options for a commuter student?

USCAlum05
Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:16:58 +0000

You don’t want to commute to USC if you don’t have to. It stinks, and the school really is designed as a residential school. Unfortunately, they don’t have nearly enough housing, which is why the ballooning of the graduate student population in the last few years makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me, beyond the school grabbing more tuition money.

I would check out the Transfer and Veteran student group. They have a lot of the same needs on the administrative side although obviously they can be two completely different groups… soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan versus students who did a year or two in a CC or who went to another school for a year or two and didn’t like it. But that group should help you acclimate much better.

I think you should also talk to the financial aid office about adjusting your aid so you can live on or close to campus. There’s too much going on and you’re going to lose out on the social aspect of college if you’re not there and in the mix. You can’t live with your folks forever and odds are good you’ll find some guys/gals you’ll want to room with soon enough.

Good luck! Transfer shock sucks but you’ll make it. You made it into a good school so congrats on making it this far. ;)