An honest college application to USC

We spent hours researching schools, going on tour after tour, narrowing our application list down as much as possible. We spent perhaps even more time working on our application: getting multiple opinions on our essays, obsessing over our answers to the one-word questions, trying to come off as interesting without trying too hard.

Brb crying at remembering all the time I spent answering these.

Then, unbelievably, we got accepted to USC. We committed to coming here, we spent the entire summer looking forward to the new chapter in our life that was just a few short months away, and when we finally arrived on move-in day we were a mixture of nerves, excitement and a whole host of other emotions.

Then we started classes. And we realized that, despite the research we had done into this school, despite all that we had heard and read, there were parts of being a USC student that weren’t on the Common App.

Are you emotionally stable enough to handle the various celebrity sightings on campus?

Beyoncé showed up unannounced on USC’s campus last year to practice for the Superbowl Halftime Show. James Franco occasionally teaches classes. They film such television shows as How to Get Away with Murder on campus. Casual celebrities, such as Miranda Cosgrove, attend classes here. The SAG awards are hosted literally across the street. Now, a few freak-outs are fine, we all do it: but if you’re going to have a full-on fangirl (boy) attack at EVERY celebrity sighting, you’re going to have a rough time.

Taken today of something filming outside of Bovard, nbd

Do you know how to properly ride a bike?

Before you roll your eyes at me, think of the first week of school: where it’s more hazardous than normal (which is saying quite a bit) to make it to your classes because of all the new freshman who bought bikes/longboards and don’t know how to ride them on campus in a safe manner. Welcome Week offers so many seminars that are meant to help freshmen assimilate to USC life, and if you ask me, a review on bike/longboard capabilities would be a great idea.

Do you know who our mascot is?

“What are you talking about, we’re the USC Trojans of course.” Well, that’s true, but that’s not actually our real mascot. Our real mascot is Traveler, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s horse, who Tommy Trojan rides around the coliseum on game days. His statue is right across from Tommy’s and is much more accessible for climbing/photos.

Didn’t quite make it all the way up, it’s harder than it looks

Can you make it from Webb to Marshall in under 10 minutes without passing out from the heat?

Or for that matter, from New North to Viterbi, Parkside to the Cinema School or basically anywhere to Kaprelian? It may only take about 20 minutes to cross campus at it’s widest point if you’re walking quickly, but when it’s 100 degrees outside and you’re carrying a heavy backpack those 20 minutes are an interminable amount of time. And, on a related note…

How do you do when you don’t have air conditioning?

Because most of the dorms don’t have air conditioning, and that’s especially difficult to deal with in the beginning of the year. But don’t fret: the libraries have air conditioning and one of those will probably be your second home. In fact, the Leavey basement during finals week definitely will be!

Do you understand the phrase, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint?”

And when I say understand, I mean fully embody this phrase with every fiber of your being while tailgating. Don’t be like those kids who come from other schools and are already passed out by noon when the game isn’t until 5 pm.

Be like the left one, not the right one

Do you like pancakes?

If your answer is yes, then USC is the place for you because not only are dining hall pancakes surprisingly not terrible (which is a nice change from the mainly terrible food), but LA also happens to have several excellent pancake locations, a couple of which are very close to campus (@ThePantry @JacksnJoe).

If your answer is no, I have nothing to say to you.

Tgod for The Pantry being open 24/7 so I can get my pancake fix at 1 am

Perhaps more than any other school USC, embodies the notion of “work hard, play hard.” The true qualifying aspect of becoming a Trojan isn’t how many aesthetics you can fit into three words on the Common App or which charities you “founded” in high school: it’s whether you can handle the heat, in every sense of the term.

And, of course, appropriate understanding of #justUSCthings.