Coming out to LA

I got to visit USC on Friday as a potential Masters student. It was kinda cool, a lot different than when I visited as a potential applying undergrad.

As readers of the backlog may know, I have no car. In case you're interested, I'd estimate about 1/3 of the students on campus have a car. So, I had to take the train. Luckily, we have a Metrolink station a few blocks away. And by a few blocks, 20 minute walking distance 5 minute bike ride (downhill). What's really neat is that it only took about 1 hour to get to LA Union station, and the round trip cost me $14. That's cheaper than the gas it would have taken. Plus, I didn't have to worry about traffic or driving myself, I just read my Philosophy of Science book instead. A pretty sweet deal if you ask me. USC also provides a nice tram to get to and from Union station, an extra perk.

The ride itself was also very interesting. In a row behind me a black gentleman was trying to figure out when he would arrive at one of the train stops so that a friend could pick him up. Suddenly, everyone around him was giving him maps and advice and even specific instructions on how his friend will have to drive to get to the stop. As he said, "I'm feelin' the love here." Turns out he's visiting LA to follow up on some job leads. He grew up in Chicago and lives in Florida now. What's interesting is he then started to ask how it's like to live in LA. One of the ladies spoke up and described that there's still quite a big of the gang issues and all that. In fact, she used to take drugs and had been cut up quite a few times. However, she eventually decided to quit and now has kids that have grown up and are starting their own families. There were also talk about the nasty traffic and the smog problem too.

It was weird in a way. I've lived in the suburbs near LA for all my life, yet I know so little about downtown LA. Sure I've heard about the gangs and all that, but it was an eye opener to have someone who had survived through that life talk about it as a personal experience instead of some statistic. Claremont has even less of these gang problems, although we often get all the smog that blows out of LA hanging in our air.

As far as the USC trip itself, it was interesting. I met a person from Boston (MIT) and another who was deciding between USC and Carnegie Mellon. I got to talk with the advisers and the staff there. I even managed to grab a student who gave me some advice. Unfortunately I didn't catch any professors since it was Friday and they were all off-campus.

The campus is the same as you would expect from USC. Really pretty outside, inside is kinda drab for the older buildings (especially where they stick their professors' offices) and there's some really olde stuff. I'm going to do a little more research on the kind of work they're doing and seeing if it's stuff I'd want to do. Apparently about 98% of the Masters students there just do their classes, get their Masters, and head out to a job. It's a 1.5 year, or 3 semester, path.

The other college I'm considering is UC Davis. Professor Bevan Baas is doing some really cool stuff up there. Hopefully I can get into his research group, and he seems willing to let me in. Plus, I can probably rent a room from Michael Braly.

That's all for now. I'm currently trying to slay Clinic as fast as I can, but it's gonna be tough. Not to mention this team is riddled with bad traits. For starters, I'm a lazy bum, tend to over think the problem too much, and yet miss the important detail. Yay! \o/