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Introduction
USC was my second choice, but probably the best in terms of location, weather, and the campus always seemed full of people, with lots of activity. I got a good feeling when I came and visited here. The main reason I am here is because I didn’t get into my first choice.

I wanted to be in LA. I come from Florida so I’m not groomed in the cold. I’m not good with snow, so that was always a perk. The weather is always good here being 20 minutes from the mountains and 20 minutes from the beach. It’s the most ideal location you could have.

Campus Life and Social Life
There are study abroad programs here. There are 3 programs for the school of Architecture. One is in fall semester in France, and one in Spring in Italy. I think there are 4 actually. I think there are 2 that happen in the Summer. One is in Paris, France, and the other is an overview of Asia. That is the one I participated in. We went to Japan and many other places, and there were tons of opportunities to travel on the weekends. We also had a two week break in the middle where we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. The study abroad program is a really good opportunity here.

It’s a hit or miss. Some of the professor I really loved and there were some I really didn’t get along with. A lot of it has to do with personality. A lot of it has to do with being in such close corners with them. Spending 12 hours a week with one person is a lot, even if it is your roommate. I think everyone has a similar experience. Academics
To go out on the weekends, there are tons of house parties that aren’t related to the Greek life. There is everywhere to go. You can go to Hollywood, or Santa Monica, or down to the beaches. They all have different scenes for whatever you feel like doing. There are tons of movie theaters if you just feel like chilling out and seeing a movie. Or coffeehouses or restaurants. There is something for everything.

I felt more isolated my freshmen year, the first 6 or 7 months I lived in LA. And now having a car in LA is like not having legs. Public transportation here is horrible. It’s really bad. As far as the safety factor, I never really experienced it until last year. I know it hasn’t gotten worse, but I know that more has happened closer to campus recently. That is why I moved away last year, and that is why I moved further away from campus this year.

Student Body
It’s not the University of Spoiled Children. There is a large wealthy population of students here who like to make it apparent. But on the flip side of that, it’s such a diverse student campus, that you won’t see the same thing all the time. The style here varies so much it’s hard to even describe it.

The same as with the style. The student body is such a diverse group that you will find kids from something like 130 countries. There are people from all over the country itself. There is a huge population from LA. There are so many student groups on campus that is it hard to formulate a general consensus. Even in the architecture major, there are we like 10 or 12 different groups for our Major specifically. And we are just 500 of 30,000.

In Closing...
It’s a bit of everything. As far as the social life goes, there is a lot of drinking. I wouldn’t say there are a ton of drugs, but you know it’s there. It’s a big school as far as partying goes, so those things come with it. I would say drinking more than drugs, but it is all there. Especially in the Greek scene, there is a lot of it at frat parties. People get in trouble with it, and that happens at every school. We’re young and we make mistakes. I mean, that is what is supposed to happen.

I went to every football game freshman year. Since freshman year, I’ve probably been to about 5 or 6, which is a shame considering that past 2 seasons have been stellar seasons for USC. It is like 100 dollars, and you can go to every single sporting event for free. I go to what interests me.

Closer to campus it is easier to find affordable drinking. Because there are a lot of house parties, there is a lot of free drinking. The food close to campus is all fast food. So it is affordable but not necessarily good for you. Once you venture far away from campus, it gets a lot more expensive. Drinks are like 10 bucks, that is like an average. Average meal is like 20 dollars.