<p>Hi, all, I know the school info on the capstone scholars program (thanks mom who posted), but I'd like to the pros and cons of joining the program. Can you still go Greek? Is it for borderline students (my son isn't, but he's not a genius/overachiever). A friend's son who graduated from my son's school said that USC is easier than high school (That's disturbing. Maybe I should push for VT or Alabama?).</p>
<p>Anyway, any info on Capstone Scholars Program is welcomed and appreciated.</p>
<p>You can still go Greek. You live with the other Capstone Scholars in Capstone Hall. </p>
<p>Alabama isn’t going to be any more challenging than South Carolina. A 3.0 and 900 SAT are competitive for admission to Bama according to their website… Don’t be misled.</p>
<p>Agh, I’ve read a lot of things also about USC being easier than high school… I love everything else about USC, but this worries me because I like to be challenged. Could any Capstone Scholars or other students tell about their experiences regarding this? It would help so much! Thanks a lot 
Also, I know that people have already begun to hear back about the honors college… are Capstone decisions released around now as well?</p>
<p>I received an email last night inquiring about capstone scholars,
The program is a two year program to help (in my words) students become more accustomed to college life. They live together in Capstone, have the option of participating in talk groups, and register for separate Capstone ‘gen-ed’ classes. Most of the information is on their website, [Capstone</a> Scholars - Welcome](<a href=“Capstone Scholars - Capstone Scholars | University of South Carolina”>Capstone Scholars - Capstone Scholars | University of South Carolina)</p>
<p>Kayala, the Capstones administrator who I spoke with told me the Capstone decisions will be released around March 1. So we have a long wait ahead of us! (I still curse not lookng at SC until AFTER honor’s due date :X!!)</p>
<p>hope that helped,
and I am not a SC student, just got that off their website etc.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Plexig! That’s so frustrating though… March 1??? Haha I wanna know now! Also, since you missed the honors deadline, I’m pretty sure you can still apply for the second semester as a freshman at USC. If not, then apply as a sophomore!</p>
<p>kaylala, my daughter just finished her first semester at University of South Carolina. Her first semester grades were in line with those she got in high school - so at least in her case she does not find the coursework easier (AND she studied frantically for her finals, which she did not do in high school!)</p>
<p>For the active high school student, any transition from HS to college will result in significantly more free time. Think about the typical HS schedule 7:30AM - 3:00 PM packed every day with classes back to back. Immediately followed by sports, club, jobs, etc. Then a quick dinner and studying. Go to bed and do it all over again. College is all about time management. Typically 3 hours of classes a day. Homework and maybe a part-time job or occasional club or intramural sports activity. Where the HS students schedule is filled from 7 AM or later until 10 PM or later. The college student has options on what to do with their time. This is especially true with kids involved in HS athletics who will not play varsity sports in college. Maybe this is what people mean by college being easier than HS.</p>
<p>dunderheader,
My son is now a Junior and was in Capstone years 1 and 2. My son was not an overachiever, either, but neither was he borderline - sounds much like your son. There are 500+ students in Capstone, and they can live in Capstone dorm, which is one of the nicer dorms for freshmen. When he was in Capstone dorm 2 years ago, students were housed on floors by major, so the folks on his floor were all engineering majors. He made friends quickly that way, and it was easy to study with folks because many were taking the same classes. Year 2 Capstone students can choose to be housed together - it was in S Quad at the time he was a soph. There were certain classes, such as his freshman English class, that were open only to Capstone scholars. English was not his strength in high school, but he loved his Capstone English section because it was challenging and not as large as the other classes. For my son, Capstone was the decision-maker. The program made USC seem like a smaller community. Capstone also offers some opportunies for undergrad. research. You can write a Magellan grant (? - not sure if this is the correct name of it) and get funding to study abroad, etc. I definitely would recommend the Capstone program.</p>
<p>Thanks, Greenville,</p>
<p>Sounds like the Freshman Learning Communities @ Bama. It’s between those two schools for my son, w/VT the dark horse.</p>
<p>Hi dunderheader,
When my son started 2 years ago, there were also several other learning communities at USC, such as the engineering community, pre-med, etc. I’m sure new ones may have been added since then.
As to the rigor at USC - my son found that some of his initial freshman classes were not that hard, because he had taken some honors and AP classes in high school, but as soon as he started classes in his major at USC with computer science, physics, electricity, etc…things got rigorous very quickly! We have been extremely pleased with the computer science and engineering program at USC. The undergrad research opportunities are also excellent. Best of luck to your son in making his decision - choosing a college can be tough! Have you visited USC? My son “knew” as soon as he set foot on campus (and we’d been to a lot of schools, so that helped make things easier!). They have some excellent “Open House”/campus tour type sessions. We went to one session where he got to tour the Engineering building and meet professors; se were able to tour the various dorms; and we talked with the Capstone director about that program. In the years he has been there, I will say that everyone we have come in contact with has been extremely helpful and friendly.</p>
<p>Not to step on any toes but, if you think USC would be too easy then you definitely shouldnt push for bama… I was just talking to one of my friends yesterday who wasnt even accepted to USC but got a scholarship to UA. She transferred to USC after one semester. As Knights09 pointed out, their average sat score is in the 900s. Just throwing that out there.</p>