<p>I’m filling out my housing app and I have a few questions.</p>
<p>1) Birnkrant is my first choice like a lot of people, but could someone give me some honest opinions about Fluor Tower, Marks Tower, Parkside and New/North. I know there are other threads on this but… they’re not very helpful. If I’m not rushing, will I not fit in at New/North? I want to have a good balance of partying and academics. I definitely want to live somewhere where I will have a tight knit group of friends.
2) Is Birnkrant really that hard to get into? If I send my app within the next week, do I have a good shot?
3) I paid the $40 for the housing app, and it says my app is complete even though it isn’t. But the app still lets me change the order of my housing preferences. Does that mean I can change them up until May 1 when they make their final decisions?</p>
<p>When you applied for housing, did you request a roommate? I’m not having any luck with the roommate matching feature of the housing app, and I’m thinking of letting USC just choose for me, but I don’t know how that would turn out. Did you have difficulties with any of your past roommates? Or do you know anyone that did?</p>
<p>Do dorms come with a TV as well?
NO
is 32inch ok?
not in most dorm rooms! They are too small. If you are set up in a suite with multiple bedrooms and a central LR- or in an appt, like Century, then a 32" is probably fine. Best to talk with your roommates first.</p>
<p>How hard is it for a freshman to request a single?
on campus singles are very rare, and I’ve never heard of a freshman without disabilities getting one. there simply isn’t enough housing on campus. Now if you want to pay extra $$ for one of the off campus appts, then it will be easier to get your own room.</p>
<p>My S lived in Parkside A & H (he loved it there) and brought a huge TV for gaming. Also, there are a limited number of singles available in Parkside Intl–they are in suites that have 3 2-bed rooms and 1 1-bed room (so 7 students in all). Those who sign up early get preference. This option does cost more than a shared room, though.</p>
<p>mjang: random roommate selection is just that - random. As far as I’m concerned, USC doesn’t use the questions you filled out as any indicator and just places people together randomly. My roommate and I had completely different answers, but we turned out to get along just great. At the same time, I know lots of people who HATED their roommates, and some of them had even pre-requested roommates after meeting them on facebook and didn’t use random assignment. End of the day, you’ll never know what’s going to happen. You might find a new best friend or a new worst enemy, or hopefully somewhere in between.</p>
<p>@madbean I am looking to put Parkside IRC as my preferred residential hall. While I definitely want a single room, I think I will be alright if assigned a double</p>
<p>Whoops, I haven’t checked this thread for the past weekend because I was in Vegas for spring break with some of my friends (only a 4 hour drive away!)</p>
<p>2010emily,</p>
<p>While you could double major with engineering + something else, it’s pretty rare because the engineering curriculum is so demanding and credit-intensive. If an engineering student is “only” taking 14 or 15 units, they might still be taking 5 classes. USC likes to make engineering courses that are the equivalent of 5 or 6 units of work into a 2 or 3 unit course lol. </p>
<p>marmar16,</p>
<p>My ranking of dorms (of the ones you listed) to live in as a freshman would be the following:
Birnkrant
Marks Tower/Pardee Tower (they’re basically the same type of community)
New/North
Parkside
Fluor
Marks Tower and Pardee are essentially the same thing as Birnkrant but with single-sex floors. Most people go on the other floors all the time and hang out though.
I just don’t like New/North because I had bad experiences with puke in the stairwells, loud noises and stuff like that. But I do like the social atmosphere of it though.
Parkside and Fluor are tied for me actually, but Parkside has a better location in my opinion because of the dining hall. I’m just not a fan of suite-style living for freshmen. I feel like dorms create a greater sense of community.</p>
<p>Regarding your other two questions, I don’t really remember… I went through that process 4 years ago and Housing changes the way they work all the time. For example, the online housing selection system only started 4 or 5 years ago. Before it used to be this nightmare where you’d have to stand in a gigantic line and fill out all this paperwork lol.</p>
<p>greymatters,</p>
<p>I would advise living in a single as a 1st year. I really think the roommate experience is worth it. </p>
<p>lakerforever24,</p>
<p>32" is actually ok. All you need to do is put it on top of your dresser and you’re good to go. Most people with larger TVs set both dressers up against the window and set their TVs on top of it. 50" is definitely not good unless you’re in an apartment.</p>
<p>mjang,</p>
<p>USC housing tries to use the roommate survey as much as possible, but it doesn’t always work. They definitely match up the big ones such as smoker/nonsmoker and stuff like that though.</p>
<p>If any of you bio/premeds have questions about the pre-med curriculum let me know. I have taken or am taking the following relevant courses:</p>
<p>BISC
120 General Biology: Organismal Biology and Evolution
220 General Biology: Cell Biology and Physiology
307 Physiology
320 Molecular Biology
325 Genetics
330 Biochemistry
411 Cell Biology</p>
<p>CHEM
105a/b General Chemistry
201 Chemistry in the Environment, Energy and Society
322a/b Organic Chemistry</p>
<p>EXSC (Exercise Science aka Kinesiology)
301 Human Anatomy</p>
<p>PHYS
135a/b Physics for the Life Sciences</p>
<p>MATH
125 Calculus I
208 Elementary Probability and Statistics</p>
<p>PYSC
100 Introduction to Psychology</p>
<p>WRIT
140 Writing and Critical Reasoning
340 Advanced Writing (Pre-Health)</p>
<p>I’ve also taken a few courses in East Asian Languages and Cultures:</p>
<p>EALC
120 Japanese I
317 Advanced Korean II (6th semester)
342 Japanese Literature and Culture
352 Chinese Literature and Culture
418 Korean Writing In Mixed Script
419 Newspaper and Documentary Korean
429 Gender in Korean Film and Literature</p>
<p>How is the safety in USC? I heard downtown isn’t safe but it’s gated up. Is it safe to hang around the city or do you go to uptown around where UCLA is when you have free time.
Also about cars. Are freshman allowed to have cars? I saw parking gararges there so is the parking free or do you have to pay?
One last thing. How many students commute or live in non campus housing (which doesn’t seem like a safe option)? If I live 30 minutes away from campus (according to mapquest) and I have to use a highway to get there, is that still a viable option? Are freshman required to live on campus?
Thanks so much and sorry about the loads of q’s!</p>
(only a 4 hour drive away!)</p>