or Major requirements for the bigger majors (business, bio etc). I've had almost all great professors with a few exceptions. I've had class size range from 200 to 4. Most are around 20-50. I don't think I've been put on the spot for anything... although some professors include things like "participation" in the grade, but not really.
2.) I don't think that's something people often mention when introducing themselves so I don't know?
4.) Join a club, seriously. There are so many interesting neat ones to get involved in, whether it be social, academic, religious, cultural etc. I agree with Georgia Girl... there's not enough time to do everything. I feel like getting involved in one or two clubs really fulfills your social needs and you'll have lots of studying to keep you busy as well

5.) no clue. I usually go to events around campus
6.) It's college. There's always drinking. FYI I'm a junior and I never drink. It's never an issue. People don't peer pressure you at parties really and it's really easy to avoid if you don't want to. depends on your friends, i'd say.
7.) I got into both USC and UCLA, I already knew I preferred USC.

whitecadillac · 10-23-2009, 09:16 PM

thanks so much, you guys. your replies definitely help ease my mind!

it's good to know it gets more active at night. and there are more things to do on campus at night than just greek or dorm parties, right?

Kulakai · 10-23-2009, 11:05 PM

Yeah, this is midterm season and Mondays are always the most quiet day of any college campus anyway. You will have no problem finding stuff to do. I've already started looking at all the things I'll want to do and I have no idea how I'll fit it all into a schedule where I still get sleep.

alamemom · 10-24-2009, 12:42 PM

Today would be a great day to check out the Tommy Cam. Game days are, to put it mildly, "active" days on campus. About USC - Visit USC - University Park Campus - Tommy Cam Scroll down to "Tommy Cam Live" and you can watch what is going on at the Tommy Trojan statue any time of the day or night. The game isn't until 5pm today, but there is already plenty of activity.

Oh, and #7) I'm a mom of a student accepted at UCLA and USC - she chose USC.

Kathyc · 10-26-2009, 12:34 AM

FYI, I know of a number of students accepted at both UCLA and SC who ended up at SC,as well as those accepted at both Cal and SC who ended up at SC. Given California's budget problems and the projected effects on the UC system, I think the cross-admits will tilt more towards SC in the near future.