I lived in Birnkrant my freshman year of undergrad; to put that in perspective, I was awake with my…read morefloor mates at 17 minutes after 4 a.m., celebrating a three-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1994, when the Northridge quake rocked our world quite literally. I still remember the view from my 4th floor window of terrifying blue flashes as transformers exploded across the city, and hearing the construction equipment rattle and crash in the then-under-construction Leavey Library. Back then, Birnkrant did not have many of the modern amenities it currently features. For one thing, there was no Starbucks... just a stairwell on the south side of the building. The foyer was pretty old; now it's modernized with study areas, a piano room, and some other amenities. The rooms were remodeled long after I left, too. Time marches on I guess. I have fond memories of my freshman year in the dorms-- bonding with friends, late night conversations about who knows what, 20 people piled into a room to watch Reservoir Dogs, and of course, watching floor mates from Wisconsin suffering their first SoCal quake. Seems like it's still a pretty great place to live if you're just starting out on campus. Fight On.

Birnkrant Residence Hall (and its temperamental toilets) is on USC's campus next to PSX and…read moreNew/North Residential College. It has a great location right next to Leavey Library and Doheny Library. If you live on the correct side, you can see onto nearby McCarthy Quad (the "Freshman Quad.") which is also the home to many huge events on campus - Tailgating, Delta Gamma Anchor Splash, comedy shows, concerts, and a whole lot more. This is both a gift and a curse because sometimes you'll want to go to these events and you'd have to be an idiot not to notice they were going on. This makes the events easy to get to, even when you're wearing pajamas. However, when there's a concert, comedy show, or anything going on that you don't care about, it is so freakin loud that you won't be able to resist, so you'll end up going downstairs anyways so that you don't feel like a loser. There's coffee right downstairs at Trojan Grounds too, which is good for a late night. Birnkrant's dorms are actually pretty nice! They're a step up from New/North, Pardee Tower, Marks Hall, and Marks Tower, in my opinion. This might change, but the floors are currently co-ed, with guys on one side and girls on the other. There are 4 toilets and 2 showers for each respective side (~20 per side), for a total of 8 toilets and 4 showers for ~40 people. It works better than you'd think. While Birnkrant has new-ish toilets, they clog a lot! They are supposed to be automatic flushers, but sometimes they'll surprise flush on you while you're trying to take a dump! (NOOOOOOOOO!!!) Other times, you'll get up, nothing will happen, and you'll have to hit the button at the top of the toilet. One time (at band camp), all of the guys' toilets were clogged, so we shared the girls bathroom for a week. Somehow, it still worked! (and was kind of awesome) One of the showers is a big Real World style shower, which can lead to all kinds of college fun. There are building wide dinners and events throughout the year, which is nice. The elevators break a lot, which is fine, but once one of my friends got stuck in there. Packages get picked up at the CSC at nearby New/North, which is totally convenient, but don't forget your keys when you go to the shower because you'll be walking over to the New/North CSC in just your skivvies to get someone to open the door for you. The second floor has a study room area, which is pretty nice if you have some group projects to work on. However, if it's late at night, be aware that sometimes people have the secks in those rooms, so the lights being off may not necessarily mean that the room is available. You might just end up turning on the lights to see your friend's pasty bare ass! (sorry about that, bro) Overall, Birnkrant is a great place to live. Nice long hallways that make for fun nights of bike riding through the hallways and the co-ed floors are a big reason to live here. It has a great location and you'll make tons of memories living there.

Ah, Deans' Hall, (a.k.a. "Dork Dorm"). Fond memories here. Probably everyone thinks this way, but…read moreI truly believe that I lucked out and ended up living in one of the best halls on campus our year. No, Trojan Hall and Marks Hall doesn't have the best reputation, and probably the "Dork Dorm" moniker is usually deserved at any given time. You do need to qualify to live in Dean's Hall (scholarship recipient or other special academic program), which leads to a general population of studiousness and non-rambunctiousness. There's also no AC, and the area is generally loud. Rooms facing the courtyard get random, college type noises from other rooms, Ground Zero coffeehouse and other dorms (Pardee Tower is also part of the courtyard). Facing Fig, you get urban noises like random people screaming random things at random times, traffic, and 24 hour bus service. For the most quiet rooms, you'll need to get the ones facing south, towards Popovich. Though, I did live on the 1st floor near the bus stop, so I learned to sleep through all sorts of loud noises. The rooms also remind you of a bomb shelter. The walls are concrete blocks, and the rooms themselves are pretty spartan. Bring a fan, and for god's sake don't hang anything from the sprinkler! The building itself is made of 3 stories (and a basement) in 2 wings, forming an L shape. - Basement has a laundry room. - 1st floor - lobby, common area, TV, faculty advisor apartment, and one wing of dorm rooms (males only). - 2nd floor - 2 wings of dorm rooms (females only) - 3rd floor - 2 wings of dorm rooms (males only). If you're a girl, then you have no choice but the 2nd floor. If you're a guy, I highly recommend the 1st floor, since it still retains the restroom facilities of the non-existent 2nd wing. As such, you have as many showers/toilets/urinals but for half the people, meaning they stay cleaner and more sanitary longer. Because it gets gross in all the restrooms. Especially on the weekends... barbarians. Right around you, you have easy access to a coffee house, PSX, the Popovich Cafe, the basketball/sand volleyball courts, and the bus stop on Fig. Also a very short walk to Chipotle, Coffee Bean, Coldstone, and Quizno's (none of which existed when I was there... sad face). And there's also the McD's in the Science Museum. It's not a great dorm... probably one of the worst ones now that there are brand new ones built. But it isn't THAT bad either.

I lived in TRO during my freshman year, 2013-2014…read more First things first, IT'S NOT AS BAD AS EVERYONE SAYS. I came in with the world's lowest expectations thanks to what former TroBros said on Reddit and CollegeConfidential but I promise it's not the cockroach-infested place the YouTube video portrays it as. Tro isn't the Honors Dorm anymore (since taken over my Birnkrant) so the people vary. It's a three story building, no elevators like Marks Hall and other shorter buildings. The first and third floors are male only and girls can only live on the second floor. No biggie. 80 people on the second and third floors. 40 people + the live-in faculty on the first floor. First floor still gets the 2 bathrooms, so it's about 20 people per restroom rather than 40-some on floors two and three. This is typical of basically any building in South Area. There aren't many in-house amenities, but it's central to a lot of things you need. There is a simple lobby with a TV and some tables. Well-lit. It's close to Ground Zero, Popovitch Cafe, Starbucks, Pizza Studio, Built, Doheny, the Public Policy School, the Galen Center, the Expo Line, EVK, etc., etc. TroGro, Leavey, and the campus center are a close walk. You can get clear 'cross campus to the Lyon Center with a 10 minute walk/6 minute jog, but Marks Tower has a small gym thing and it's like 20 steps away. The rooms are small, but manageable. I think they're the same size as all the other rooms in freshman dorms, so... yeah. New carpeting in all hallways and rooms. No A/C. Bring a fan. My roommate and I ended up with 3 fans total. Feel free to PM me any questions about how the bathrooms work, how the rooms are layed out, etc! I know how hard it is to find info about Tro so I'll try to answer as best as I can! Fight On! EDIT 07/07/14: It's right next to the bus stop and really close to two metro stops. Yay freshman transportation.

Terrace is a phenom place to stay if you're a law student. Maybe the best. You will be set up with…read moretons of peers that you'll want to get to know as the rest of law school progresses. There was in unit air conditioning, despite what I see in another review. I was also surprised to see someone saying it's surprisingly far from USC's campus. It's not at all. It's a few short blocks, the distance then comes when you walk, bike, board to the Gould building on the other end. I found it really pleasant to go through the campus each day, and being by University Village is much preferred. Highly recommend.

Terrace is set further away from the USC campus than one would expect for a building designated for…read moregrad and law students. Nonetheless, it served my needs quite well, and I didn't have any complaints at all. In fact, I probably would have stayed there beyond my 1st year if I was allowed. The building only has 2 bedroom apartments. The building itself is 4 stories: - Ground level is the lobby and parking garage. There are some single spaces, and some tandem spaces. There are bike racks in the garage, which is gated. - The 1st and 2nd levels up are designated for first year law students, and while the apts themselves are not configured different, they only house 2 students each (hence, 2B2P, and pricier). - The 3rd floor houses grad students of all sorts, and there are 4 students in each apt (2B4P). (Don't tell anyone I told you this, but the roof is cool to hang out on as well. Note that it's a gravel roof, so make sure you don't walk over the RA's apt, or anyone else's room who would be annoyed with the crunching sound above their heads). The rooms are actually set up just like in Cardinal Gardens.. probably why I felt more at home. Bedroom wise, I like the far back room for its isolation, so when you move in, get there early and claim your spot! It also has a walk-in closet. The foremost bedroom has sliding doors (which I got stuck with my first year there, so I just took out the doors for more space). The bathroom is a great set up; the sinks are in the middle, the toilet on one side with a door, and the shower on the other side with its own door. This helps with getting ready for class, with other people getting in the way. There's also a central courtyard, pool table, large screen TV, and study room. When I was there, the RAs had the pool balls, or you could walk over to Century. And that brings me to my only true gripe: that there are even RAs in this building. I know it's because of "official policy" since it's University Housing, but grad and law students still have to abide by the same rules about alcohol and people in a room as undergrads. Total CRAP. Anyway, there's 1 RA for the law students and 1 for the grad students. Unspoken policy... don't give them grief and they'll leave you alone. (Fortunately for me, during my year I knew both RAs personally from undergrad). Other misc things: - basic cable is included. - internet is available. - USC Tram stop right outside, which is good for coming back from campus on; it takes the long way if you board, so you might as well just walk to campus. - Street parking wasn't to hard to find on any given day, should you forgo the parking pass or have visitors. I had awesome time living here, but YMMV. (PS - If you're living there, see if you can see the faint shadow of Tommy Trojan on your living room wall, under the layers of white paint... if you do, you're in my old room.)

Everything nice. Except limited help for an international student trying to set up utility. Mostly…read moreLAPDW's fault. Wish I could be connected with other international tenants who went through the same process. Been 2 weeks without electricity and gas. Feel like prehistoric time. Landlords tried to help but not much experience. Hope to be connected with International student tenants who did this in the past. Anxious to live in a house with no electricity. Tripped over something yesterday and injured knees.

It doesn't get any better than this in terms of property managers. Gil and Maria are extremely…read moreresponsive and professional. They carry themselves with such a warm demeanor that you can't help enjoy interacting with them. We've lived in the apartment unit for four (4) years and we wouldn't be moving if it wasn't because of work. We were tenants as students because of the close proximity and tenants as working professionals as it is close to the metro. The other tenants in the apartment complex are very quiet so if you're looking for a more mature living situation without "partying" noise, I would highly recommend this apartment.

This place has racist hiring tendencies. They will literally ask for your photo ID before even…read morerequesting an interview. Once they see you're Black, they stop all communication. Which is odd considering all these horrific reviews about poor customer service, rude attitudes, and the building needing a lot of maintenance. It's 2026. **Stop with the racist bullshit!** You can see an email from someone with poor grammar requesting the ID. They also requested a copy of the resume, even though it was included in the original email. My guess is they requested the resume again so that requesting the ID didn't seem so odd. But it still gave discriminatory.

AVOID this place unless u have a limited budget and cannot afford any other places. The leasing…read moreoffice is the worst. The manager there, Laura Huang, never shows any respect while communicating, she will cut you off while u are talking, ignore ur questions, and find all ways to put a fine on u. Homeless people will sing and dance in the middle of the night at ur window. Again, AVOID, AVOID, AOIVD!!!!

Given the lack of good quality and affordable housing, CarGar is actually quite good. Below is a…read moresummary: (2P = 1B2P; 4P = 2B4P) Pros: Location, RA on Duty, no leasing, some quiet apartments depending on your bedroom layouts, walk in closet for some, toilet and bathroom are separate for 4P room, newly installed ceiling lights and windows that reduce noise/better insulation, work order maintenance is 100% reliable but workers come in whenever they want to. Cons: Stress during housing lottery, thin walls (sometimes), no singles, some noisy apartments depending on your bedroom layout. The remaining part of this review is meant for those who care about noise. I'm a light sleeper and I've lived at Cargar for three years (F third level, H third level, A second level). I've suffered tremendously in my first two years but finally lived peacefully in my last year in A building with 2P room. So I'll be writing down info and tips for those who want a peaceful environment (assuming your roommates aren't jerks and your neighbors are reasonable). Location: This really depends if you're 2P or 4P *and* if there's construction nearby. I woke up to annoying high pitched construction noises from the village at 8am on weekdays despite living in F, where it's supposedly quiet. So, pay attention if there's construction and see which buildings are close to it. You could ask the CSC if you're unsure. If you're 2P: All 2P rooms will face the bulky doors. That means you will hear every *clang* when the door closes and drunk idiots at night. But, I couldn't really hear them in my bedroom, which is farther away from the main door. Anyhow, keep this in mind! As for rooms, I recommend A206 as it's the only one that doesn't face the cars, far enough away from courtyard, and very close to laundry. The bedroom is also not sharing a wall with another room. There's another room that I was considering that seems to be in a good location. That's F454. This faces the trees, but also the balconies across. Let's hope your neighbors don't talk so loud outside on the balconies. Like A206, it shouldn't be adjacent to another room (hopefully my memory is correct). There are probably other 2P rooms that are good, but if you have a friend in cargar then visit them and see the room layout yourself. The room numberings are listed on the outside. Avoid I building if you can because it faces the basketball court. More info on this down below. If you're 4P: Avoid A, B, G, H, and I (I actually don't recall if it's I building...but I comes after H right?) Buildings A, B and I (?) directly face the streets. A and B faces Jefferson and I (?) faces McClintock. Buildings G and H face the basketball courts, which should be demolished because it only benefits the handful of players who use the court. No matter how great your earplugs are, you will hear the constant thud from the basketballs. Sometimes, players are reckless and the balls will hit some of the walls of your room (if you're first floor or basement). Some players even blast music while doing so. Most of the times, players don't adhere to quiet hours. Some folks even play in the early hours (6am) and I once literally had to get up and tell them to play at a later time. Anyhow, avoid the basketball area at all costs. F building is convenient, but you will directly face the courtyard. I followed the advice of fellow Yelpers, and I genuinely regret this. People can chitchat really loudly at night or have random parties outside whether it's during quiet hours or not. This doesn't happen every night, but it's an occurring issue for me almost weekly. Even my apartment mate who doesn't care about noise called RA on Duty a few times because residents can get really annoying outside. I would recommend D building as it's definitely the safest bet. It's nice and quiet but the farthest from any laundry rooms available. Buildings C and E are also good choices, but they have balconies that face each other. Shouldn't be a problem most of the time. However, E building 4P faces the sun so try getting the third floor. General notes: The walls connecting the apartments are quite good, but thin for some of them. I can definitely say that the walls within the apartment are thin, so make sure to have good and considerate roommates. Ah, and pray that your neighbor doesn't blast their music on speaker or stomp heavily on top of you. I've encountered both of these situations in separate years. Invest in good earplugs. Really. There will be street noise and people casually talking very loudly late at night. CarGar isn't situated in a suburban area, so keep this in mind.

Cardinal Gardens' main draw is LOCATION. And, of course, not the neighborhood itself, but its…read moreproximity to campus. You're officially living off-campus, but it's just across the street. It's safer at night than other housing complexes (in my own opinion) because, if you use the main front entrance, you can walk towards Gate 5, which is staffed 24/7, and the intersection of Jefferson and McClintock is brightly lit. The back alleys are a little sketchier though. Mind you, in 3 years of living there, I never had any problems with crime and such. If you're lucky enough to win the lottery and be assigned in CG, do everything you can to get into Building F. You don't have any buildings immediately in front of or behind, so it's quieter, and I felt better about hanging out on my balcony (only in the 2-bdrm apts). You're also near the front entrance and mailboxes. And the central location means you can park anywhere and not walk far; same goes for the laundry rooms. Only disadvantage I can think of is that you're far from the dumpsters. I would personally avoid the building along Jefferson due to road noise; the one along McClintock (Building A I think? I totally forgot) isn't as bad, and neither is the one along Orchard. Though a big benefit is that you can easily recycle by throwing your bottles out onto the grass, and by morning someone on the street will have collected it for you (note, this is also technically littering, so don't say I didn't warn you!). The buildings are split-level, so there are 5 levels in each, separated and gated by stairwell (your gate key will open all of them in the complex). - The 2B4P (2 bedroom, 4 person) rooms are on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th level. The rooms on the 3rd and 5th have balconies. The rooms on the 1st have a one-way back door. Bedroom wise, I like the far back room for its isolation, so when you move in, get there early and claim your spot! It also has a walk-in closet. The foremost bedroom has sliding doors (which I got stuck with my first year there, so I just took out the doors for more space). The bathroom is a great set up; the sinks are in the middle, the toilet on one side with a door, and the shower on the other side with its own door. This helps with getting ready for class, with 3 other people getting in the way. - The 1B2P rooms are on the 2nd and 4th, and neither have any openings besides the front door. But the living room is bigger than in the 2B4P apts. Decently sized walk in closet as well. The bathroom has the toilet/shower in a separate room than the sink. I want to say there's even a walk in pantry in the kitchen, but my senile mind may be failing me. It's more expensive, but I enjoyed living in the 1B2P room. You're also near by UV and across the street from B of A, as well as being close to Wendy's, BK, Cafe 84, Lyon Center, and the USC Credit Union. Also not too far from the 2-9. Yep, it was a blast living here.

bad experience here, staff was rude when I was asking questions at the beginning of last year when…read moreI first signed a lease, I feel like you will also soon realize that sometimes they have flooding issues and roaches.

The parking redesign is a fail. Using credit cards to get in and out, annoying and a hack risk…read more Redesign flow to exit a fail. You have to get out of your car when exiting cause you will not make angle to get next to the card reader. Bravo Idiots!!! Now I find your credit card only machine to enter the parking garage discriminatory. Not everyone has credit cards. You can get in and out to eat there with cash only while being under the time limit from being charged. This shows you're business practice is not in touch with the neighborhood.

No room service. Can't play league of legends on this wifi. There are cats that roam around but…read morewont come when called. Outrageous.

The best memories of freshman year of college were here…read more But I'm going to be honest, I wanted to write this review to tell the story about my dining hall experience (one of many). I asked a dining hall staff member for Udon Noodle Soup and I was handed a cookie. I said "I'm sorry, I asked for Udon Noodle Soup". He stared at me and I was handed another cookies. At the end of this, I walked away with 2 cookies and no Udon Noodle Soup. The dorms are cool, the dining hall could be better, but is an interesting place where many stories will occur.