<p>I'm being honest, the most important part of my college search is finding a place where I'll enjoy my college experience. I value the college experience over the actual academics. You only get one, so might as well make the most of it. USC has a beautiful campus, the people there all seem to come from really wealthy families and dress nice, and the greek system is big. They also have the big sports atmosphere. </p>
<p>The one thing I'm not sure about -- what is their academic reputation? Just out of curiosity. I know they accept 60% of applications, which is low relative to other state colleges.</p>
<p>What is its reputation as an academic school? Is a degree from there respected? </p>
<p>1) USC = University of Southern California, not South Carolina;</p>
<p>2) Kids at South Carolina do NOT come from wealthy families. You’ll realize this very quickly. Maybe wealthy for a southern state;</p>
<p>3) South Carolina hasn’t won a national championship in football or basketball in decades;</p>
<p>4) South Carolina has a horrible academic reputation, ranking outside of even the top 100 by US News. The degree is “respected” but it isn’t anything to write home about.</p>
<p>All of that being said, South Carolina is a fine choice if you can’t get into any better schools. Particularly one that isn’t such a supporter of slavery and racism.</p>
<p>@informative You’re wrong. Have you seen how they dress down there? Brooks Brothers, J Crew, Southern Proper. The greek kids all drive SUV’s and the university itself is thriving with wealth. You clearly have never been there. There are some kids that aren’t wealthy, but given the tuition, the cars I saw, and how they dress, many come from very wealthy families…</p>
<p>The south is not nearly as poor as some people think it is. There are wealthy parts and poor parts.</p>
<p>@informative Furthermore, how can it have a ‘horrible’ reputation when the business school is ranked Top 5 in the nation and their acceptance rate is just 60% </p>
<p>Informative usually isn’t.</p>
<p>I’m sure South Carolina is well respected within the state. It’s probably well respected in the surrounding states as well, but the further you get from South Carolina, the more it will look like just any other state flagship without a national reputation.</p>
<p>Please ignore informative.</p>
<p>Academics at USC is fine. US News has it on par with schools like University of Oregon, University of California-Riverside, University of Arizona and University of Kentucky. It also has several well respected programs, and what may be the best Honors college/program in the nation. </p>
<p>Only 13% of men are in fraternities, while 28% of women are in a sorority. </p>
<p>About 20% of the students get Pell grants, so the student body is economically diverse, but as with any state flagship universities, plenty of “old and new” money attend the school.</p>
<p>Being a flagship university, an USC degree is well respected in its region (the southeast), but less so outside of the region. If you plan on staying in the southeast, I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 I’m not saying he’s wrong about the reputation academically. I’m saying there are a lot of filthy rich kids down there. I’m not saying it’s all of them, but most come from upper-middle class families (even by northern standards).</p>
<p>Er, it is entirely not unusual for everyone residing south of Greensboro and north of Augusta to occasionally mean “U of South Carolina” when they say ‘USC.’</p>
<p>On a more serious note, Carolina (as a lot of Palmetto State folks call it) has some very attractive undergraduate programs, international business among them. Biological Sciences, such as Marine Science, isn’t bad either. And yes, life at Carolina can be a big party, but the administration and the local constables in downtown Columbia, SC are keen to reign in kids who overdo it.</p>
<p>@Gator88NE Thank You! Most reviews I’ve read rank USC pretty highly. </p>
<p>OP, is this like the drunkard’s regrets on the morning after: “Maybe I should have stopped at the fourth bar on the block”? You want a party school and USCarolina is a very good one. You can, however, like the drunk above, choose not to party as hard and long as you had planned to and take a more temperate approach to the good times. That is to say, it ain’t the bars along the way but the person taking the walk. Do you think you couldn’t party your way out of the most prestigious colleges? I’m sure you can get a fine education at USCarolina if you want. It’s all about YOU, dude, not the school you go to. Set goals, achieve them, set higher goals the next year, and all the partying will fall into place. And bring condoms wherever you go.</p>
<p>I hate all of the snobs on this board that feel a need to belittle any institution that isn’t either Ivy League or borderline ivy league in terms of academics. There are many quality schools outside of the ‘elite’ group if you open your mind. Personally, I’d rather attend a school with a good social life combined with strong academics and not just a place with stuck up academic snobs who view anyone who scored under 30 on their ACT as stupid.</p>
<p>Let me just add that Informative is showing a clear anti-Southern bias, which is fine if he/she wants to believe that. But, people in the South who know about the school and the programs would know that it is not true. Also, he/she showed to know nothing about the school with the comment about sports (South Carolina finished #4 in the country in football this year).</p>
<p>For the record, University of Oregon and University of Arizona have acceptance rates around 75%. South Carolina is about 60% (in 2013). They are much, much more selective than these schools.</p>
<p>One other thing to note, South Carolina has one of the top five ranked fitness centers in the country. If you google it, you’ll see some pretty amazing photos. They’re also one of the most fit campuses in the country, with very low obesity rates and rate of students who work out. It is very much a fitness driven school.</p>
<p>LOL…not everything (academics) is based on how selective a school is…it’s possible for one school to have a higher acceptance rate (“selectivity”), than another, but also to have admitted students who have higher average SAT/ACT/GPA’s scores. Don’t get to caught up in selectivity.</p>
<p>Fair enough. It is, however, a decent indicator. </p>
<p>Homework Time!</p>
<p>Compare USC (63% acceptance rate)</p>
<p><a href=“College Navigator - University of South Carolina-Columbia”>College Navigator - University of South Carolina-Columbia;
<p>to FIU, a large Florida public university (40% acceptance rate)</p>
<p><a href=“College Navigator - Florida International University”>College Navigator - Florida International University;
<p>Review the test score ranges, retention and graduation rates at both schools.</p>
<p>In much of the South, “USC” means University of South Carolina. In South Carolina alone “Carolina” means USC. In the rest of the country “Carolina” is UNC – which, by the way, is what people around here say rather than UNC-Chapel Hill. Whew!</p>
<p>The top academic schools in South Carolina are usually considered to be Furman and Clemson. USC, though, has made tremendous strides recently, and the honors college is well-respected. Where do you want to work? If in the Southeast you’d be fine, unless you were to be interviewed by a Clemson graduate. :)</p>
<p>I’d rank it lower than UF and Georgia, but higher than Ole Miss and LSU. </p>