University of Southern California Top Questions

There are a lot of kids that are involved in Greek life, which is fairly predominant on campus. Otherwise many students are involved in community service organizations such as Troy Camp or Helenes.

Acappella groups are quite popular, so are various greek organizations. Academic clubs are also popular, with various pre-professional groups having quite a presence. I'm involved in a campus ministry, and we hold weekly events as well as one-on-one discipleships. I'm also involved in a global health club, where I taught weekly on various topics in global health. The club collaborates with a grassroot organization in rural Ghana to raise money to promote community health, education, and general development. It depends on the dorms whether or not people leave their doors open, but in general, doors start getting closed around a month into the semester. Athletic events are VERY popular, especially football games. Tons of guest speakers come to USC. Obama came last year, so did Bill Nye. A lot of famous artists and musicians come. Theater is less prominent, but it's definitely there if you look for it. I've met my closest friends through my campus ministry, and now we've been roommates for 3 years. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably doing some last minute homework or talking to a friend. There are various traditions associated with football games, such as kicking the pole before going to the game. There's also the annual fountain run for the graduating class, where we try to hit all the fountains in one hour. I'm not too familiar with the party scene, but I feel like people generally party on Thursdays and Fridays, and sometimes weekends. Last weekend I ate out with a group of my friends in celebration of someone's birthday. You can do a lot of things on a Saturday night with no drinking, such as movies at LA Live, various events on campus, and perhaps just hanging out with your friends. You'd need a car (or bus) to do anything off campus, but there are plenty of eateries around, especially in K-town. Movies and concerts are around downtown, and shopping is rather limited, but reachable with transportation.

Acappella groups are quite popular, so are various greek organizations. Academic clubs are also popular, with various pre-professional groups having quite a presence. I'm involved in a campus ministry, and we hold weekly events as well as one-on-one discipleships. I'm also involved in a global health club, where I taught weekly on various topics in global health. The club collaborates with a grassroot organization in rural Ghana to raise money to promote community health, education, and general development. It depends on the dorms whether or not people leave their doors open, but in general, doors start getting closed around a month into the semester. Athletic events are VERY popular, especially football games. Tons of guest speakers come to USC. Obama came last year, so did Bill Nye. A lot of famous artists and musicians come. Theater is less prominent, but it's definitely there if you look for it. I've met my closest friends through my campus ministry, and now we've been roommates for 3 years. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably doing some last minute homework or talking to a friend. There are various traditions associated with football games, such as kicking the pole before going to the game. There's also the annual fountain run for the graduating class, where we try to hit all the fountains in one hour. I'm not too familiar with the party scene, but I feel like people generally party on Thursdays and Fridays, and sometimes weekends. I would say around 1/3 of the students are involved in the greek scene, and they do play a significant part on campus. Last weekend I ate out with a group of my friends in celebration of someone's birthday. You can do a lot of things on a Saturday night with no drinking, such as movies at LA Live, various events on campus, and perhaps just hanging out with your friends. You'd need a car (or bus) to do anything off campus, but there are plenty of eateries around, especially in K-town. Movies and concerts are around downtown, and shopping is rather limited, but reachable with transportation.

Acappella groups are quite popular, so are various greek organizations. Academic clubs are also popular, with various pre-professional groups having quite a presence. I'm involved in a campus ministry, and we hold weekly events as well as one-on-one discipleships. I'm also involved in a global health club, where I taught weekly on various topics in global health. The club collaborates with a grassroot organization in rural Ghana to raise money to promote community health, education, and general development. It depends on the dorms whether or not people leave their doors open, but in general, doors start getting closed around a month into the semester. Athletic events are VERY popular, especially football games. Tons of guest speakers come to USC. Obama came last year, so did Bill Nye. A lot of famous artists and musicians come. Theater is less prominent, but it's definitely there if you look for it. I'm not too familiar with the dating scene, but it's definitely very much here. I've met my closest friends through my campus ministry, and now we've been roommates for 3 years. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably doing some last minute homework or talking to a friend. There are various traditions associated with football games, such as kicking the pole before going to the game. There's also the annual fountain run for the graduating class, where we try to hit all the fountains in one hour. I'm not too familiar with the party scene, but I feel like people generally party on Thursdays and Fridays, and sometimes weekends. I would say around 1/3 of the students are involved in the greek scene, and they do play a significant part on campus. Last weekend I ate out with a group of my friends in celebration of someone's birthday. You can do a lot of things on a Saturday night with no drinking, such as movies at LA Live, various events on campus, and perhaps just hanging out with your friends. You'd need a car (or bus) to do anything off campus, but there are plenty of eateries around, especially in K-town. Movies and concerts are around downtown, and shopping is rather limited, but reachable with transportation.

Being a Trojan isn't just about being a student. There are so many programs that are available to enrich students' lives within and outside of the classroom. Visions and Voices is a great initiative that brings incredible speakers and performers to campus to host free events for students and community members. Spectrum also presents an amazing line-up of performing arts shows also free and/or discounted for members of the USC community. Students also play a huge role in this cultural component of USC whether as performers in campus theatre productions or musical/comedy performances (ie: Trojan Men A Capella, Comedus Interruptus Comedy Troupe). In addition to that, Greek life is strong but not a necessity for a thriving social life. Plenty of other groups, whether community service- or interest-based, are open to all USC students. But that isn't the only way to meet people. Some of my best friends were my classmates and neighbors in University housing. There are so many opportunities for bonding that these friends instantly become lifelong. Whether attending football games and other sporting events (a priority for the vast majority of loyal Trojans) or simply chilling at someone's apartment, there is always something to do regardless of your definition of fun. Beyond campus, LA is an incredible city with an endless list of amazing things to see, do, and experience.

Football: Ever since Pete Carroll came and revitalized USC football the team has been a top 5 national contender every year, it's a big deal around here. But since we live in LA and there are so many more things to do, the majority of the school doesn't eat sleep and breathe football like many of those midwest or SEC schools do. USC also has the best athletic department in the country, tennis golf and waterpolo won national championships last year although the attention goes mostly to football. many of the schools varsity teams feature players who win medals in the olympics or go pro in the NFL, MLB or NBA. There are something like a couple hundred student clubs or oranizations on campus so you can find what you're looking for, this is also a great way to meet people and network. There are also speaking events, concerts, movie previews, student productions that are shown during the school year if you're interested in that kind of stuff. LOS ANGELES, hey it's a city with over 20 million people there's tons of stuff to. The greek scene is pretty big, I'm not in one but I feel like many of the negative stereotypes about USC originate from the greek scene. Some are cutoff-t wearing douchebags who are clueless about life. For the most part "the row" as it's commonly referred to is WASP WASP republican city with a few liberals and minorities scattered here and there. I can't hate though because I have many friends who are in fraternities and sororities and they are down to earth and kind. people join the greek system for different reasons some people look for friends for four years or for life, other want to meet potential spouses, while some want to get wasted every other night. it's just about your priorities and how you handle them. Yes, there is drinking at USC i have people get wasted every other night, others have never touched liquor.

If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you're studying. You've probably just run to TroGro (our coffee shop that's open 24/7) for a late night Starbucks and your door is probably open because everyone else on your floor is also trying to finish a paper or their reading. People party the most on Thursday nights...it's the big night on the Row. Things die down a bit Friday and Saturday; most of those parties take place off campus or in the dorms. Frats/sororities are definitely a significant part of student life. Even if you don't go Greek, you'll know lots of kids that do, and you'll still spend time on the Row. There's lots of stuff to do on campus besides drinking, though. Off campus: EVERYTHING. We're in LA, after all. Great shopping, food, entertainment, etc. You can find it all (it helps if you have a car, though, or a friend who does)

There is so much to do on campus no matter what you are interested in. I am a large proponent of the Greek system because it allows you to go to amazing locations and do really cool things you might not be able to otherwise. Also, it gives you great access to another alumni network (that of your house) and leadership skills if you want to get involved. If Greek isn't your thing, however, there are many other clubs and groups on campus. I am also involved in campus Hillel which is a really good way to meet other Jewish students.

If you come to USC, it's important to find your niche early, or else you'll be left out in the cold. The community is pretty segregated by different cliques that are usually rooted in one's ethnicity, major, greek affiliation. If you're not in a fraternity, you'll have a hard time finding anything to do on the weekends. It's easier for girls (who don't need to be in a sorority to attend frat parties), but social life is still dominated by the huge greek presence on campus.

GREEK LIFE. Just do the greek life. There's always something crazy going on around campus. People film movies at commercials here (I remember running into Carmen Elektra in the fall, I also met Tim Robbins and Adam Sandler), one day they dumped snow in the quad and had a trick snowboarding show, the things that happen here are unreal. Ron Paul stopped by last fall. The one thing everyone is always down for though is football. Our football team is very important to us. Football season matters a lot, and if you aren't a USC football fan before you get here, you will be shortly after getting here. I was raised in Oklahoma, (OU football is a religion there) and I thought I could never be a fan of USC after the 2004 national championship. I was wrong. It only took like two weeks being out here for me to convert.