<p>With roommate matching the suites can be a good option, students seem to be enough alike and enough different to make it great. My S prefers the suite, but some love the traditional dorm and all it’s openness and sharing. There really isn’t a bad choice in those you mention, just decide if you want suite or dorm. Apartment style is risky to count on as a freshman, so be flexible on that. Location can be important or not Freshman year, depends on how many classes you are taking in your major. S is engineer and didn’t take any GEs first year, so mostly in engineering buildings and it was great to be in Parkside near there for him. (Is in Parkside A&L, not IRC. A&L is super nice building, but on one end of campus.) Depending on major or if you are taking a lot of GEs your first year, you will be all over the place anyway so location as a freshman isn’t as big a deal. USC can seem large when you have 10 minutes between classes, but it isn’t a 1000 acre campus.</p>