My son has been accepted to a number of colleges but is narrowing the decision down and remains very interested in U-South Carolina. He is certain that he wants to major in economics. His other viable (and ~ affordable) options include some ranked business schools(and ranking only means so much) such as Indiana - Kelley, Ohio State - Fisher and Miami U - Farmer. He is attracted to U-SC for the southern culture and climate - very different than his home just outside of Boston MA. My question is… for economics, is the Darla Moore school a good choice? Are the students happy there and do they get good jobs coming out? Is anyone aware of placement statistics for the Moore school?
Does he want to be a business major? Looks like you can be a business major in economics or be an econ major in college of arts and sciences (more math based it seems). Might want to ask about both in terms of jobs coming out.
This is great. I congratulate your son on setting his priorities. Many incoming freshmen focus specifically on schools that are strong in their particular major. From our orientations we discovered that on average students change majors between 3 and 5 times before graduation! Just about every student we talked with had changed majors at least once and one graduating senior had changed 7 times. I have always recommended students choose based on where they felt comfortable and the weather, and also if or when the student changes major, is the school large enough to have a program in the desired field of study after the student changes major. USC made a strong showing in all these factors, but would strongly recommend your son get a feel for the school through a visit. My D is first year and has been extremely happy with her experience and Darla Moore. Her favorite professors have been in economics. Of course, YMMV. This page has placement statistics: http://moore.sc.edu/careermanagement/foremployers/employmentstatistics/undergraduateemploymenttrends.aspx
Gora14, Thank you so much for the information and the link. Based on the information on the career placement page I am much more comfortable if he chooses U-SC. We are planning to visit over the school vacation week of Feb 20th but it will be only a regular tour, including the Darla Moore school. We were invited to a scholars reception and admitted students day in March but it really doesn’t fit our schedule very well. would be comfortable. Based on your experience, is there anything in particular that we should seek out when there?
Once again, thanks very much for your advice and the link.
It is too bad you cannot make it for one of the admitted student days. Last year, we went to the one in January and that basically made up her mind. Most importantly, everyone is easily accessible to answer any questions. That said, your son can get a good feel for the campus and school will be in session. As you can probably guess, my approach to selecting universities is different from most as my priority is finding a fit via student comfort. My view is that if your son is comfortable and feels good, he will have higher chance to finding success. In addition to visiting the campus, I recommend walking downtown and to Five Points to get a feel for the surrounding area. You might also plan a trip to Lake Murray nearby as that is a place students go to relax. Also, the BBQ in that region has a mustard base that is unique (German immigrants in this region). You can get a sample of this, for instance, at Maurice’s, but there are other BBQ places that offer more modern-style BBQ. The Palmetto Pig is somewhat of an institution. We stayed at the Marriott downtown and walked into campus. On Saturday mornings they have the Soda City Market on Main Street that’ll give you a feel for local offerings.
We couldn’t visit during Accepted Student Days either due to scheduling conflicts, but a normal visit (tour of campus, tour of B school, etc.) was enough to seal the deal for my D. A visit in February should be fine.
My D is an Econ (B school) major–actually Int’l Business and Econ (IB majors must choose a second business major). If your son takes and does well in the AP Econ tests, he can skip right into intermediate level courses, which is nice because he will have some flexibility in taking electives that interest him. She is really enjoying the upper level classes (much smaller than the big intro Finance and Marketing classes). One note: the earlier the class, the smaller it will likely be (makes sense when you think about college students’ schedule preferences).
Since you will be staying overnight, I suggest spending some time off campus: Five Points, which @gora14 mentioned, as well as the Vista (a little more upscale; my kid goes to Five Points with her friends, and the Vista is for special occasions or when someone’s parents come to visit and take them all out). Walk through the State House grounds and note the stars on the building that mark where cannonballs hit during the Civil War. Much less history than Boston, of course, but really interesting, attractive and accessible.
If there is any other department than Econ that your son might be interested in, ask for a meeting/tour. My D settled on Business while we were there, but she also spent a couple of hours in another Dept (which was helpful because although the students and administrator she met with were very enthusiastic and engaged, she realized it wasn’t the right fit for her).
I hope you have a wonderful time. The setting is really delightful, especially for a kid from up north. We are in the Phila suburbs, my D’s roommate is from CT, and a couple of her closest friends are from VA and MD, so OOS students will feel most welcome.
We visited last week and liked the campus, the DM school and the location a lot. Will just heard that he did not get honors but he also learned that he did get Capstone, which we are very happy about. The tour was excellent and very informative. One thing that we learned and we happy about were the outcomes at the DM school - 78% of DM students have at least 1 job offer before they graduate and an additional 17% within the first 3 months post graduation. The DM school has it’s own Career Management Office right in the school for business students only. He also liked the student life - they have movies in the student union every Fri and Sat night as well as specific dorm activities. The dorms ranged for outstanding to OK… the lower end seem on par with some we have seen elsewhere. They do have some great off campus options at 650 Lincoln for later years. We visited 5 points…student bars and cheap food but close to campus and walkable. We ate there (Southern Belly… great BBQ sandwiches).
The DM school is a beautiful, modern building located a short walk from the main campus, on top of a hill in a business district. Nice way to acclimate to working in a city/office environment.
He is now considering U-SC as his top choice… we also visited Miami U last week - it was beautiful, dorms were at the low end (Honors-anyway) and off campus options seem limited and tired (stark contrast w U-SC). Location is remote… 30 miles of back roads to get there and cute but small town.