Previously I made a post about frequently asked questions by incoming students and now, I’m back again with another post about most commonly asked questions by new students. These were questions that I was asked during one of the panel discussions we had recently for incoming students. Most of the questions pretty much revolve around housing, scholarships, career opportunities etc.
Let’s first talk about housing: The on campus housing options are reserved for undergraduate students but USC does have some off campus housing options. (Aditya has to say). There were also couple of questions asking if fraternities that allow graduate students to rush. (Vaibhav has to say).
The second most common question was about transportation. Some of the students asked if they should get their own car or in general, what’s the situation of public transportation like in LA. In my opinion, I think the public transportation in LA is decent. If you want to travel within LA, then public transportation is your best friend. It is well connected, buses can be tracked on google maps, and it’s pretty cheap and convenient. However, if you wish to travel to places a little outside of the city, then it’s better to have you own car because using public transportation can take forever. But then again, you can either buy a car here or you could just rent one using services like Zipcar or Maven.
The third most common question was about career opportunities. USC offers tons of career related resources like Information sessions by recruiters, resume reviewing, on campus interviews etc. But in my opinion, the most important resource is the Trojan Network. The alumni from USC are deeply rooted into various industries. So reaching out to them and connecting with them would be a great start to your internship/job search. Apart from your academics, companies also look for candidates who have great interpersonal skills. And to work on that, my recommendation would be to get involved with clubs on campus. Especially if you’re an incoming Mater’s student, you’ll only get 2 years to make the best of what USC has to offer. There are tons of organizations that you can get associated with like VGSA, AIS, EMSA and a lot more.
Another question that a lot of students had was about on campus jobs. Yes! On campus jobs are great way to make some money to pay your bills, weekend trips .. haha! There are tons of on campus jobs in bookstore, libraries, cafeteria, admissions office and FMS. But it’s also important to apply at the right time! For students coming in fall, there will be an on campus job fair. Keep checking their website for updates about this fair. A good place to start applying for on campus jobs would be Connect SC. But a better way would be to reach out to friends or seniors and ask them to let you know if any position opens up in their office. That way if any position opens up, they can recommend you to the manager.
Published on March 22nd, 2018
Last updated on January 19th, 2021