Furman Class of 2023

Did you have to sign for it? FedEx delivered a box I was waiting for but knocked on my door which they don’t usually do. Usually they just leave stuff and walk away.

No, we did not have to sign for it. FedEx left envelope on front porch. It appears to have been sent out on Monday for Tues delivery.

@WildcatM Congrats to your family! Which weekend is the scholars weekend? I can’t seem to find info on the website.

@abfranklin Thank you for the well wishes. D is very excited as this is her 1st choice. Scholars weekend is Sunday March 17th and Monday March 18th. Any past award winners out there?? We would love to hear your experience in this interview process.

Yes! Congrats! Hoping we get a nice offer from UofSC and can negotiate for more music scholarship funds. Still have that other $27,000 to cover. ?

Are the Charles Towns letters received outside SC yet?

We are OOS and FedEx letter came on Tuesday morning.

@Freebie73 I got my Duke invitation WITH my “Imagine furman” folder

My son was accepted with the EA wave and received a Bell Tower scholarship. Definitely helps, but of course we always hope for more. My wife, son and I will be attending the Admitted Student day, at the end of next week, so we are hoping the visit will help him move closer to his final decision. We are down to the final four (we started with 8) and Furman is still in the mix.

Looks like we are now leaning heavily towards UofSC. Even with a $25,000 bell tower, $5000 music and the Palmetto fellows scholarships UofSC is cheaper and offers more in the music major dept. But we have not committed to anyone yet so we shall see.

My son was not impressed by the stickers Furman sent in the mail. ? He’s a practical guy and not all into the school spirit thing.

I am currently a rising junior at Furman and I would recommend you attend Accepted Students Day in the coming weeks. However, I do want to be upfront with you all, as when I was a high school senior, no one was straightforward with me.

1: Furman is SMALL, if you come from a large school it will be okay at first, but come the second semester and especially your sophomore year, it is painfully small and you notice the downfalls furman has compared to the universities you were looking at or see your close friends attending.

2: Housing and dining are subpar, although the food is great and the buildings look great from the outside they are lack luster and less than enthralling even after 1 semester.

3: Furman will tell you any, and everything you want to hear if it means adding another number to the mix. The school is trying to expand the “Furman Advantage” approach, which may I add it significantly hurting some populations of students on campus, thus we want more numbers and are lowering the standards to get them.

4: If you want school spirit or the typical college experience DO NOT come here. I am in no way bitter about my own experience at Furman. I have a social life, friends, I am in the top ranked greek organization, am on the dean’s list—in short, my life here is seemingly good. But it is very hard being surrounded by a community that is disappointing and feels nothing like college besides the work.

5: The workload is insane. I graduated very high from my high school class of 750+ and Furman classes killed me (especially the sciences). My advice to you is to take all easy classes such as wellness and GER requirements your fist semester to build a good foundation for your GPA, and never take a difficult class in the spring. The spring is longer and professors usually test more in the second semester and are much stricter.

6: Don’t pick Furman because of things you like, pick it because you KNOW it is better than any of your other options, because looking back I picked because of all of the dazzle of Accepted Students Day and the persistent communication and as soon as I started in the Fall, that curtain fell and reality was a slap in the face.

Best of luck to all of you–parents & students

@inquiry101 can I ask where you are from? My daughter has mixed feelings about Furman and has been accepted to other schools like Conneticut College, Muhlenberg College, Elon University, and Bryant University. She has been accepted to others as well but these are the only other ones in the running besides Furman. She has heard that the social scene at Furman can be kind of dull. Greenville is a great town but not sure what there is to do around the Furman U scene? She is a dedicated student and not a party animal BUT also wants the option to be able to cut loose if she wants to. Got any thoughts on the social scene? We are from the Boston area.

@OFF2COLLEGE2 of course! I am from Houston, so definitely a bit larger than Boston but I am in no means the stereotypical “big city type”. I wanted to attend a suburban university, as I don’t think I would do well in a strictly urban campus environment. That said, your daughter seems to be pretty on point regarding the social scene and ability to do things around campus. Party Scene: on a typical weekend there will be 1-3 fraternity events, sometimes date functions (meaning a brother directly invites one person) and sometimes open functions to anyone–however parties get capped at Furman–meaning, once a certain number of people get there, no one else is allowed in. You are required to sign in and out on a piece of paper, and get either a wristband or X’s on your hands at every single event–even though no alcohol is served at these parties. The fraternity houses are off campus meaning you must Uber or have a friend drive you (not the safest option in my opinion). Other than those, there is nothing on campus except individual student pregames that will be invite only and usually friends of the host, however, these can be risky especially if under 21 as if FUPO (the campus police) come, everyone will get an alcohol violation, pay a fine, be sent to the student conduct board and be forced to call their parent/guardian. There is also “the Barn” which is a local bar that is 18+ that some go to on T/Thu, but this trend dramatically decreases after freshman year. Lastly, in terms of partying, is downtown, however Greenville bars are all 21+, which means you must be of age or have a fake ID. Around campus: it is honestly disappointing that we do not have much to do, it is definitely not your typical college town or even college-influenced area. Directly around campus is sketchy to be honest, you have Walmart & Chick Fil A immediately in one direction with a few food places in TR, and you have food places, Lowes, TJMaxx & Old Navy directly to the other side of campus. There is literally nothing “fun” to do for the day or a couple hours close to campus, you can go to the mall (25 min away), go downtown, which does get old (20 min away), walk on the trail behind campus, or go to bald rock (10 min). Other than that we have nothing unless you cross the state line into Asheville or go south towards Clemson, USC or Charleston. It it really up to what your daughter wants, but I myself am very academic and wanted college to be a time for me to expand out of just focusing on leadership/academics and the social environment of Furman made that very difficult, even if you do partake in the weekend parties and make your social circle. There are good things about Furman, but a small, residential campus just isn’t always for everyone and you may not know that until immersed into the environment.

@Offf2college2 & @inquiry101 - we may be in a similar boat. My daughter is seriously considering Furman but is also struggling with the too small of a school concern. Fortunately, she has befriended a few kids from various places who will be freshman next year which is helpful. I want for her college experience to be positive but I also want for her to have options, things to do, etc. She was exploring Greenville online yesterday and was excited about the various options but you say it gets old? She’s athletic and knows she will play club soccer and likely frequent the gym. Additionally, she’s a biochem major and knows that it will require rigorous studies. I welcome anything you can share. She’s also considering Elon, Providence College, U Delaware, Marist and Fairfield U but Furman is near the top.

Chiming in…my son is considering Furman and Elon too (along with Loyola Chicago which I realize is kind of opposite in terms of environment, but I can see how he would fit in either). We are considering going to Furman accepted students weekend this weekend to further check it out, we have never visited Furman.

It’s a stunning campus with uber friendly staff. After vising Emory and Clemson, neither of which were a match for her, we fell in love almost immediately. We did the tour and had lunch with a fellow student and even spoke to some faculty. Unfortunately, she cannot attend accepted student days so she’s going in on a Sunday night and staying with a Furman student, redoing the tour the next morning, attending a kinetics class, having lunch and then meeting with chem and bio professors, and research students who’ve published. I think this will help her finalize (and validate) her decision. I"ll be curious what you and your son think after visiting.

@msw2023 Hi there! I have many friends on the club soccer team and they love it, so if your daughter comes here I’m sure she will enjoy it as well. As far as Greenville, yes, on paper and online I’m sure it looks great, I did too! The campus itself is beautiful and downtown is too, but for college students it just isn’t the best environment for us to get to have those fun, new experiences. There is the Zoo, Haywood Mall, Downtown Greenville (which includes Falls Park), shops/places on Augusta St., off & on experiences in TR such as small music things for families and for the nature lovers there is the trail and Bald Rock. However, you can only go downtown, to TR, the mall, etc. so many times before it gets exhausting and when our options are limited that seems to come faster than at other schools. As far as academics, just so you are aware, Furman does not have a biochemistry major or path, we have the classes that focus on aspects of biochemistry such as Microbiology, Biochemistry of the Cell & Bio-Organic Chemistry but those are the only “biochem”-type courses offered. I have had a lot of experience with the Biology & Chemistry department so I could maybe be some help to you there. My greatest piece of advice for you and your daughter would be if she comes to Furman and takes biology her first semester, do not take the course with Dr. Worthen, he is notorious for failing students to the point his classes dwindle to half their original enrollment by March. Do you already know the details of her stay and her meetings?

Interesting and, thank you. We are aware of the Biochemistry “issue” - Elon has a biochem major so she is currently deciding between the 2 schools, and their programming. Furman is better known for their science programs and she will definitely pursue graduate school immediately following, in either PA school or pharmacy. She is also thinking of a neuroscience minor. She likes quaint, small cities; we live in CT, so it’s not Houston, so this might be less of an issue for her. The distance however, might be. Are there buses that frequent the downtown area? Even if I let her take her car, use of alternative transportation would be good.

She will definitely play club soccer and most likely rush. She’s a strong, dedicated student with focused goals but the SMALL school feel worries me, especially if she doesn’t find she connects with a group (although I think she will.) She’s already connected with a group of incoming freshman from all over including Long Island, FL, GA, and SC.

She’s visiting 4/14 - 15 with and overnight and attending a Kinetics class, and lunch with a student. It would be great for her to talk to as many people as possible. I know she would really like to explore Greenville too.

I think it really depends on the student. My son went to a smaller school than Furman with a town that was less exciting than Greenville, and he managed to find things to do. But he’s not a partier, and he prefers small gatherings to big social events. If you’re looking for parties, Furman is not the place. If you’re looking for big and exciting, it’s also not the place. Why would you choose it if you were looking for those things? It doesn’t make sense.

How does an accepted student withdraw his application? My son has decided not to attend Furman and would like to withdraw so a waitlisted student can have the spot.