Has anyone applied to Clemson University yet? My daughter from NJ just applied and now the waiting until Feb. 15th begins.
My daughter applied as well! Waiting for our HS to send transcripts and they said they won’t do it for a couple of weeks so that’s a little frustrating but excited too! And also from NJ!!
My daughter has applied. I have heard Clemson is popular with students in NJ! We live in VA. Going to be a long wait. I am curious to see the stats when released on how the admitted group for Fall 2019 looks like for OOS kids compared to 2018.
My son currently attends Clemson now. Clemson is extremely popular with NJ students. He received merit and still did not hear until mid-January. Too many applicants from our area so they said they were extremely backed up. Most hear back Feb. 15th. My daughter turned everything in already and now we just wait. 
My daughter just applied . We’re from PA. Best of luck to everyone!
Best of luck to your daughter as well!
Good luck to everyone applying to Clemson this year! It’s getting more and more competitive. I’m a freshman at Clemson this year and I’m having the time of my life. My story is a bit funny as I had already paid my deposit to another school in state that offered me a spot in their Capstone Scholars program and visited it 4 times before realizing on April 30 that I just couldn’t go there due to a series of events surrounding the city and a national incident that took place, as well as something that happened to my friend. I panicked and drove all the way to Clemson and realized that it was the place for me. Changed my enrollment deposit and now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere other than here at Clemson. The campus is very safe and happy and truly does feel like a family. The pride here is very strong and I always strongly advocate for students to come here when I can because I know firsthand that I thought I hated this school and now I absolutely love it. Go Tigers!
@babytiger glad you found your home at Clemson! My son has applied to both Clemson and USC. From your mention of Capstone Scholars, I am guessing that is the other school to which you are referring. Do you mind sharing what your concerns were regarding Columbia and the national incident? Thanks for sharing whatever you can. Just trying to stay informed as he looks to making a decision eventually.
@Lily115 Yes definitely. So, everyone’s experience is different and I know people who didn’t have the experiences that I and other people had, but statistically speaking, crime is quite high in Columbia, so just keep that in mind when reading my summary of events.
- On my first tour, my parents and I took separate tours. Both times we noticed homeless people on the campus and were separately approached in the parking garages by men demanding money from us. This particular garage was where I would have to park for my dorm.
- On my 2-4 tours similar things happened in the parking garages and on the streets and on the campus I did not feel the happy or friendly air I now feel at Clemson— there was an odd sense of fear I felt at USC. That was just me personally though.
- I work at the sheriff’s office, so when I finished my tour and walked back to the garage and sat in my car and started shaking violently I knew something was up. I just had a very bad gut feeling that I needed to leave USC immediately. As I was reversing a man approached my car from around another one from the side and started banging on my window. I got away fine. I’m very tough and have a no nonsense type of body language, so I was very fearful for other students if that was how I was treated in spite of that.
- My friend who is currently at USC had a gun pulled on him when he was a block away from campus. He was in a fast food drive thru at 4pm and 4 men told him to get out of his truck and give him the keys to it. Thankfully he floored it. He’s 6’7.
- I have other friends at USC currently, both male and female, and so far 8 have told me that they like USC, but they do not feel safe there and have already had unsettling incidents similar to mine. However, probably about 20-30 others have said only good things about it.
- The campus to me personally felt very disorganized and hard to separate from the city. This led to me getting off of campus without realizing it. I stumbled upon a drug deal in an area around the visitor’s center at 2pm because I got lost trying to get back to the Bull St. garage.
- Samantha Josephson’s incident was a very unsettling incident and while it can happen anywhere, her incident was statistically more in line with something that would happen at USC than Clemson. It was also reminiscent of the very violent crimes that do take place in Columbia. Clemson’s crime is statistically more alcohol and theft related than violence related. Clemson was also ranked the safest campus in the state of South Carolina whereas USC was not, and it was not a close race.
So, overall, I faced many dangers and general bad feelings while on tours, and my gut just very strongly told me that something seriously bad was going to happen if I attended USC, so it wasn’t the right decision for me. It sucked because the last ride was the hardest car ride I’ve ever made there: I thought I loved USC and could tough out the city as I’ve worked in a sheriff’s office for a while now but something overwhelmingly just told me not to. I was rattled and not myself for days. I have not had a single experience at Clemson so far that compares to the ones I had at usc, and I never even lived or spent the night at usc, so that tells me a lot. But what told me the most was that while I was very, very upset driving away from USC knowing I simply was not ever going to come back, I felt so overwhelmingly relieved to be driving away, like I was safe again, that I could feel my heart soaring.
Either way, though, those were just my experiences— wherever your son goes, Clemson and USC are both excellent options and steps can be taken to avoid crime. One of the things I really loved about Columbia was the food and retail options. The professors I met also seemed very, very intelligent and I made many connections there. But again, from my experience working at the sheriff’s office, I do have to advise everyone I know who discusses USC vs Clemson to compare the crime statistics very carefully when making their decision. Your safety is one of the most important things you can ask for on a campus. The biggest thing I would tell your son regardless of which campus he is on is to listen to his instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, get away ASAP.
Something that may help: Go to Areavibes website and compare Clemson and Columbia’s crime rates side by side. Columbia gets an F total while Clemson gets an A. It will also tell you exactly what type of crime in numbers are more common where.
@babytiger I am SO appreciative of your taking the time to share your and your friends’ experiences. Hearing about them is definitely unsettling and gives us a lot to think about. It certainly sounds as though Clemson is where you were meant to be. I’m glad you are so happy there after going through the tough time of feeling fearful while visiting USC and having to reverse your decision. Thank you also for mentioning areavibes. I am not familiar with that website and will check it out.
@Lily115 Of course. And something else really great about Clemson that nobody really knows about until they’re actually there is how much these kids care for each other and they are really fiercely protective of one another. On my first day here (I moved in early as I did rush) my RA approached me and told me about a girl down the hall who was also rushing and she suggested that we become safety buddies since we were there early and alone and we had to walk a little ways to Little John every day, and she’s been my best friend ever since. I really appreciated the RA for looking out for us.
I’ve also literally been chased down by my friends because I wanted to walk home alone and they were like, “No!! Buddy system, remember? I’m coming with you.” I made it halfway across Bowman Field once at about 9pm when I heard footsteps running up to me and it was one of my sorority sisters demanding to walk me back the rest of the way because she was worried once she couldn’t see me in the dark.
These are the kinds of kids that will send you a carpool doc just because they don’t want you to have to use an Uber, and they’re the kids that will go around asking everyone at the end of a party if they have a safe ride back or a walking buddy. Even many of the frat parties have designated drivers to and from the dorms at night, so it’s not just the girls who make sure they’re safe.
At USC I did not feel comfortable asking people for directions unless they were tour guides but in Clemson I don’t even have to. There have been times where I’ve looked nervous or unsure and I’ve had random kids come up to me and say, “Hey, are you looking for something? I’m a senior so I can probably tell you where it is.” And if I do ask them, they’re always happy to help and if they don’t know where something is, they’ll advise you to go into the nearest building to find a professor or faculty member who can tell you where it is. They always make sure that you don’t wander off any farther.
It really makes you feel cared about and like these people want to keep you safe. The sense of tiger family is really strong. I don’t think you could find a stronger bond between so many strangers at most schools. These are really, really good kids and I’m always really happy whenever students choose Clemson because it makes me feel better to know that we can help keep one more student in our “family” safe and happy throughout their years here. I’ve also had an awesome time academically here.
So great, @babytiger ! Every university should stress the buddy system and students helping each other to feel safe.
Has anyone tried the too early to tell link from last years posting?
I tried the link and it worked…I got the prompt to enter the CUID. I didn’t think the link would work until around November.
I was not aware of the link and thanks for mentioning. On which posting could we find that, @annsmith22 or @nukerules ? Do you know of applicants from last year who had success with it being accurate (in Nov/Dec)?
try this and let us know what it says for you
https://studentonboarding.app.clemson.edu/#
what did it say after you entered your CUID?
It said welcome and asked for the activation code from the acceptance letter, which we didn’t get. I have no idea if means anything or not. Application was complete early September.
correct! i pesonally think its too early to receive that and could just be an automated reply from last year still. i do not believe any acceptances really are confirmed until november. my son is a senior there now and it worked around the holidays.
Thanks for the information @mweb136 !