kettlepin77 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I'm of Indian origin, planning to go to USC this fall for my PhD in Critical Studies. Is there anyone out there headed to LA as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbabygirl Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I am going to USC to pursue a PhD in Slavic Lang and Lit. I have heard that living around USC is not exactely safe. Where do most students live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liszt85 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I am going to USC to pursue a PhD in Slavic Lang and Lit. I have heard that living around USC is not exactely safe. Where do most students live? You heard right.. be very careful while choosing a neighbourhood. I have a few friends who will attend USC but fortunately one of our friends is already there and he's doing the apartment hunting for them. Just a few months back, 3 girls (students) were raped and one murdered somewhere nearby. Doesn't happen too often with students but if you're not careful, you'd be very vulnerable to such attacks. If you have no contacts there, I'd really suggest taking on campus housing for a semester at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kettlepin77 Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 I am going to USC to pursue a PhD in Slavic Lang and Lit. I have heard that living around USC is not exactely safe. Where do most students live? From my limited time in LA last year, I believe quite a few PhD students tend to live in the Los Feliz area... it's a great neighborhood but you need a car to commute from what I understand. Almost everyone suggested looking for housing around campus to begin with and the move somewhere else. Just out of curiosity, where are you from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swr22 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Yeah, I'm going in the Fall. Very exciting. As soon as you have your USC ID number (should have been in your application) you can go look at housing on the website. I am Transatlantic, so having to do it fairly blind. North of campus is nicer than south of campus, from what I saw, especially as the north seems to be undergoing some development between campus and downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swr22 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Is there a USC-specific forums? Would be good to get some informal advice on housing etc. Should we all request to join the Daily Jolt? http://www.dailyjolt.com/jointhecause.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tritonetelephone Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I am going to USC to pursue a PhD in Slavic Lang and Lit. I have heard that living around USC is not exactely safe. Where do most students live? I received consistent advice from the current grads in my dept to live in Los Feliz, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Miracle Mile, Koreatown, West Hollywood, etc. A few lived in Pasadena but the commute sounded like a little much. Each region seems to have a distinct personality - I was told that Koreatown is a little more urban, Echo Park is hipster-ish, Pasadena is more like a suburb... I'm hoping for a place in Miracle Mile, personally. But I heard anywhere north of Olympic should be safe enough. I've been looking at the googlemaps streetview of different neighborhoods, which has been helpful. There's a website that is extremely helpful for looking for housing in LA: http://www.westsiderentals.com (since Craigslist absolutely sucks for housing.) You can do a guest search to see what info they provide, but you have to subscribe to get phone numbers and addresses. Subscribing costs $60, but it pays for itself because they'll cover some of your credit checks and give you discounts on moving resources, etc. The only problem is you can only sign up for 2 months... I might wait until later this month since there will probably be a huge wave of listings in mid-July that will be ready to move into in August. I've gotten pretty far with just doing guest searches in the West Hollywood region, but my department is going to cover the cost of the subscription once I'm ready (/bragging). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swr22 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 That's really useful, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzicks Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 last year I went to school at ucla and worked by usc. you could always just live by ucla and commute, a friend of mine did that just saying.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kettlepin77 Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Yeah, I'm going in the Fall. Very exciting. As soon as you have your USC ID number (should have been in your application) you can go look at housing on the website. I am Transatlantic, so having to do it fairly blind. North of campus is nicer than south of campus, from what I saw, especially as the north seems to be undergoing some development between campus and downtown. Where are you from and have you had any luck with housing so far? I'm at my wits end since I don't know a soul in LA and this is turning out to be quite a vexing process :!: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swr22 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Where are you from and have you had any luck with housing so far? I'm at my wits end since I don't know a soul in LA and this is turning out to be quite a vexing process :!: I'm in a very similar situation. Pm me with your email and we'll put our heads together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojanpharmer Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I just found housing in Monterey Hills. If you have no idea where to start, you should start looking ~10 min away from campus. You want to get a mix of safety but decent pricing. Some cities to look at: Pasadena, Monterey Hills, Arcadia, and surrounding areas. I personally just found a really nice condo place ~8 min from Health Science Campus in Monterey Hills. It's a newly renovated complex in a decent area - pretty good prices. 4 of us are getting a garage, 1700 sq ft , 3 bedroom , 2 story, 2 bath, place for $2200. I just started a usc message board today (my undergrad school had one and it proved to be quite useful) : http://www.trojanforums.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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