Parkside Arts and Humanities Residential College Reviews
University of Southern California
Reviews Summary
Parkside Arts and Humanities Residential College at USC offers a unique living experience with both advantages and drawbacks. The dorm features spacious rooms larger than most campus options, with the added perk of having personal or semi-private bathrooms shared among four to eight students. Residents appreciate the proximity to the exceptional Parkside Dining Hall, often touted as the best on campus, and enjoy numerous well-maintained common areas, including a large lounge, study rooms, a laundry facility, and even a video arcade and music practice rooms. While the dorm offers a quiet and safe environment, it is somewhat secluded and distant from many campus buildings, requiring a 15-20 minute walk or the use of transportation like a skateboard. The location is advantageous for students in Viterbi, Roski, and Architecture due to its proximity. However, frequent elevator issues and maintenance concerns like mold in bathrooms and laundry machines have been noted by residents. Overall, despite its distance from the main parts of campus, students find Parkside to be comfortable and conducive to building lasting friendships within the suite.
Spacious Rooms
Convenient Dining
Distant Location
When students lived here
Freshman Year
7
Sophomore Year
1
Overall rating breakdown
Room
Building
Location
Bathroom
Browse 8 Student Reviews
Reviews with a Verified Student badge were written with a school email.
2 years ago
Place is dope, like everywhere else, it’s expensive. However, I did like the size and personal bath.
Verified Student
2 years ago
Parkside A&H is pretty far away from the rest of campus, so walking to classes in the morning might be a little strenuous. At least you're getting your cardio in! A&H is right next to Parkside Dining Hall, so its convenient. The rooms are decently sized, if a bit small for two people.
Four people share a bathroom. I have found mold (?) growing on the bathroom sink, but you do get cleaning staff who come once a week to clean the bathrooms, so it's a tradeoff.
Trash rooms are located on each floor, with recycling bins and compost containers. Water fountains are a little less numerous, and depending on where your suite is, you might have to walk a bit to get water.
We have had consistent elevator trouble throughout the two semesters I've...
Verified Student
2 years ago
Parkside is very nice and having your own bathroom is fun, but it’s far away from other dorms and is very quiet so if you like that stuff than it’s great for you
4 years ago
Parkside was super comfortable, clean, and the room was incredibly spacious. My roommates and I never got in each other's way, and I really enjoyed my time here. Some may say it's hard to socialize in this dorm, but nearly all of my friends freshman year were from my floor in Parkside. It's about putting yourself out there and talking to people! It was super close to the Parkside dining hall, which was convenient. Lastly, there was a huge lounge space on the first floor and 2 study rooms on every floor after that, and they were very clean and comfortable. However, the only downside was that it was quite far from most things on campus and was usually a 15-20 minute walk to most classes/buildings. That being said, Parkside was an amazing dor...
4 years ago
Rooms are much bigger than most at USC, plus the best dining hall on campus is right nearby. If you put the effort into meeting people/making friends and getting to know your floormates, you will have no problems at A&H.
4 years ago
Very safe and comfortable. Only downside is the location which is secluded unless you’re in Viterbi.
4 years ago
Lived in a 8PDBLE. Not as bad as you think – 2 bathrooms, 4 people to each bathroom. The rooms were spacious, AC worked a little too well during the summer AND winter, and the desks were nice. Wish that there was more sunlight coming into my room, but it is what it is. Annoying that you can only check in 2 guests per person. Laundry facilities are gross. Everyone leaves the laundry doors closed once they finish washing their clothes so there's mold growing inside the machines. $2 per load, $1 for drying. Kinda expensive. Study rooms are really nice but can get noisy. Super close to parkside dining hall (best dining hall tbh), but was a TREK to get to classes. Parkside is SOO far from everything (except Viterbi/architecture) so you had to al...
4 years ago
I loved living in A&H. It has a bad rep as being anti-social, which is true if you are considering social as knowing everyone on your floor. However, you do socialize a lot with the seven other people who live in your suite. It is one of the newer residence halls on campus and each suite has two bathrooms, meaning you only have to share your bathroom with three other people. The building has a large laundry room on the first floor, a video arcade, and two music practice rooms with pianos, as well as several common rooms throughout the building. It's location is not the most convenient. It is right next to the Parkside dining hall and nearby the coliseum, Viterbi, Roski, and Architecture, but it is kinda far from most other places on campus.