Frequently Asked Questions

In Living Learning Communities (LLCs), students who share a common interest live and study together. Not only do LLCs ease your academic and social transition to USD, but they also expand your intellectual curiosity beyond the classroom, and establish an immediate sense of community with your faculty and fellow residents.

While in an LLC, students take classes together and live near one another, sharing a supercharged college experience where academics meld with exciting co-curricular activities and community engagement, helping to unfurl new understandings in the process. Whether you join us and become a Cultivator, a Collaborator, an Advocate, an Illuminator, or an Innovator, your LLC theme is a way in which you can engage with Changemaking.

All incoming first-year students participate in an LLC. To select a theme, students will preference top theme choices on their First-Year Advising Questionnaire. You can access the First-Year Advising Questionnaire in your MySanDiego portal, under the "Admissions" tab and "Announcements" subtab. Look for it within the New Student Checklist on the right-hand side of the page.

You will have the opportunity to provide several preferences for your fall LLC course on the First-Year Advising Questionnaire. All LLC courses on the Questionnaire are connected to an LLC theme, which is indicated after each course title. You can choose one of four themes: Advocate, Innovate, Cultivate and Collaborate. Please note that those students who are admitted to the Honors program will automatically be enrolled in the Illuminate LLC.

You can access the First-Year Advising Questionnaire in your MySanDiego portal, under the "Admissions" tab and "Announcements" subtab. Look for it within the New Student Checklist on the right-hand side of the page.

A USD LLC Course combines aspects of a first-year seminar course and academic advising with a regular class. Some LLC courses are traditional, general education courses in a specific discipline, while others are interdisciplinary courses examining a problem or issue from several perspectives. Still others are innovative approaches to traditional subject matter, or courses of a more experimental nature. LLC courses are limited to fewer than 20 first-year students - this class size makes them about one-half the size of regular first-year classes.

In your second semester at USD, you will be placed into another LLC course - both of these LLC courses will help you fulfill the First-Year Integration requirement of the core curriculum. During this time, you will be challenged to integrate concepts and ideas from one course to the other.

Students will be able to tell us their top five LLC course choices in the Advising Questionnaire. Some classes are offered across multiple themes (i.e. ECON 101 may be in three themes), so you must be sure to select their preferred course in their preferred theme.

For example, if you are set on being in the Advocate LLC, then you should preference several LLC courses linked to that theme. Alternatively, if you are most interested in taking a Biology LLC course, you should then indicate Biology courses across several themes as your preferred LLC courses.

Students will preference their LLC course and theme when they fill out the Fall First-Year Advising Questionnaire which will close on Friday, May 22nd. 

You can access the First-Year Advising Questionnaire in your MySanDiego portal, under the “Admissions” tab and "Announcements" subtab. Look for it within the New Student Checklist on the right-hand side of the page.

You will receive your LLC assignment at the same time as your housing assignment.

Your LLC course will match up with a particular Living Learning Community. You can view which LLC courses fit under which particular theme on the LLC website. You can identify your LLC course on your schedule as it will have a section number in the 50s (i.e FYW-150-51).

LLC theme assignments:

Advocate:  Valley A

Innovate: Valley B

Cultivate: For the 2019-2020 Academic Year - Camino/Founders. For the 2020-2021 Academic Year - San Antonio de Padua (SAP).

Collaborate: Maher

Students admitted to the Honors program in the 2019-2020 Academic Year will be placed in the Illuminate LLC in Camino/Founders. For the 2020-2021 Academic Year, students in the Illuminate LLC will be in Valley B

For the 2020-2021 Academic Year, commuter students should preference Collaborate and Illuminate (if admitted into the Honors program) as Maher Hall is more easily accessible, providing commuter students an on campus hub, if desired.

Part of the housing application includes providing information about your personal, academic, and social preferences in your living environment. Residential Life uses that information to create roommate matches for all first-year students. Therefore, you do not choose your roommate yourself.

While first-year students cannot select roommates, we use advanced software to find the most compatible person possible within your LLC theme. Also, we work very closely with our Resident Assistants to offer a directed conversation and Roommate Agreement packets to be completed at the beginning of the semester to ensure all roommates can begin forming great relationships.

If you are uncomfortable with your roommate situation, you can request a change with Housing. However, changes will not be made until after the first two weeks of the semester. Any room changes that are processed during the academic year will be completed within the same LLC/housing area. Changes are not guaranteed. Please read for more information on the room change request process.