<p>New/North, Pardee, Marks Tower and Marks Hall are all on the east side of the campus, close to the dining hall EVK. These are Freshman only traditional dorms - 2 per room, communal bathroom and no AC. My daughter was on the “great outdoors” floor in Marks Tower last year as a Freshman and loved the experience. She was matched with a great roommate and made friends with other girls on her floor. She is currently in CarGar as a Sophomore with 3 of them and they will be together next year off campus. Sadly, USC currently doesn’t have enough dorms to guarantee beyond Sophomore year. The girls could have gotten into a USC owned apt a bit off campus but they opted for something actually closer and nicer that was they rented privately. They wanted to stay in CarGar as juniors but didn’t get a low enough lottery number. I think CarGar is almost all Sophomores and I don’t see it as a great Freshman choice. It’s sort-of off campus in that it’s on the other side of Jefferson Blvd. which borders the North side of Campus but is still very convenient. </p>
<p>One thing that no one ever mentions is that the above traditional Freshman dorms are the least expensive option. I know Parkside and IRC are more expensive (probably paying for the AC) and I believe the rest are in between. Being private pay, the cheapest option had a certain appeal. Then, I’m also probably a bit sentimental about the traditional freshman dorms.</p>