<p>I need to send in my daughter's deposit to hold her place in the freshman class and her housing deposit. My daughter is interested in applying to live in Capstone, Columbia Hall, or South Tower. She will not be an honors student or capstone scholar. She will be majoring in physical therapy. Any insight on her choices would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>As far as I know, Capstone is limited to Capstone Scholars and Honors College only. Columbia is right next door to Capstone,so if you like the location that would be a good choice..I think the interiors of the buildings are pretty similar.Sorr, can't help you with info on South Tower.
I do know kids dont like McBryde's layout. Lots of girls who dont mind all female housing like living at Patterson.
There are some special interest housing options available..has she looked into those?</p>
<p>Sorry,my reply got cutt off for some reason
Columbia would give your D the suite style bathroom shared by 2 rooms,other halls would be hall bathrooms shared by the floor.
i tok a quick look at the "learning communities",there doesnt seem to fit one with your D's major but she could look into Preston if she wants a more residential college feel.</p>
<p>Thanks cathymee...I'll tell her to look at the special interest housing options. I kinda thought Capstone was for scholars and honors too. She definitely liked the suite style over the hall bathroom. But South tower is more centrally located, and that is the dorm I stayed in as a freshman almost 20 years ago. I hope some renovations have occured since then, although I loved it.</p>
<p>bearbear
if you were there 20 years ago then you know about the "honeycomb "dorms..they started knocking down the last two this past week! heres video of it somewhere on the website of the State ..thestate.com ...Columbia newspaper (not the college newspaper)</p>
<p>cathymee, my husband asked me if I wanted to go and get a piece of the honeycombs, but I declined. If it had been South Tower or Bates West, I would have definitely been there. I know alot of people were sad to see them go. I'm sure the new project (honors housing, I think) will be great. The campus has changed so much. It looks so much nicer. Daughter is so excited about the wellness center.</p>
<p>We are from the north east, and my daughter is having trouble deciding between USC and a few other schools closer to home. If she chooses USC, she won't be able to come home every break, so which freshman dorms remain open during, say Thanksgiving, etc?</p>
<p>Also, my daughter truly wants to join a sorority. I know people have different views, but my son is in a frat at a major frat university up north, and it is great for him (albeit alot of pain for us parents).</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me their opinions on how accepting sororities are of non blondes from the north? I may also post this under its own topic.</p>
<p>But, I really need help with the freshman dorm thing.</p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Hi Mom with questions -
My daughter is from Pennsylvania and pledged a sorority at USC this fall. She absolutely loved Rush - getting to meet so many great girls so quickly and all of the excitement and activity. She was invited back to many sororities after the first few rounds, so I would say they did not discriminate based on her geographical data. LOL She ended up with a group of girls that she really enjoys being around and that she can truly be herself around.
The southern schools are very different than the NE schools as far as the sororities go, I will say. At USC they are larger ( about 150 girls each I believe) and the whole process is a lot more formal than what I have heard for North East schools. Start shopping for dresses because they wear dresses a lot! ( My daughter was usually in sweatpants or jeans in HS) LOL
Anyway, she loves the activities, volunteer opportunities, group library study, food plan , etc. A lot of the stereo types that get passed around about sororities have been proven false for her and it has been a positive experience for her. </p>
<p>Re: housing for bearbear- I know a few girls that chose Patterson and love it. Good luck!</p>
<p>PA Mom, I'll have her look at Patterson again. A lot has changed in 20 years but it sounds like sorority rush remained the same. USC is a large school and coming from N.C., (pot luck on roomate) I found joining a sorority was one of the best choices I made.<br>
Momwithquestions, according to the housing website under the FAQ section it states that Bates House and upperclass apartments stay open during all the breaks.</p>
<p>But if a sorority is so large, do they all live in the house??????????. And, you know those houses are drop dead gorgeous. I almost felt like I was on a back lot at Disney or something, they looked so unreal.</p>
<p>Also, I am thinking about flying down for a day or so........but I haven't heard of anything formal for admitted students (I called yesterday)...I remember when my son was admitted to his schools they had dedicated days and planned activities for admitted students (although I do need to say that the schools in question were like in the top 15 in the country....so maybe I am just used to something different).</p>
<p>Oh..........I need to go to the website and find the SC map, so I can locate Bates house.........(but south side of campus sounds ominious)....I am looking at the housing catelog they mailed her.</p>
<p>momwithquestions just taking a guess... I don't think they all live in the houses. South Tower used to have floors for each sorority, and I think they still do. Funny you should bring up the hair thing. I was one of maybe 20 blonds in my sorority. I remember 1 sorority that had almost all blonds and another that had almost all brunettes, but the rest seemed to be a mixture. Also, I never remembered geographic locations being a pro or con for being invited to join.</p>
<p>Bates house seems far away, but I lived directly beside it (by choice) my junior and senior year. It really isn't that bad of a walk and there are buses. My D has a guy friend who lives at Bates House and he loves it. Something always going on.</p>
<p>I just found the map and bates does seem far away.</p>
<p>Let me put it this way. My daughter is very friendly and outgoing once you get to know her, but before that, she can appear aloof and distant........which actually is a mask for her insecurities (and I think she is a funny, pretty girl, but she insecure).</p>
<p>Which housing option do you think would be good for her. We are looking for somewhere she will be in a position for people to come to her first. She is not going to take the first step. (I have another child like that too, that's why the frat scene for him was a the best thing for him). and the third child is extremely outgoing).</p>
<p>Mom
we live in NY , and I have I have a freshman S.
They get a fall break(4 days), and he went "home" with a new friend from Greenville,along with 2 others from OOS.
He came home for Thanksgiving, if you plan in advance you can fly at a fair price.He easily could have gone home with others at that time,he had many invites.
Christmas flights were definitely more reasonable,b/c of the time frame in which they can fly back and forth.He actually has a friend who drove home for Christmas b/c she wanted to have her car for the month and he could have gotten a ride/shared gas costs.We know at least one other girl who did this as well(lives outside of Philly).
Theres really no other break in the Spring besides Spring break,and then the end of the semester,when you only need a one way fare (US AIrways allows this).Many kids dont come home for Spring break, they go elsewhere..beach,etc.</p>
<p>I think that about 30 girls live in the house - the rest just have their meals there or hang out in the common areas. My daughter is in Capstone this year and will probably move to south campus next year to be closer to sorority house and classes in her major.
I think that Patterson is a good choice for most freshman because it is a freshman center so you have opportunities to meet a lot of people. We didn't find any of the freshman dorms particularly beautiful when we toured, but I think that is part of the college experience , too. If they had luxurious surroundings it wouldn't be the same LOL
Good luck!</p>
<p>cathymee or PA Mom do either of you know if all the dorms have a laundry room? I know South Tower does, and it is mentioned in the description. Bates West also had a laundry room, but it is not mentioned in the description.</p>
<p>To all of you. Thanks so much for all of your replies in this post and in others regarding USC. The clock is now ticking on her decision (although I wish UDel would hurry up and send out letters).</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I would think that they all have laundry facilities! (I hope so...we don't want to make it any more difficult for them to do their laundry LOL )
In Capstone I know the machines will let you swipe your Carolina Card so you don't have to worry about having change for the machines. One less excuse not to wash those sheets and towels, etc. LOL</p>
<p>Thanks PA Mom, I agree on not wanting any excuses!!! We only live about 25 minutes from the campus, an I don't want D to use laundry as an excuse for coming home often. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see her, but I think this is her time to enjoy all that college offers.</p>