Location Matters: Los Angeles

Something I underestimated when touring different colleges was exactly our important the location of a school is. Being in LA not only provides you with limitless fun things to do, but also gives you access to some of the greatest academic and professional opportunities. You’re going to be in college for at least 4 years, and sometimes it’s nice to get away from campus and explore. Below I’ve listed some of the great opportunities that USC has access to due to its location.

One thing that my regional recruiter for USC said to me was that at USC, I could actually go snowboarding and surfing all within the same day. Now I haven’t done this yet, but I have gone snowboarding and surfing separately. Traffic permitting (you never know what you’re gonna get with LA traffic) the closest beach is 15-20min away. I’ve had many impromptu beach journeys in my first two years. Ski resorts such as Bear Mountain are only a couple hours away, or if you’re as adventurous as the USC Ski & Snowboard team, then you can head up to Mammoth Ski Resort in northern California.

This year especially, I’ve really started to explore the downtown scene in Los Angeles. There are so many awesome restaurants nearby and different shops to explore. If you love music, then you’re really going to appreciate the music scene in LA. So many great music venues and artists always have LA as a stop on their tour. The LA Live area is also a fantastic place to hang out or catch a movie and is even accessible for FREE by a short ride on a bus offered by USC.

Little Tokyo, located in downtown Los Angeles.

Every year in the fall, USC plays either Cal or Stanford up in northern California. This trip is known as the Weekender and a sizeable portion of the USC student body makes the weekend trip. My freshman year I went up with a bunch of my friends, and I can easily say it was one of the highlights of my freshman year. I’m already planning my trip for next year!