Hey guys!
One of my favorite parts of freshman year was living in a dorm. I lived in Birnkrant, which was in the North area of campus, right next to the New/North dorms. Each floor was co-ed, with girls on one side and guys on the other. I absolutely loved it. Sharing close quarters with so many other people brought us all together. Birnkrant’s unofficial tag line is “7 floors of open doors,” because it became a habit for everyone, especially in the beginning, to leave their doors open to welcome visitors.
Each floor had separate bathrooms for guys and girls, a laundry room, and a study room (affectionately named “the Fishbowl” because it has a glass wall and door). Some of my best memories have been late night study sessions in the Fishbowl, doing chemistry problems and talking about life.
I lived in a double with a girl who I got randomly matched with– she’s now one of my best friends and lives in my apartment! My neighbors were in a triple, which means that three of them had two spacious rooms: one with beds and one with desks, and space for things like a couch, television, etc. And don’t worry, the rooms come furnished with beds, a fridge, a microwave, and dressers.
Birnkrant is also conveniently located next to EVK, a popular dining hall on campus. It has recently been renovated, so it’s really nice and SO convenient to go to. Since we all have a meal plan freshman year, EVK was our number one stop for food. BK is also next to Leavey Library, which was perfect for when I wanted some quiet time to study. Across the quad are some of the common classrooms that writing and GE classrooms are in, which is convenient because those are dominant in the classes you take freshman year.
I really valued the experience I had in Birnkrant. Some of my closest friends right now are people who lived in my building last year! Shoutout to Patrick for being on the same floor as me and for us continuing the BK Floor 4 tradition for VSAs!
This year I’m continuing with USC Housing but I’m living off campus at Troy East Apartments, which are about halfway between the edge of campus and Greek Row. I like it! The location is convenient, my roommates and neighbors are great, and the independence in an apartment is so much fun.
Definitely check out the other housing options on campus; there is so much variety and they are wonderful in their own ways!
