Last year, I wrote a blog about my sophomore year apartment, Cardinal Gardens. For my junior and senior years, I’ve been living at an apartment complex called Gateway.
My favorite thing about Gateway is it’s proximity to campus. It’s literally one crosswalk away! I love being so close. Actually, at USC, a lot of the popular off campus housing places are only a few blocks away. Being so close is really convenient, and that’s one aspect of our school I have really enjoyed.
My apartment itself has two bedrooms that each have a bathroom. I share my room and bathroom with my roommate, Kaity, who I actually have been roommates with since freshman year! It’s sort of crazy- we were randomly placed together from preferences we made on our housing questionnaires and we just got along so well that we’ve never stopped living together! The other side of our apartment is pretty much the same thing- we have two other friends who live in the other room.
Other pros about Gateway are it’s really clean, it’s very safe, and there are several resident amenities- a gym, study rooms and coffee machines to name a few.
Just to say a few words about housing at USC in general, most students live on campus during freshman year. After that, many stay in USC owned apartments, some of which are off campus, and some of which are on. If we want to live in USC housing, we enter a lottery for the order in which you pick the place you want to live. Many students also live in non-USC housing. My apartment is not owned by USC. In general, there are lots of options. Many students live in apartments with a couple of other people (like me), and a lot of others get a group together and live in a house. And there are tons of options that are within walking distance too.
I’ve loved living in my apartment for the last couple of years. But next year, I’ll still be at USC pursing my Master’s with Viterbi’s Progressive Degree Program. I’m going to live in a house with a bunch of girls in Helenes, an organization I’m part of. I will definitely miss my apartment (and my roommate!), but I’m really looking forward to trying something new!
