University of Southern California Top Questions

I suppose I wish I'd been told to get out and have more fun. I did have an alright amount of adventuring and bonding with people in my dorm and in some of my classes, but I also spent a generous amount of time in front of the computer. The window to meet new people tends to get more narrow after your first year at college, so it's nice to reach out as much as you can.

I wish I would have known the right way to manage my time between theatre and school work.

I wish I had known that USC would challenge me to be a better critical thinker, citizen, student, and leader in more ways than I had imagined. Moreover, I wish I had known that while USC brought out these qualities in me, I possessed these qualities all along. Furthermore, while USC has all the right framework to continually bring out the best in me, I wish I had known that I need to go looking for the right opportunities myself. I have learned to be a proactive rather than reactive member of society.

I wish I had known that interships were invaluable in helping me get a job after I graduated. I also wish I would have know how difficult it is to pay off student loans.

I wish I had known a bit more about the history of the school itself, as well as the general interworkings of it to help give me a better understanding of how the campus functioned.

The social scene revolves around greek life

I wish I had know about scholarships, grants, and other financial rewards before I came to USC. Tutition is extremely expensive at USC, therefore, these financial rewards would have helped ahead of time. Also, I wish I had known more about housing as well as campus life. Those are important aspects in deciding a university to attend.

The health care services on campus are outstanding. There are all sorts of medical, dental and psychological services available to students. After graduating, it's highly unlikely you will ever have such convenient access to first-rate services. So, take full advantage and seek out preventive care.

Study hard. It's hard to pull up your GPA later.

How much work there is to do but I wouldn't have changed my mind

My answer would be that I'm happy that I was not told much before I came to USC. The time I took to figure my way here, to sort out the mess, to adapt to the new lifestyle was all a part of your freshman experience, and I felt those imperfect experiences may have actually made my freshman life more memorable.

How many opportunities I have for research and volunteering

To not bring a new looking bike, because it will get stolen.

I wish I had known about the relevance of real-world experience. I feel like most of my classmates including myself agree that school in general doesn't teach you enough to get you out in the real-world and prepared for a career. What is more necessary is to pick up an internship or job on the side to teach you real world lessons.

I wish I had known a little more about requirements because I would have likely had a better idea than freak out during orientation and have someone else choose. Not that the classes were terrible, but there were better options for me. I also would have liked to have known how college isn't hard academically, but time and managing it. It is so easy to underestimate what you can do with all that "free time". Lastly, I wish I knew more about the services my school offers because it's something I'm now pursuing as a sophomore.

How dominant the greek system is. While you don't have to be Greek, a large amount of the school is involved in it.

I wish I had known the level of stress and pressure placed upon students who are following Pre-Health career pathways. Competition is fierce amongst the brightest Pre-Health students in all of my science classes.

How much extra time you need to devote to studying outside of class. Yes, you expect USC to be hard but some classes have very large loads of reading that I was not expecting. Other than that, it is exactly what I expected.

I wish I had known the the school had provide various scholarship for transfer student and all the deadlines for scholarship program. Also, I wish I had known the campuse environment as well.

how to take advantage of USC's resources