<p>The link to sign up for freshman orientation is up and ready. Looks like it's a full 2-days this year (last year it was 1 day) but sounds like they have some fun stuff planned along with it. The students will stay the night on campus and that's an option for parents too but I opt for a hotel :) . </p>
<p>For those who have never been to campus or have hotel questions, we like 'The Inn at USC' which is nearly across the street from Columbia and Capstone dorms or Marriott on Assembly St. that is somewhat behind the Honors dorm and a bit closer to central campus. Either way, both are very easy walking distance. Else, there's the Clarion on Gervais- just a bit further but also walking distance- it's closer to the Columbia /Capstone side of campus. </p>
<p>Also, if you consider the Vista walkable from campus (which students do) look at Hampton Inn on Gervais St or Hilton next to convention center. Pretty easy walk to Koger center (if they still start there on orientation day) depending on the heat. Both definitely walkable to good restaurants in the evening and minutes to campus by car. </p>
<p>I was just up there this week-end visiting my Sophomore son, and many times the past two years…the Marriott Courtyard on Assembly is perfectly located within walking distance to campus, but lately the rates have been high and the train wakes you up at night. I’ve stayed at the Staybridge suites on Huger as well, free buffet breakfast and it actually offers a kitchen and is very close. Best hotel for the rate is Hyatt Place in Irmo (a Columbia suburb), also has a free hot breakfast, but it’s a few exits and maybe 15-20 from campus…very nice if you want to save a little but still stay at a decent hotel.</p>
<p>The only thing I would warn you about staying out in Harbison/Irmo area is that if you are going from Columbia out to that area on Friday afternoon (if you get into Columbia on Friday and are in town exploring), outward boundtraffic is at standstill from about 4-6 pm. Obviously not an issue on Saturday.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Harbison for Admitted Student Day and they gave us a special Carolina rate. Staff was fantastic and I think the shower in our room was probably the strongest and hottest I’ve had anywhere. There is also a free breakfast there–nothing great but certainly sufficient to start your day. We drove down from the NYC area for that visit, but are planning to fly to orientation and want to avoid renting a car if at all possible. Does anyone know if the nearby hotels offer a shuttle to campus, or if there is a shuttle from the Columbia airport? If not, I think I remember seeing lots of taxis around? </p>
<p>We use Capitol City Cab to and from the airport and we have stayed at the Inn at USC, the Hampton Inn on Gervais St. and the Spring Hill Suites in the Vista. We have found that each of these hotels were great and within walking distance of the school (and lots of restaurants, things to do, etc.)…staying at the Inn at USC for orientation June 16-17! </p>
<p>We’re staying at the Marriott on Assembly for daughter’s orientation on June 16-17, also within walking distance and a straight shot up the hill to the Vista too. Agree with StoneMagic that sometimes the Marriott is pricey- it really fluctuates depending on the event but for this visit, it was $99 for that Sun., June 15 and $119 for that Mon., June 16th. It doesn’t have the free breakfast though. The Inn at USC has free breakfast but it’s hard to get a room there- you really have to reserve in advance. In fact, I think it’s booked up for that June 16-17 orientation now. We actually have a room there coming up the first weekend in May to move most of my son’s stuff out of the dorm. </p>
<p>We are going to the June 25-26 orientation. Wanted to wait until after HS graduation and our town’s big Post-Grad party before moving on to college! Is there a schedule posted anywhere for orientation? Not sure what time it’s safe to book our flight home on Thursday afternoon/evening. I, unfortunately, have to be at work on Friday. </p>
<p>@mizkittysplace - I called about the orientation schedule b/c last year it was only 1 day and I was told they are doing things differently this year and it is in fact, 2 full days- literally starting about 8 AM to about 5 PM. </p>
<p>Here’s an excerpt from the email confirmation I received after signing up:</p>
<p>The details
Check-in for New Student Orientation will take place from 7:30-8:30am at Patterson Hall. Patterson Hall is directly across the street from the Bull Street Garage. For other important locations during New Student Orientation make sure to visit our Directions page. New Student Orientation will last until approximately 5:00pm on Day 2, so please plan accordingly.</p>
<p>Thanks, @coleman4–that was very kind of you! Booked our trip last night–got into the Inn At USC and our flight out on Day 2 is at 6:30PM. Next flight was much later and wouldn’t get us home until 2:00 AM plus an hour drive home from the airport. We may have to cut out a little bit early, or have a taxi waiting for us right at 5:00. I tried booking the Inn for Parents’ Weekend in September while I was at it… nothing available. Wonder if it’s already truly sold out, or if they have blocked rooms until a release date to give everyone a fair chance?</p>
<p>That’s great! If you haven’t stayed there before (Inn at USC), you’ll really like it. It’s very quaint and can’t beat the location on campus. If you let them know you’re there visiting the campus, I believe they’ll give you a discount. </p>
<p>Re: Parent weekend, unfortunately it’s probably already booked… you can wait for the Inn but you may risk having to get something farther out or more expensive. The Marriott on Assembly is outrageous that weekend already! I booked at Staybridge Suites on Huger (for Parent Weekend). It’s only a couple miles from the school- so not quite walking distance but very close…and it is very nice! Free breakfast too. We stayed at the Clarion on Gervais for this past Parent weekend and it’s walking distance as well and reasonable price but I wasn’t crazy about it. It was dated and smelled musty. I travel a lot of work so I’m a bit picky about hotels. </p>
<p>Booked the orientation itinerary through Priceline so I’m not sure about an additional discount, but I have learned to always ask upon check-in if I’m getting the best rate. When we did our “southern loop” of college tours last year, we stayed exclusively at Holiday Inn Express (except for the Inn at USC, which is lovely) and had good, consistent experiences there. Staybridge Suites is part of IHG, too, so I will look into them for Parents Weekend. I will have to look, but don’t think I have enough Marriott points to cover a stay on Assembly. Hubby travels extensively for work, but they move him around so much that he doesn’t amass a lot of points in one program. Thanks for the tip about Staybridge–I’m fussy too! </p>
<p>Edited to add: Just checked Staybridge and it is sold out for Parents’ Weekend already, too–Yikes, I better get on that! </p>
<p>formerly bandgy (had to make a new account) S has decided to attend USC honors with Coopers Scholarship. He made his final visit to UNC and USC and came home with a decision at last! He was told by the Honors college that an advisor would help him sign up for his classes online prior to attending orientation and that it does not matter when he signs up for the 2 day orientation. I have read on this site that it is important to attend orientation as early as possible. Why would this matter if they have the Honors students sign up for their classes ahead of time? Any thoughts? </p>
<p>@VinMic2 - My daughter chose USC honors over UNC as well. I’m curious what swayed his opinion between UNC and USC? </p>
<p>Re: an advisor contacting you to sign up for classes before orientation …We heard the same thing at USC Admitted Students day. I think the ‘early as possibly’ applies if you’re not in the honors college- to ensure you get the classes and class times you want. That was the case with my son last year (currently a freshman not in the honors college). I wonder when they contact you though? My daughter was asking that yesterday- and I’m not sure … so if anyone can shed some light on that. Her orientation is the first session so the advisor would have to contact her May-beg. of June timeframe. </p>
<p>They may have changed the Honors College class registration process this year. Last year, my son met with his Honors College advisor and registered for classes at orientation. In addition, since he had a lot of AP credits, he ended up only taking one 100 level class and so it helped to sign up early for the higher level classes.</p>
<p>Last of all, my son ended up placing in a higher level for Spanish than was expected and had to revise his schedule after orientation to make the higher level Spanish class work.</p>
<p>I recommend following up with the Honors College to see when classes would be scheduled with your advisor.</p>
<p>^^Agree that this a change from the past so your best option is to call Honors with specific questions. Just be sure that they mean you are registering for all classes early, not just honors. Depending on your major you could have one or two honors classes or 4 out of 5 (my D her freshman semester). Just remember you still may have to tweek classes throughout summer. D didn’t get in honors section of math at orientation, but the dept. later added seats to the sections and she ultimately did get in honors section later in summer. Also, you might have to adjust based on AP results or language placement (as atlkaw pointed out).</p>
<p>This is a great change and big advantage for honors to get those classes taken care of early in summer and would definitely take the stress out of getting to orientation early in summer.</p>
<p>Just FYI, graduation is May 9/10 so if advisors are tied up then contact may happen after that.</p>
<p>ok to answer some of your questions I asked my S because I didnt go for the final visits. @coleman 4… S decided on USC because he felt like a small fish in a big pond at UNC. He really loves the UNC campus but ultimately he said that he felt like they didn’t care if he attended the school or not and that even though they accept many students who start out as premed majors many drop out of the premed program (according to UNC’s presentation) Overall the feel was that UNC was a large school and that he would be navigating through the system will little help. When he met with the USC honors college they courted him and made him feel special. He learned that he would have 2 advisors and they claim that 80% of the honors premed students have gotten into their first choice med school. Touring the Honors dorm didn’t hurt either. He really liked how new they were and the cafeteria inside the building. The only thing he was worried about was that there were no running trails at USC and that it was more urban than UNC. I think he felt a little less safe at USC but other than that their presentation was far superior. As far as the orientation…they told him that an advisor would contact him after May 1 and that all of his classes honors and non honors would be scheduled prior to orientation. He would have to guess his AP scores and classes would be scheduled based on his predicted scores. They said it would be an ongoing process with the advisor. I don’t think he will take a language his first semester so we are not too concerned about the test. I sure hope this honors program is as good as it sounds because it is one heck of a bargain!</p>
<p>@ VinMic2 - Those reasons are many of the same for my D (why USC over UNC). My husband is UNC alumni so he was pushing but she didn’t get into UNC’s honors program and their LLC’s weren’t appealing to her interests. So nothing to really ‘stand out’ there for her as opposed to USC. Also, her major- Biomedical engineering- that’s the only engineering program at UNC, and it’s not even accredited. That said, she could have chosen NC State- she got into their scholars program and they clearly have the engineering but it’s very competitive with only 25% advancing to the upper level because they take so few for biomedical engineering and that’s 20 minutes from home and she wanted to go “away to college.” Plus my son is a freshman at USC now so she’ll be there with him. As you said, the scholarship $ doesn’t hurt either!! Good luck to him. </p>
<p>Nice avatar… That is a great indication of a fun parental alter ego / character!! </p>
<p>Hope all is well. DS is looking fwd. to getting down there in June. Like minds, he also got into UNC but he really likes USC. He was also accepted to our in state school (UCONN) but three things: he did not like it - they do not have NROTC & too close to home. </p>
<p>Hi to all. Our daughter, our last child out of three, is attending USC. From the moment we visited, she knew it was where she wanted to be, in spite of being accepted at other SEC schools. She is also excited because she is the only one from her high school attending. As much as she loves her friends, she wanted to do her own thing. (And they are excited about visiting her at a school they haven’t been to before; most are going to UGA, Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss). Daughter was accepted in December, so I immediately began booking hotels for whatever event I knew we needed, or thought we might attend. We stayed at the Inn at USC in July when we first visited the school, then again last October for Senior Day, so that was where I wanted to get reservations. I was lucky enough to get The Inn for every event except two. We will be staying there for Orientation June 15-17 (and her language placement test is at 5:30), so may see some of you there! We are also staying there for move-in day for rush, and I will stay there again on the Saturday night before Bid Day (assuming successful results). We also have the Inn for the East Carolina game and the Furman game. I couldn’t get it for Parent’s Day/Missouri game, nor for the UGA game, so we are staying at the Columbia Marriott on those two dates. We are out-of-state, and are so impressed with USC. (Well, not too impressed with the recent housing change/LLC rigamarole, but we’re dealing.) She has found a roommate on the Facebook page who is also interested in getting involved in YoungLife, and we made sure to get the earliest Orientation possible. We have paid every fee and turned in immunization, Citizenship Verification, etc, so, I think we’re good to go. I haven’t posted much, but have gotten so much info on this forum. Thank you, especially, to those who gave advice about the language placement test. And, BTW, my daughter informed me last night that Patterson, her first choice, is going co-ed. Don’t know if that’s a fact or not. But she kinda liked the idea. Me, not so much! </p>
There is also a free breakfast there–nothing great but certainly sufficient to start your day. We drove down from the NYC area for that visit, but are planning to fly to orientation and want to avoid renting a car if at all possible. Does anyone know if the nearby hotels offer a shuttle to campus, or if there is a shuttle from the Columbia airport? If not, I think I remember seeing lots of taxis around? </p>