Choosing a dorm is definitely a difficult experience when coming to USC. There are a lot of different options (suite, dorm or apartment) and every building definitely has a unique vibe. I lived in North Residential College with my wonderful roommate and now best friend Michelle. New and North are dorm style buildings connected through a series of halls of mostly double and few single rooms. It is a difficult to master maze for the first few weeks, but it quickly became a perfect second home for me. New/North has a reputation of being very social because it consists of long halls of dorm rooms and almost everyone leaves their door open all the time. An easy way to make new friends is to just pop into a random room! There are a lot of different types of people to meet just walking through the building.
New/North was also an ideal place to live because of its proximity to all the other freshman housing, cafeteria (EVK), and McCarthy Quad. There is always something exciting going on around there (just today there was a carnival with huge blowup bounce houses everywhere). Leavey library, the main 24-hour research library, is also just a short two minute walk away which is really convenient when you need a quiet, productive place to study.
My freshman living experience was amazing and I would definitely recommend living in New/North especially if you like the idea of a very social dorm, but every type of housing at USC has its ups and downs so make sure to choose the housing that sounds right for you! You can read about a lot of other housing options by reading other VSA’s posts about this topic. Also you can watch the video below for more information!
