University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine (USC) Class of 2014

[USC for me]

any and all question welcome for Keck School of Medicne class of 2014

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[USC for me]

Does anyone have any suggestions about the best places to live while going to the USC Keck School of Medicine? Starting in Aug.

 

[Roar589]

Hey 2014 Keckers - I'm starting my fourth year at Keck and wanted to let you know that I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the school. There are lots of options as far as areas to choose for housing. I'm living in a 3 bedroom/2 bath house in Alhambra. The owner prefers to rent to USC med students, and I'll be looking for a new roommate if you're interested. Feel free to message me about the place or any questions you have about the school!

 

[MiniMoo]

Does anyone have any suggestions about the best places to live while going to the USC Keck School of Medicine? Starting in Aug.

Lots of students live in Monterey Hills. The area is filled with a lot of condos and apartments and it only takes ~10 minutes to get to campus on surface streets. Other popular areas within a ~15 minute commute or so include Alhambra, South Pasadena, and Monterey Park.

 

[spyderefs]

So I've decided, keck!

Couple questions:

Any affordable options in downtown area (I hear little Tokyo)?

Is westsiderentals everyones raving about worth the fee or should I stick with craigs list?

 

[MiniMoo]

Any particular reason you want to live downtown? In my opinion, downtown has some pretty shady, dirty, run-down areas. Parking and traffic can be a pain as well. Overall you can't get as nice of a place on the same budget. Of course, there are some gorgeous lofts and buildings too, but it'll cost ya.

 

[spyderefs]

Any particular reason you want to live downtown? In my opinion, downtown has some pretty shady, dirty, run-down areas. Parking and traffic can be a pain as well. Overall you can't get as nice of a place on the same budget. Of course, there are some gorgeous lofts and buildings too, but it'll cost ya.

Just looking at the options, and I hear the popular places east of campus are more suburban. And yeah, I was just looking at the nice places in downtown, and their prices are

 

[MiniMoo]

Just looking at the options, and I hear the popular places east of campus are more suburban. And yeah, I was just looking at the nice places in downtown, and their prices are

Yeah everything east of campus is more suburban. I personally like it that way though. Downtown is still a pretty close commute, though, if you're looking to have some fun bar hopping. Can always taxi it with friends. And yeah all of the really nice places downtown are insanely expensive.

 

[Roar589]

I wouldn't bother paying a fee to find housing, especially not this early. You have lots of time and lots of options. The admissions/student services office usually puts together a list of student-friendly housing and people looking for roommates in the near future. The areas closest to campus where Keck students typically live:
1. Monterey Hills - high concentration of medical students and some residents; very easy commute to campus; residential area with almost exclusively condo/apartment buildings which are not too expensive; you pretty much have to drive to find anything in the way of groceries or things to do but are centrally located between the other areas listed below
2. Pasadena - north east of campus; residential with plenty of restaurants/shops/entertainment; not always the cheapest but not the most expensive; a relatively easy commute for most people on the 110, although it slows down around rush hour
3. Alhambra/Monterey Park - east of campus; mostly residential but less in the way of things to do; housing tends to be cheaper than most areas; can be an easier commute with the potential of taking surface streets to school, depending on where you specifically live
4. Downtown - short commute but can be pricy; not much in the way of stores for groceries, etc.; some people are able to take the USC shuttle bus to campus from Union Station
5. Silver Lake/Los Feliz - lots of restaurant/bar options for weekends; I haven't checked recently, but prices may be similar to Pasadena?

If anyone thinks the above descriptions are inaccurate, feel free to correct me. Just thought it might help to have a short blurb on each.