<p>Pierre13 and Proud Mary - Both of you are from further north - what was it that attracted you to Clemson vs. some of the schools available to you closer to home? </p>
<p>And Pierre, did you consider WPI (or similar schools), and if so, what made you decide on Clemson?</p>
<p>Clemson is practically in our back yard, so we’re somewhat familiar with their student body, and definitely one of the minuses is the lack of diversity. The other is the strong drinking/football culture. Do you feel like there are enough kids who aren’t in that mold that our son would be able to experience a different social environment?</p>
<p>We considered Carnegie Mellon, but I understand it’s extremely difficult to get into their computer science program (15%).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Our flagship is Penn State and DS got in to Schreyer (honors college). He decided not to go there because he knew too many kids from HS there and wanted to get away. He also wanted to get early research experience and that did not seem possible at Penn State. He also got into Maryland, NC State, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. </p>
<p>Clemson really wasn’t on our radar but we visited on our way from NC State to Georgia Tech. And DS fell in love. It’s a very student friendly place. Lovely campus. Happy students. The diversity issue wasn’t a big one for us (his HS was very diverse) although the conservative southern culture was a concern. (S tends toward the liberal side of things.)</p>
<p>what sealed the deal was the Honors College. He liked what he saw and has not been disappointed (he’s now a senior). The EUREKA program that allows incoming freshmen to do research before they start classes was great and he’s continued participating in research (at Clemson and other universities in REUs). He liked his Honors classes and loved living in Holmes Hall (although he’s now in an apartment.)</p>
<p>Although he often goes to football games he’s not part of the drinking/partying culture that can be found at LOTS of school. He has lots of friends, is involved in lots of activities that don’t involve partying. In my opinion, if a kid wants to find a party at whatever school he’s at, he’ll find it. And if they want a social life without hard-core partying at whatever school they’re at, they’ll find that as well.</p>
<p>As for the conservative thing, I think that’s been his biggest challenge. The overall culture is far more conservative/religious than he grew up in. But he’s found “his people” and he’s learned about other peoples’ views, which I think is a good thing. He’s told me about many interesting late-night discussions where there has been a major difference of opinion but everyone managed to be polite and consider the various positions. He says it’s far more interesting than if everyone agreed with each other.</p>
<p>S has had a great experience at Clemson. He’s now in the process of applying to grad schools and feels very well prepared. (He’s already gotten a couple of offers at top programs.) We’re very excited to see where he’ll be going next.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Mary,</p>
<p>Glad to hear that your son has had a great experience at Clemson, and that he’s been able to find “his people.”</p>
<p>". . .he’s learned about other peoples’ views, which I think is a good thing. He’s told me about many interesting late-night discussions where there has been a major difference of opinion but everyone managed to be polite and consider the various positions. He says it’s far more interesting than if everyone agreed with each other."</p>
<p>^^^This is why we’d rather our son NOT go to Clemson - we’d like him to experience something different from what he’s grown up on. We’d be super-happy for him to come back home after he’s done with school, but we want to have him expand his world view first.</p>
<p>Well there was a Clemson alumni living in the area and he came to my school’s college career fair which is how I initially heard about Clemson. I wanted to experience another part of the country and Clemson has a fantastic engineering program so I applied and was accepted.</p>
<p>The other schools that I applied to were UMass-Amherst (in-state school), Northeastern, Purdue, Pittsburgh, NC State and Virginia Tech. I visited many other schools as well: WPI, Syracuse and Union College but did not apply because I didn’t think they were a good fit for me. For me, the choice came down to either Pittsburgh, Clemson or Virginia Tech. It was hard to choose. I’ve lived in Boston my whole life so going to a school in a small town with Clemson and VT was going to be a big adjustment so I’m not sure how that would go. I ended up picking Clemson over VT (still not exactly sure how) but it could have gone either way. I loved both of those schools when I visited.</p>
<p>As for the drinking culture, I have friends at other schools and what you see at Clemson is typical for any college in America. Clemson is not know as a “party school” but it does have its fair share of people who enjoy parties. Most people take their work seriously during the week but like to have fun on the weekend. I think you will find this is true with all schools with the exception of maybe BYU and other religious colleges haha. While football is a big thing at Clemson, as Clemson’s academic reputation grows, there are an increasingly number of students who come to Clemson for the academics and could care less about football. That’s the great thing about a large university, while there are always people who fit the “typical college mold”, there are many students on campus and there will be many people who your son can make friends with.</p>