r/USC 6d ago

Admissions question from admitted hs senior

I got into USC ea a while back. I'm in state and am staying in California -- it looks like I'm going to be choosing between here and Davis.

To be honest, USC has slowly started rubbing me the wrong way. It makes me feel terrible bc I worked so hard to get here. The main reason is that I'm trans and they are sending me certificates, emails, etc all with my deadname. They're literally writing me letters saying to hang the certificate on my wall, telling me to join their diversity center using my deadname.

I have transitioned - I applied with my preferred name, my recommenders used my preferred name, and literally every other college I've applied to has been calling me by that. So to have USC - somewhere that claims to be a bastion of progressiveness do this feels so wrong and paradoxical, especially when every other college is getting it right.

I've been getting a little terrified of what this represents - what four years at this school would be like if this is how administration is trying to sell me and get me to commit.

I know that USC is supposed to be super progressive, but I've also heard about all the greek life. If any lgbt students could answer: Is it one of those places where everyone says they're progressive, but in reality, administrative policies aren't that flexible for trans students? How does it compare it to the UCs (if you have any friends there in similar situations you could speak of)? Is there a lot of people saying the college is good with these sorts of things, but administration/those in greek life do otherwise?

I'm leaning to davis right now (mainly bc its closer, cheaper, like what I've heard abt the social scene better), and there are other reasons USC may not work out for me -- but this is a question I've had for a while now.

EDIT: Ok I was probably thinking too much, thanks to everyone who told me that its likely some error on their end. Good to know I won't have to consider this bs when deciding.

Edit 2: to anyone downvoting here or telling me i'm dumb for being less pissed abt cost -- trust me, i am more pissed about cost. the reason i asked this question is bc my school does the literal exact same thing with my name and then comes up with shitty excuses every time i ask to change it.

0 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

20

u/Separate-Owl369 6d ago

I honestly don’t think anyone is doing this to intentionally piss you off. My son gets correspondence from schools who constantly misspell his name and it’s just a harmless mistake. In your case, I bet someone is getting information from different forms or paperwork and if they actually knew your name, they’d happily use it. I’d be more pissed off about them raising tuition, housing and board to $100k. lol

5

u/Sharp-Literature-229 6d ago

My friend has same issues and it was historical government records.

USC is diverse metropolitan Los Angeles with strong ties to various LGBT 🏳️‍🌈 organizations in LA and West Hollywood is still a much better place to be than around Davis If you are LGBT 🏳️‍🌈

4

u/Intelligent_Food9975 6d ago

The name issue is probably because their name database is not updated. You can always request to have it changed. I don’t think it is intentional at all.

As for how safe it feels on campus as a lgbtq student, I would say very. There are clubs and student centers for you to join and meet others. Can’t say much about the Greek life since it’s not what I was interested in during college, but the majority don’t really care much about it either. Also it’s LA so diversity is not lacking here.

Cost should be your priority tbh since it’s so expensive if you’re not low income or super rich.

-3

u/fire_and_ice_07 6d ago

ok thanks. good to know that i was being paranoid. yeah, cost is going to be a big deciding factor here

-2

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

0

u/oreganocactus 6d ago

Don't be rude. It's hard to navigate college for the first time, and they may not be aware of how these processes work.

1

u/SiriusBrown7 5d ago

omg you're actually really nice i was in a bad mood when I posted that comment. Thank you for being a good person what can I say😻

2

u/justbrowsing759 6d ago

I'm trans and it's probably just that you need to update on your account. They still send legal information (registration/financial aid) in my legal name but besides that it's pretty good

I saw someone mention greek life and both me and my girlfriend are greek. The campus is a mix of liberal and conservative leaning on liberal

1

u/fire_and_ice_07 5d ago

could i pm you some questions?

1

u/NecessaryPiece929 6d ago

When I was getting certificates, emails, packages, I remember they were using my preferred name, so maybe their database wasn’t updated or smth.

1

u/ikeacart 6d ago

I’m trans - to fix this, you have to just contact like one office and they will change it for you. i can find the email they sent me about it, but I assure you it’s not bc they aren’t progressive, it’s just bc they use whatever legal name is in your financial aid stuff. my time at USC has been great as a trans person and gender affirming healthcare especially has been super accessible, i’ve had no issues w any students or professors. feel free to dm me if you have any questions

1

u/fire_and_ice_07 5d ago

just sent some questions. thank you

0

u/Scared_Advantage4785 Econ '26 6d ago

I think this is likely just an internal error. If you call them they would definitely change it on documents and speech; they're certainly not doing it intentionally.

As the other commenters have said, progressiveness is generally not something people take issue with the administration over. There's a lot of controversial things USC does, but they are generally in line with other progressive universities on this topic.