<p>University of South Carolina Honors College (SCHC) is terrific. My sophomore daughter’s had easy access to the many honors-level classes available in all majors and schools, and a separate Honors College advisor in addition to her major advisor. She’s really liked the caliber of SCHC students in her classes. She reports the professors have been very good, and the honors classes are almost always small - between 10-30 students, with lots of class discussion. </p>
<p>Overall, USC has about 25% out-of-state (OOS) students, but the Honors College is around 50% OOS so it’s good for experiencing kids different from yourself. Also, the Honors Residence dorm (new in 2009) is gorgeous, has its own cafeteria and is centrally located. This year, USC opened the Honors Residence to non-Honors students (due to a women’s dorm being renovated), but it’s still majority SCHC kids. She and her friends started an online satiric newspaper, and have plenty of fun even though they don’t do football, Greek life, or drinking. And USC has every major and activity under the sun, which shines a lot warmer down in Columbia throughout the winter than it does in the north. Columbia’s got train and airport access, too.</p>
<p>The SCHC/USC General Ed requirements are very comprehensive - it’s not just one from Column A and one from Column B. You have to take (or place out of) foreign language, assorted history and analytical topics, even a philosophy class. When DD saw the variety of choices at USC that fulfill the GenEd and Honors requirements, she decided this wasn’t too restrictive. By taking classes in subjects new to her, it helped her rule out some majors and discover a minor she’d not considered before. Best thing is USC (at least for Honors students) doesn’t routinely require you to take the intro-level classes - DD had access to 300 and 400-level classes her freshman year, even in departments where she’d never had classes before. There’s plenty of class sections so you don’t get shut out of needed classes. All SCHC students write and present a senior thesis, which is good experience for grad school. USC also is generous with AP course credits, so it’s easy to have 1-2 semesters of credit when you start.</p>
<p>Finally, check out the scholarships offered to the Honors College students. Recently, every SCHC student has received some sort of scholarship, plus the OOS packages also came with either in-state tuition or reduced out-of-state tuition, which brings costs down to very reasonable (even cheaper than our in-state flagship for us). There’s a lot of students from NJ, Maryland, NY, and PA as well as neighboring southern states. This is smart - it helps USC become more nationally known, attracts top students who don’t want to go into major debt for their undergrad degree, and brings geographic diversity to USC. DD’s in-state friends came to DC to visit us last summer, so it works to everyone’s advantage.</p>
<p>Also, students keep their scholarship by maintaining a reasonable 3.0 GPA. I’ve heard on CC of other flagship universities where the admitted students get great scholarships, but lose them the first year when they can’t nail a 3.5 or higher GPA, and then can’t afford to stay at their OOS school. </p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, but this is definitely worth looking at for a great education, and the best OOS bargain on the east coast.</p>