You may think that people don't know you're a freshman, but they know.
Whether it be getting downtown too early or not knowing what tent to go to at the frat lots, you're going to do something that we all did as freshmen. Here are 12 things you're going to learn the easy way, rather than the hard way, as a freshman at USC.
1. Don't leave until after 11 p.m. to go downtown.
Save yourself the embarrassment of standing in a dark, empty Five Points at 11 o'clock at night by not calling your Uber until after 11. People don't get downtown until 11:30, so you will be met with empty bars if you get there any earlier.
2. Don't wear shoes you like downtown.
You'll have regular pairs of shoes and you'll have downtown/frat lot shoes. Don't make the mistake of wearing super-cute shoes downtown! We all know that the floors of the Five Points bars are dirty and gross. We won't be appalled when you wear you mud-stained white converse out.
3. When going through sorority recruitment, don't ask around about the sororities.
What other people think about the different sororities should mean nothing to you. Honestly, no one cares what sorority you are in. You'll have friends in all of them and take turns taking each other as dates to your different functions! During recruitment, you only need to worry about how comfortable you feel in each of the houses and choose which sisterhood best fits you.
4. Don't take more than $10 CASH downtown. Leave the debit cards at home!
What a lot of bars don't tell you until after they make your drink is that they have a $10 minimum for cards. This either means that you are buying shots for all your friends every time you order a drink or you are triple-fisting drinks. It's easiest to just take $10 cash because:
1. You probably pregamed and don't need more than $10 worth of drinks.
2. People will buy you drinks because they don't know about the $10 minimum.
5. DON'T: Walk up the Bull Street hill, DO: Use the stairs and cut through the parking lot.. garage
You only have to walk up or down the Bull Street hill once to figure out why you never want to walk up it again.
6. Leave your door open when you're in your dorm.
This is one of the easiest ways to make friends. You will get a lot of people looking into your room and then scurry down the hall when you make eye contact, but you will also get a lot of people approaching you and saying hi because "aren't you the girls who leave your door open?"
P.S. This is actually how I met one of my very best friend's who lived down the hall from me my freshman year.
7. Don't buy the max amount of meal plans.
You may think you like to eat three full meals a day, but chances are you aren't going to want to walk to Russel three separate times every single day. You'll have food and snacks in your dorm and get tired of Russel's options soon enough.
8. Always eat breakfast as a group before tailgating.
Whether you drive to waffle house or one person makes a trip to Russel House's Chick-fil-A and brings everyone food back, you need to eat. Get some food in your system before a long day of cheap beer and wine bags.
The frat lots have burgers and hot dogs, so make sure to refuel later in the day with those as well! And for all my vegetarians out there, they can make you a grilled cheese on a hamburger bun if you ask!
9. Don't drink the PJ.
I know you're going to do it, but I'm telling you now, don't. I don't care if the PJ is red, green, blue, or brown, don't drink it. There is more disgusting stuff in it than you would ever want to know and it will do you dirty EVERY time.
10. Buy Carolina Cash not Meal Plan Dollars.
Here's the thing USC doesn't tell you: Meal plan dollars are non-transferrable from semester to semester. This means all the meal plan dollars you don't spend just disappear and end up being a waste of money. With Carolina Cash, you can use it in the bookstore, in Russel House and at many local grocery stores, convenient stores and restaurants. And the best part: it carries over each semester. You can use Carolina Cash for so much more and you never have to worry about rushing to spend it.
11. Cola is just short for Columbia.
I know this seems pretty self-explanatory but if you aren't from the area, you might not pick up on this slang. I'm from two hours away and I didn't even know it.
12. Have a Venmo account set up and ready to go!
Pretty much everyone uses Venmo to pay each other back. Its fast, its easy and you never have to worry about not getting paid back. The best part is that when your forgetful friend owes you money, you can Venmo request money from them so they remember to pay you!
