<p>I recently got accepted to College of Charleston and I was ECSTATIC. Socially, it seems to be a perfect fit. From what I've read, there's a number of different types of people, ranging from hippie/artsy types to preppy types, which is very important to me. I don't want to go to a school where everyone looks and acts the same! I also like the urban environment and proximity to the beach, lack of TAs and lecture halls, and liberal arts education. </p>
<p>College of Charleston is my number one school right now, and I'm thinking about replying to my acceptance ASAP so I can make sure to get a good room (Mcallister or Liberty!) but there are a few things I'm worried about:</p>
<p>Reputation: Will the lack of a good reputation outside the south affect my chances at getting into a good graduate school?</p>
<p>Academics: Is the school work easy? I slacked off a bit in high school, generally getting Bs with some As, and a few Cs. My school is pretty tough though, and I had a huge course load. I also took ALL IB courses (three HL, three SL) and am trying to get my IB Diploma. I think that I'm pretty smart, and I dont want the classes to just be a breeze. Will I get a good education at CofC? </p>
<p>School Spirit: I've heard that CofC is kind of lacking in spirit, partially due to the lack of a football team. I dont mind that the sports aren't huge, but I would really like some school spirit. I go to a TINY high school with NO spirit (sports have NO importance...) and I would really like school spirit... I wanna see the school colors a lot, and people wearing school sweatshirts etc. </p>
<p>Any comments on these concerns or the school? Are the things I've noticed true (such as the different types of people)? Anything else I should know about Charleston? Thanks a lot in advance!</p>
<p>heyy woww i completely agree with absolutely everything you said! i was accepted early too im going down in march for accepted students weekend i cant wait. i just wanted to add to the list of questions…seriously whats the deal with the girl/guy ratio?</p>
<p>I live in Southern California so I am constantly surrounded by the most diverse groups of people in the US (with maybe the exception of NYC). When I visited CofC toward the end of last semester I definitely saw more diversity than what I was expecting for that state. When I asked around about it people kept telling me that Charleston is a very diverse and accepting place… however the rest of South Carolina is not.
With all that being said, I don’t know exactly what type of diversity you are talking about but Caucasian is definitely the dominate race on campus. I saw a lot of African Americans and other races. I did notice there was a huge lack in the amount of Hispanics and Latinos anywhere on campus… which was REALLY weird for be, being from Southern California.
Another type of diversity on campus is that of sexual orientation. From my understand CofC has a very active GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) and the city of Charleston has a few gay friendly hang out spots, such as Club Pantheon, which is the local gay club located in downtown Charleston. </p>
<p>As far as the reputation goes every time I mention to anyone that I’m seriously considering attending CofC, everyone knows exactly what school I’m talking about and they have nothing but good things to say about it. This is just my opinion and I don’t have a lot of knowledge about what graduate schools look for, I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting into a graduate school with a degree from Charleston as long as you work hard. </p>
<p>I’m confident that the courses at CofC are going to be challenging but worth while. I set in on a Spanish class while I was there and the professor was amazing. The class had about 22 people in it the day I was there and it was a very person learning setting. The professor was respectful to his students and seemed passionate about what he was teaching.</p>
<p>When I visited it was very chilly and I saw a lot of people wearing CofC sweatshirts. Also, from what I’ve heard the school is pretty enthusiastic about it’s basketball team and I guess they are pretty good. I attended an ice hockey game while I was there, it was my first time ever seeing that sport and it was pretty exciting. There wasn’t a huge turn out… but that might have been because the game was a ways away from campus. The students were there were pretty enthusiastic though, the hockey club was there cheering them on.
I love the idea of going to a huge state type of school that has an awesome football team where the students get really involved during games and stuff, but I just think that to have that experience you have to give up a lot of other things, like the quality of education and class sizes. It all comes down to priorities.
Plus sports aren’t the only way to have school spirit.
I think a lot of the students, even the ones who care nothing about sports teams, are just proud to be apart of College of Charleston.</p>
<p>Anyway, all of this is just my observations and speculation from the 3 days I spent there at the end of last semester. I definitely recommend you make a trip out there yourself, it’s the only real way to get a feel for the school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information Winter! I actually just got back from my visit to Charleston, and I was INCREDIBLY satisfied! As far as school spirit goes, there may not be a huge football team, but everyone sure seems happy to be there. I saw plenty of Charleston sweatshirts and shirts. Also, the city felt very much like a college town. College kids were everywhere, the nightlife seems fun (around the bars anyways), and different businesses seemed to truly support the college (for example, I saw quite a few “Go Cougars!” signs in restaurants). </p>
<p>Also, I was correct about all the different “types” of people. Just walking around the campus I saw jocks, artsy types, musicians, surfers, every possible clique I could think of! Even more exciting, they all seemed to be quite friendly with each other. Everywhere I went people were smiling, and even engaging in some small, friendly conversations with me.</p>
<p>pinkpolkadots, in the time I was there, the gender imbalance didn’t seem to be noticeable. It didn’t seem like a ridiculous amount of girls, but it’s tough to say as I was only visiting. I’ve heard it can be pretty tough for the girls at times though.</p>
<p>Immediately after my tour, I put in my housing app. I couldn’t believe how much I loved the college and the city. It was truly incredible, and far exceeded my expectations. For anyone visiting, I HIGHLY recommend walking through as much of charleston as possible, because it truly is beautiful. Also, definitely take a trip down to Folly Beach. Nice beach, and the little town around it had a very cool feel to it, filled with surf shops.</p>
<p>You should definitely go! If you haven’t visited yet you should, because I don’t think you could decide anywhere else after seeing the campus and city haha</p>
<p>I just miss Admitted Students weekend. I will be visiting Sunday and Monday. I’m hoping to sit in on a class. What are some must do places to visit that I won’t see on the tour?</p>
<p>I just back from accepted student weekend and in all honesty it sealed the deal for me! I love the town and the feel and know its the right place for me. </p>
<p>I did worry about the school’s reputation, but after talking to some alum I realized that if I take the initiate C of C is very helpful in securing internships and help with career choice. I seriously have nothing but good things to say about C of C and can’t wait till next fall!</p>
<p>We are in California and I will be bringing my son (a HS junior) to visit in late April. What is the school’s reputation? Can you expnad a bit on what you discovered?</p>
<p>Sweet! Stephen I also visited accepted students weekend over this weekend and it was awesome, what did you end up attending? Maybe we ran into each other!</p>
<p>rhumbob- We will be visiting CofC next month as well (daughter is a Jr.) I did learn that finals week begins April 18 (or 19th) so it may be a bit quieter than usual. My daughter was hoping to complete an honors visit but they end on April 18. She was however able to make a couple of appointments with departments/professors she wanted to touch base with. She said all were extremely accommodating and friendly. So our first impression is a good one!
I am really looking forward to visiting both the college and Charleston!</p>
<p>I agree, they have been very accomodating. I believe finals week is the last week in April. It is the only time we can visit and there are no tours. The office is lining up someone to give us a quick go around. We appreciate it greatly as the school seems to have everything my son is looking for.</p>
<p>With regards to academic reputation, like many schools CofC has some specific strengths. Strong record for pre-health careers because of close ties with MUSC (med school not 3 blocks from school). Also has a really cool historic preservation major that combines art, architecture, history, etc. A master degree is offered in conjunction with Clemson. I think you have to look at what you are interested in studying.</p>
<p>I think you should work out visiting the Honors College, even if it’s next fall with your daughter. The Honors College sealed it for me. It was incredible. I absolutely love CofC, though I won’t be attending in the fall. I’m attending a school that offers a 6-year DPT program. I applied to schools with good pre-physical therapy programs just in case I wasn’t offered a freshman direct entry from the 6-year programs I applied to. That’s when I found CofC. Just like scmom12 states, it has a very good pre-PT program along with other pre-med programs. The honors college was fantastic and can really help with clinical internships.</p>
<p>The school itself is one of the most unique I’ve visited - beautiful and a great city!!!
Hope this info helps.</p>
<p>erp1821 - my daughter as an appointment with the Asst. director of the Honors College. She was very friendly and helpful on the phone and my daughter is really looking forward to the meeting. She was also able to line up a meeting with a faculty member from the Arts Management program - which is what piqued her interest in the first place.
I will certainly post our experiences here once we return.</p>
<p>Also - your information regarding the pre-PT program was interesting because I have a very close friend who’s daughter is looking primarily in the Southeast for a PT program. I’ll pass along your thoughts to her!</p>
<p>momsneedsguidance - good luck visiting. I found everyone at CofC very accomodating and sincere. I sat in on a chemistry class which was great to experience how the professors interact with the students. </p>
<p>Small world – my cousin is looking at the Arts Management program at CofC, too. He will be a transfer student from NJ. He told me it’s rare to find this curriculum. I actually visited the school with my cousin in November and saw some of the art studios. The Art students were really nice and didn’t mind us looking at the projects they were working on – they answered a lot of questions that my cousin had. My cousin loves the college and was accepted - he hasn’t made a decision yet.</p>
<p>As for PT programs in Southeast - there are no freshman entry level 6-year DPT programs. Many PT graduate programs, but non that have the 6-year Doctorate program that I wanted. I’m from Florida, so I really investigated. The best advice I can give you to pass along to your friend is to get on the American Physical Therapy Association website and get a listing of schools. There’s approximately 34 colleges that offer the 6-year DPT program and just over 200 PT schools in the US. It’s becoming a popular major so it’s very competitive applying to PT schools after 4 years of undergrad – most schools want 3.5 GPA just to apply and there are limited seats within each college. So I was advised to find a 6-year entry level because it’s a bit easier to get into. Many students do not know for sure that they want to pursue this career at 17/18 years old so less apply at this time. I am 99.9%, so I took many math and sciences in high school and shadowed three different PT’s in various settings. It’s still a selective process at the undergrad level because they only have a certain # of openings - but I think at the undergrad level they are looking, not only, for strong academics, but also those who have really explored this career and have a strong possibility of staying in the program. Just to give you a little idea of getting into the undergrad 6-year program at Marquette - 1050 students applied for 62 openings. So it is competitive – but from what I’m told the number of students applying for the 30 seats that are available in most of the graduate programs are like 6,000 and growing. Crazy!! While at the PT info session I sat in at while visiting Marquette, one boy asked how many seats were available if he chose to go to UW - Madison then apply to Marquette for PT after graduation. He was told that normally they lose 6-7 students by the end of their third year. At this time they offer 10 spots to Marquette students that didn’t originally make the program, but have taken the prerequisites to apply into the 6-year program after their 3rd year. That only leaves 3 spots left for anyone applying the following year after graduation from outside the school. Really crazy!! Hearing this with my own ears I definitely think I made the right decision to apply now and not wait.</p>
<p>Hope this info helps both you and your friend.</p>
