The unofficial USC Freshman Year Survival Guide
Because TBH there’s a lot to know
Congratulations! You have just been accepted to the University of Southern California, aka the greatest university on Earth. Duh, you’ve decided to accept the offer of admission, so now you’re scouring the internet looking for any information you can find on what your first year as a Trojan will actually be like.
Luckily for you, the Tab USC has you covered. Introducing USC’s unofficial Freshman Year Survival Guide.
Choosing a Dorm
As for assignment, sign up for housing ASAP, especially if you want to live in New/North or Birnkrant, because rooms go fast.
When it comes to choosing a roommate, random assignment is a great option, but a lot of people prefer to use Facebook to find someone to live with.
The dorms themselves are pretty average. New/North is the super social, non-air conditioned party dorm, with doubles and singles and communal bathrooms. It’s pretty loud, but if you’re thinking of rushing or just like to go out most days of the week, you’ll probably find your kind of people there.
Yes, communal bathrooms are actually livable.
Marks, Trojan, and Pardee have a similar vibe to New/North – they just house the people who couldn’t get in to New/North. All four dorms are close to the Starbucks (yay) and to the crappiest dining hall on campus, EVK (boo). However, being located right along Figueroa means dozens of off-campus food options are only a few feet away.
Birnkrant in our day was the scholarship dorm, known for its “seven floors of open doors.” It also has communal bathrooms and no air conditioning, but the little study rooms on each floor are pretty nice. It’s in the same corner of campus as the four aforementioned dorms, so it has all of the same locational perks/drawbacks.
Parkside is pretty far from anything besides the engineering part of campus, but with its suites, air conditioning, and great dining hall, it could be worth adding an extra 10 minutes to the walk to class.
Fluor is also a suite-style building with air conditioning. It’s right next to Cafe 84, the second best dining hall on campus, except for the fact it’s closed on the weekends. Fluor is also super close to the new USC Village and the Lyons Recreation Center, which are major pluses.
Living in a Dorm
Do: always have snacks stocked up, bring extra lighting, get a mattress topper, have a fan.
Don’t: forget shower shoes, worry about not having enough storage space, feel like you have to rent a TV.
Food
Parkside is the best dining hall by far on campus, however it’s so far away from most places you’ll be. Chances are you’ll be stuck at EVK most of the time, which will be disappointing yet manageable.
Adding dining dollars to your meal plan is highly recommended. Having money set aside for on-campus restaurants like Starbucks, the Habit, Coffee Bean, Panda Express, Verde (a knock-off of Chipotle), CPK, Seeds, Nektar, Lemonade etc. will be worth it.
Make sure to actually eat real meals– at least 2 a day. As much as we’d all like it to, a chocolate croissant in between classes doesn’t actually count.
Social Life
USC is all about the work hard, play hard mentality and when it comes to playing hard, USC’s Greek Row on 28th St reigns supreme. The first week of school is Greek Rush, which can be pretty intimidating, but if you think you’d be interested in Greek life at all, go for it. Joining a sorority or fraternity is a great way to make campus smaller and to have a built-in social itinerary your first year.
An extra plus, sometimes celebrities show up and even perform at fraternity parties.
If that’s not your thing, don’t sweat it. Only about 20% of Trojans go Greek. We have over 900 student orgs that you could become a part of instead, so there will be something here that floats your boat.
Unfortunately for guys, if you’re into partying and not in a frat, getting into parties on the Row will be rough. Menlo parties or literally any club in L.A. that you can get yourself into could be your go-tos.
Also, Banditos and the 9-0 are off-campus hot spots to check out for sure.
Welcome Week
All I’m going to say is go to as many events as possible, but don’t wear any of the free stuff you get in public.
Academics
Writing 150 is the worst– it’s not just you.
Take your GESM on a topic that genuinely interests you, because the class is so small you have to participate.
Everyone will tell you to take advantage of office hours, and you’ll brush them off, but that’s a mistake. Office hours are the best for helping you to boost your grade up to where you want it to be.
Always have a spare blue book laying around…you’ll learn why very quickly.
Sometimes it really is better to just go to bed and finish an assignment in the morning.
Friday classes are the worst. Avoid them.
You may have handled 8a.m. classes in high school well, but you’ll really regret them here.
Sports
Football: Get a football season pass, get spirited, and go to every home game. There’s this thing called the “Weekender” in the fall where lots of students go up north to watch the Cal or Stanford game depending on the year– do not feel like you have to do this as a freshman, unless you have a knowledgable group to go with.
Everything else: Games are free with your student ID, they usually will give you a free shirt and/or food for attending, and it is always a great way to spend the evening with friends.
Health & Fitness
The health center at USC is the worst, but if you’re feeling sick at all, be sure to go. All kinds of illnesses go around in freshman dorms and it sucks, so really take care of yourself.
As unappealing as it may sound, and as scary as the gym can be, try to work out every once in a while. It’ll make you feel better overall.
Nap. A lot.
And, unfortunately, sleep is more important than Netflix sometimes.
Transportation
Bikes are probably the #1 way students get around campus, but they are by no means the most convenient form of transportation. Skateboarding is actually the most optimal way to navigate campus and most buildings and dining halls have racks for your board.
One of the great things about USC is that from 7 pm to 2 am you can get free Uber rides within a three-mile-radius of campus. Use that to your advantage.
Also, the Expo line on the Metro can take you to Santa Monica for just $1.75 each way, so it’s never too hard to take a beach day.
With all of that, welcome to the Trojan fam, fam! Hopefully these tips will help make your first year in South Central a great one.