With less than a month until graduation, it’s the time of year when seniors reminisce on their college experiences. With the incoming class of 2029 already admitted, 2025 grads shared recommendations for their next four years at USC.
One mechanical engineering senior, Zacharias Brown, said that college is all about balance — focusing on your social life while maintaining career prospects.
“I would say [take] every opportunity you have to join a club, take an extra class. You have 18 units that you’re paying for. Use all your 18 units. Take yoga, take a surfing class. And also, every opportunity to go out. As long as you’re still doing well in your classes, go for it,” he said.
Roughly 18,000 students will graduate with USC degrees this May. There will be over 100 commencement events during graduation weekend on campus, with speakers ranging from director Jon M. Chu to Snoop Dogg.
Throughout their four years at USC, these seniors have experienced a lot. They began their college journey living on campus, but with classes still primarily online post-COVID, they didn’t have the typical first-year experience
These seniors also experienced unprecedented events at USC, like pro-Palestinian encampment protests and the subsequent campus shutdown.
Neuroscience major and senior Josh Threlkeld said the time goes too fast.
“Big piece of advice I’d have, invest in a good digital camera, because you’re going to want to take photos throughout your four years,” he said.
Coming into USC, Threlkeld said he felt a little bit bored at times because he wasn’t doing as much as he hoped coming into college. He said one way to fix that feeling is to get involved.
“I just really involved myself in a lot of clubs and ended up meeting a lot of my really close friends from today. You get out what you put in,” he said.
USC students meet people from different backgrounds every day. International students make up a large portion of the student body, with over 26% of students coming from another country, according to USC’s website. Senior computer science and business major George Danzelaud reflected on this experience.
“We have 20,000 kids from around the world here, and so I think just to maximize all the different hobbies and passions that everyone has, and to always push yourself to try new things will keep the whole experience really interesting,” Danzelaud said.
Some seniors prioritized more practical advice.
“Use your Google Calendar religiously,” Finn Garrigan, a senior graduating from the Viterbi School of Engineering, said.”If you have a concert or a midterm, always go to the concert.”
Similarly, Julia Haffie kept her suggestion simple: “My advice is take a Maymester.”
Maymesters are a popular option for students who want to take a class off-campus outside of the regular semester schedule, and can be a less demanding substitute for semesters abroad. They are held across the U.S. and world, with programs in France, Spain, Hungary and more.
With all these experiences USC has to offer, feeling overwhelmed is a common occurrence. Seniors said incoming freshmen should take advantage of USC’s resources, like the career center for job opportunities and therapy and mental health services.
“Take advantage of everything, but have limits. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed in college. And USC especially has so many resources. Take advantage of those that really feel right to you, but try not to burn out, because it will happen,” said public relations senior Kymia Freeman.
Following graduation, Freeman said she will be working full time at an entertainment company in public relations, but emphasized that it’s ok to not know where you’ll be next.
“But if you don’t have that on graduation day, that is okay. Most people don’t,” she said.
A previous version of this article misspelled Julia Haffie’s last name. Annenberg Media apologizes for the error.