<p>I am most likely going to Furman next fall and i'm really excited about it! Does anyone have any inside information about the school? Tips for a freshman would be appreciated. Like what housing should i choose, anything i should bring, any cool places around campus? I'm planning on majoring in business so any advice for a business major? Any info I can get would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>get your priorities straight, dont go crazy with your first days of freedom away from home, organize yourself, study hard Sun-Thurs. Have fun Fri and Sat. Get involved in things, be social. Thats my advice.</p>
<p>I’m a current freshman here at Furman. Most likely you’re going to love it, but there are a few certain people I’ve met that don’t. Anyway, things you should know:</p>
<p>There are two major dorms for freshmen as you probably know: Lakeside and South Housing (SoHo). SoHo has larger rooms (except for Blackwell, which has the smallest). Blackwell houses the most freshmen students because it’s strictly for freshmen. Even though the rooms are small, it has the reputation for being the most fun. SoHo generally has the rep for being where the partiers live and Lakeside for where the nerds and music majors live. But I lived in Lakeside this year and plenty of stuff goes on around here too, trust me. Engaged Living is going to be in Townes (in Lakeside) next year if you’re considering that. I was in it this year in Gambrell and I loved it. You become pretty tight and you get more hall funds to do things. You’ll have fun regardless of where you live.</p>
<p>As far as cool places around campus… there are dorms, academic buildings, the university center, the library, the dining hall, North Village (the apartments for upperclassmen). I don’t know what you would consider cool, but not being integrated into the town means there’s really nothing else on campus besides those buildings. There’s plenty of stuff to do in Greenville though that’s not too far away.</p>
<p>The party scene here is pretty underground because of the dry campus, which is actually changing next year (but only for people 21 or over of course). It’s not hard to do if you want to, it’s just kept pretty hush hush around here even though a large majority of students drink. My suggestion is if you’re into partying then start finding frat guys to hang out with even if you don’t have the intention of rushing. It’ll at least get you meeting a lot of people that will know where the parties are.</p>
<p>Also, O-week is awesome, especially if you really get into it with the rest of your hall. I won’t give away all that happens during it, but it really is nonstop fun and you’ll be exhausted by the end of it.</p>
<p>Also, during the student activities fair, sign up for everything that interests you even though others will tell you otherwise. Just go to one meeting on each and then pick about 3 that you’re willing to commit to.</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope this helped.</p>
<p>i’ll prolly be starting at furman this year too so if anyone could give me some details about housing and such it would be very helpful…</p>
<p>Heads Up: This is going to be an epic long post. Just a forewarning.</p>
<p>Hey Johnny,</p>
<p>Congrats on picking Furman! It’s an awesome place, and if you come in with the right attitude, you’ll have an incredible freshman year here.</p>
<p>As I’m just finishing up my freshman year now, I think that I can speak from experience in how to get the most out of this school. I’ll try to give you as much advice as I can; I’ve gotten around the campus a lot, so there’s a lot of ground to cover. I’m going to go in chronological order, based on what you should do between now and school, and then what to do when you get here.</p>
<p>Because I’m sure you’ve already heard plenty from people who’ve gone to other schools about how to best handle freshman year, I’ll stick, pretty much, to Furman-specific stuff.</p>
<p>First, a quick note on housing: a lot of people wonder what the differences between Lakeside and South Housing are, and which one is “better.” Here’s the lowdown. Basically, Lakeside is one giant building that has all seven dorms connected. It’s closer to the music building, so most music kids tend to live in Lakeside. There’s less partying on Lakeside. The four suite-style dorms are on Lakeside, so if you’d like that, do Lakeside. South Housing is closer to the athletic fields, and is more like a traditional college residential area. Poteat and McGlothlin are both really nice, and have big rooms; Blackwell has the smallest rooms on campus, but is still a pretty fun place to be. </p>
<p>Over the summer, find out who your roommate is and right away friend them on Facebook. I’m sure this seems obvious to you, but it’ll be important because it’ll give you a sense of what kind of person you’re going to be rooming with. Give them a call (yes, a call), to talk to them about what kind of big stuff they’re planning to bring to school, what classes they want to take, when they wake up/go to sleep, whether they drink/smoke, what activities they are thinking about getting involved with, and what they expect to get out of their freshman year. If you find out that your pre-assigned roommate is a noctural alcoholic and you like to go to sleep early and abstain from alcohol, it will serve you extremely well to find this out as early as possible, so that you can think about asking for a roommate switch. That said, there are very few random roommate sets that flat out don’t work, at all. Expect to have someone who is very different from you, and don’t expect to be best of friends with them. </p>
<p>When you pick your classes for fall term, learn how to use the ICE system. It’s incredibly confusing at first, and sort of cumbersome, but it’s essential that you figure out what you’re doing with it. First semester, try to take classes that you have a solid background from high school in. If you were good in Spanish and calculus in high school, take them in the fall. I hate to recommend that you make your schedule as easy as possible, but it will take some time to adjust to Furman’s difficult academics, and you’ll regret it if you try to take four hard classes when you first get here. Also, chances are pretty good that you’ll change your major at some point while you’re here, so take classes, like calc, that will count for your major, but also for GERs. That way, you’ll have gotten a requirement out of the way regardless of whether you stay with your major, or not. </p>
<p>You’ll probably get a lot of information in the next few weeks about a program called Engaged Living (EL). I knew nothing about the program before I came here, and no matter how hard you search online, it’s impossible to find an honest first-hand account of what it’s like. So, I’ll do it here, and hopefully, lots of people will read it and not go into school in the fall completely in the dark. I’m in the program now, and know the four RAs who will be working with it next year, so I can give you some good advice on it. I also know all of the professors who work with the program, so I can give you inside advice on that. </p>
<p>But first, a little background. At Furman, you’ll have to take two first-year seminars. One of those seminars will be a writing seminar, and the other will be on one of many specific topics. The seminars are a huge mixed bag–there are some that are great, and some that are worthless–and it’s harder to choose and switch your seminar than it is a regular class. One advantage of doing EL is that it’s the only way that you can choose precisely which class you want to take. Next year, there are four programs in EL. Ecos is the program my roommate is in, and it includes taking a environmental science first semester and then a sustainability seminar second semester. The program involves a lot of outside work on things like sustainability projects, and there are a lot of field trips. There’s a $1,000 stipend (at least this year), but I think if given a do-over, my roommate might not do it again. The environmental sci class was apparently pretty terrible, but the seminar he hasn’t hated. Another class is Doing History in the 1950s, which I heard absolutely nothing good about. The third class is Finding Your Life Purpose, which I heard good things about from the more religious people in the class, and very negative things from the secular people. It’s taught through the religion department, and has a strong bend that way. The final program is Global Citizenship, and it wasn’t offered this past year, so I don’t have any inside experience on it, other than to say Dr. Gandolfo, who will likely teach the first semester intro to philosophy class is apparently really good, but is also a fervent socialist. </p>
<p>Your RA/hall staff will be pretty awesome if you do EL, and you’ll live in the nicest dorm on campus (Townes; getting renovated this summer). The reason I would be hesitant to do EL again is that the people it tends to attract, especially females, are the kind who don’t leave the dorm a huge amount, and tend to stick to hanging out with other EL-ers. You can definitely make it a great time, and I can guarantee there will be cool people in the program, but just keep what I’ve said in mind if you decide to do it. There are a lot of EL-specific events and whatnot, some of which are fun, and some aren’t.</p>
<p>So, once you’ve figured out your housing, gotten your roommate, have picked your classes, you’ll have to start actually preparing to get down to school and get ready for O-Week. Try to get to school early on on moving day. I think that they start moving people in at 9. Try to get here by 9:30 or 10. It’s a huge help to have a bunch of time to move in and meet people on that first day. Getting here early makes it so much less stressful, and gives you the opportunity to pick your bed and side of the closet if you get here before your roommate. Get all of your stuff set up and then go out and help out the other people moving in on your hall. It’s a great early chance to meet people and make new friends. The first day can be stressful, but because everyone here is so willing to help and be awesome, you’ll have a fine day.</p>
<p>O-Week I’ve heard compared a lot to summer camp, and I think that’s a good way to put it. There are a ton of meetings and activities and icebreakers that will let you meet a lot of people. Get as many phone numbers as you can, and say hey to everyone you meet. Some of the stuff seems a little bit contrived and lame, but do it all with a smile. Orientation is what you make it, and it can be a lot of fun with the right attitude.</p>
<p>The Sunday that upperclassmen come back, try to strike up conversations with as many people as you can. Find out if they’re in a fraternity or sorority, and ask them what they’re doing that night/the couple nights before classes start. Most frats will start trying to rush kids right at the beginning of the year, and would love to hang out with you and some of your friends before school starts. Just ask, and you’ll find there’s plenty going on. And, on that note, even if you don’t initially plan on going Greek, rush anyways. It’s an awesome opportunity to meet other freshmen and upperclassmen, and it’s a ton of fun. Hang out with as many different fraternities as you can, and collect as many phone numbers as possible. I rushed last fall and met a huge number of guys that I’m best friends with now. I quickly found out who I liked, who I didn’t, and where the cool places to hang out are. A lot of freshmen stick to the dorms for the first few months, and if they rush, do it late in the process. Don’t be one of those people. Rush early, and often. Meet as many people as you can. Start to make the connections that will last you all four years you’re at Furman. It’s a small school, but you’ll be surprised at how many different groups of people there are, and how many great people you’ll miss if you don’t search them out. </p>
<p>That brings me to another essential point: you’re going to be a freshman, and chances are that you’ll have most, if not all, of your classes fairly early in the morning (because upperclassmen don’t want them). When you’re done with class, go to the DH, eat it up, and then take a powernap. After that, head to your favorite studying spot. I study a lot in the library, and a lot in my dorm room. Get all of your homework done by dinnertime. I don’t care if you currently like to do work late at night. Do your work before dinner. Believe me. There’s too much going on on campus to miss out on it because you spent your afternoon sitting around and watching Judge Judy or playing videogames. If you can get everything done by dinner on a consistent basis, your social life will be eons better than if you don’t. </p>
<p>After dinner, go back to your dorm room and hit up the calendar on Furman’s website. Find out what CLPs or other events are going on on campus. If you don’t know about the CLP program, here’s the lowdown: in four years at Furman you need to go to 32 CLPs. A CLP can be a lecture, movie, or any number of events. You’ll show up, sign in, attend the event, then turn in a ticket that proves that you stayed the whole time. There are a ton of awesome CLPs and it pays to go to a lot early on in your college career. Most are an hour long. </p>
<p>If there aren’t any events that you really want to go to, walk up and down the hall and find people who aren’t doing anything to hang out with. Chill with the people on your hall for a while, and get to know them. Around 8:30, try to hit up some upperclassmen to figure out what they’re up to. Knowing sophomores, juniors and seniors is key to transitioning to college. These are the people who can tell you which professors to take, which restaurants to go to, what to do on campus, and a myriad of other important things. I can’t stress enough how important it is to make upperclass friends. </p>
<p>You’ll notice a common theme to a lot of what I’m saying and it’s this: meet lots of people, and get involved on campus. There is an activities fair on campus either the first or second week of classes. Go. Furman has a ton of clubs and organizations. I write for the newspaper, have a radio show, and I’m on the board of another organization. These commitments have allowed me to meet a huge number of people on campus, and have kept me really involved in what is going on here. There is a volunteer service corps, Heller Service Corps, that you should sign up with. I read to four year olds once a week, and this has been a really fun and good way for me to get involved with the Greenville community.</p>
<p>In terms of classes, on the first day make it a point to sit in the first or second row in each of your classes. The best thing you can do for your grades at Furman is to be an active participant in your classes. Speak up. Ask questions. Visit your professors during office hours as much as you can. Even if you think you don’t need help in your class, just showing up and talking with your professors will be incredibly helpful in improving your participation grades and staying on top of your classes. </p>
<p>One of the things that they’ll tell you during O-Week is to expect to spend two hours out of class doing work for every hour in class. I can’t say that this is a monolithic rule, but it definitely comes out to being about the average. </p>
<p>That’s pretty much all I can think of for now, but if you have any questions feel free to PM me or post them on the forum. And, if you’ve made it through this entire post in one sitting, congrats. I wrote most of it last week, and then got distracted and just finished it now.</p>
<p>Woody2013’s post should be loaded onto Furman’s own website-what a great resource for new students. As a mom of two rising juniors, here are some other tips for freshman that I wish our S and D had known/thought of, etc…
- Use ratemyprofessor.com to help your course and instructor selection. The website is fairly well supported by FU students and from our kid’s experience has been accurate so far. The site provides useful information about the professor’s teaching style, exams, grading perspective, etc.<br>
- Remember that retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond allow you to order items on-line and hold them for pick-up at a local store. So, if you are flying across country or driving a long distance, it may be easier to arrange to pick-up many of your dorm room items once you get to Greenville. There is a Lowe’s within a mile or the campus ( like Home Depot) and a Staples within 2-3 miles. Target, Walmart are all an easy drive from the campus. Stock-up on a supply of the self-adhesive mounting tape that allows you to hang posters and light picture frames on walls. Office supply stores, etc. tend to sell out of these around the time of school move-ins and they are ideal for hanging posters, etc.<br>
- There is a poster sale in the FU bookstore within 1-2 weeks of classes beginning, so if you want art for your walls but don’t want the hassle of transporting yours from home, the bookstore sale is a great option.
- If possible, plan to bring clothes for warmer weather now and change out fall/winter clothes at either fall break or Thanksgiving. The closet space is limited and you will have more room to be organized. Which brings me to containers, etc. Our kids and friends use tons of large, stackable plastic storage containers for extra clothes, linens, and some for snacks. When we were moving kids out last week, many students had packed in the same storage bins rather than using suitcases which seemed much more efficient.
- Think about extra seating in your room. Our son wanted a really great desk chair since he spends a lot of time with his computer -so we purchased one at an Office Depot in Greenville. He still had to keep the desk chair in the dorm room, but said it came in handy when friends came to visit, play video games, etc. Lots of girls ( and some guys) coordinate with roommates to purchase a futon or beanbag chairs. While some of the Lakeside rooms may be too small, south housing’s rooms are fairly generous. Check out Youtube for some of the Furman Dorm makeovers and virtual tours.
- Be prepared for the annual fall small pest invasion-e.g. ants. Inevitably, students will leave food out and open in their rooms, and sooner or later you may have unwelcome little friends in your room. Buy ant spray or even keep salt around-supposedly ants will not cross over salt-so it would be a natural method of pest control.
- finally, and as a parent, I almost say this reluctantly-please learn, understand, and HEED the South Carolina laws about Minors in Possession of Alcohol. Regardless of your own personal behaviors and attitudes about drinking ( underage and otherwise)-students have been cited on campus with MIP’s if alcohol was found in their room because their roommates kept it there. In some instances, students with MIP’s on their records will not be allowed or considered for certain privileges-so be wise and use your intellect-even when it may seem rather insignificant to you. </p>
<p>Enough of my soap box-Furman is a great school-with a committed faculty, great staff and a fabulous campus. Each of you will have an opportunity to receive a tremendous education that will open doors anywhere you want to go Have a blast during O-Week and enjoy meeting Dr.Smolla. You are in for a great 4 years!</p>
<p>Hey thank you both for all your advice!!</p>
<p>Can I ask a couple more questions?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’m planning on taking voice lessons outside of the university, and I’d like a place to practice that isn’t my dorm room. If I’m not a music major or minor, would I be welcome using a private practice room in the music building?</p></li>
<li><p>Exactly how far away is the gym from Lakeside housing? I’d like to take a pilates class or something, but my roomie wants Lakeside.</p></li>
<li><p>Is the My Tie dance still on? I heard that it was canceled or something due to student protests.</p></li>
<li><p>Does anyone know what the music scene is like around Greenville? I like to see rock shows but I don’t know if I’ll have much luck there, haha</p></li>
<li><p>Is it true that there’s nothing to do on Sundays?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks 
I’m so excited for next year.</p>
<p>P.S. One last question … would you recommend getting a residence hall that has both upperclassmen and freshman, or just a freshmen hall?</p>
<p>Bluiblackbird-1.Here is the “scoop” from son who is rising junior and girlfriend who is voice/oboe major. Anyone is welcome to use rooms in music hall at Furman when they are not in use. S used one throughout this past semester to practice speeches for his communications classes.
2. Lakeside housing is about a 10 minute walk or 5 minute jog from workout facility ( which is incredible).
3. Unsure about My Tie-but has been a tradition of O Week for years.
4. Music scene in Greenville-if you mean clubs in downtown S and D say mix of jazz, some rock, country. For concerts-your choice of Charlotte-1 hour or so to North or Columbia, SC 1 hr 20 minutes east-both easy drives by interstate. Columbia is home to famous garage band of 90’s 2000’s Hootie and the Blowfish. Anyway-many major tours swing rhough one or both cities each year.
5. sundays- depends on what you like to do. Furman has a large church going student body. There are some great parks for hiking, etc. within 5-20 minutes of Furman. Usually CLP;s on campus on weekends. Movies, etc. Is it like New York or Chicago-No. But then remember, many students are back in the library by late Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>I’ll also chime in on the questions:</p>
<p>1) You can use the music facilities at certain times, but I think you might need to get a music major to swipe you in. I know that one of my friends went into the music building all the time to use their practice rooms and instruments to do late night recordings and jam sessions. You’ll have to check about when you can do that though. On a related note, pretty much anything at Furman is open to use outside of class hours. You can use classrooms in Johns, Townes, and Furman Halls to study in, do group work in, or watch movies in (which is what I most frequently did). </p>
<p>2) It’s about 10 minutes, depending on what part of Lakeside you’re in, and how fast you walk. It seems like a little bit of a hassle at first, but I really like it because I do a warm-up jog to the PAC and a cool-down run back.</p>
<p>3) OK. Here’s the thing about My Tie. It used to be that it was a Sally Hawkins-esque dance where the girls would ask the roommate of the guy they wanted to go with for the guy’s tie. Then, at the dance the guy would find his tie, and that would be his date. Because of the increasing political correctness of the school, and the administration’s fear of offending students who are gay, or who don’t want to participate, they asked RAs to tell residents to not do this anymore. Now, it’s essentially just a group dance. It’s fun, but not really a date function anymore.</p>
<p>4) I’m a huge music fan, and go to tons of concerts. Not once have I seen a show in Greenville. There’s a venue called the Handlebar that gets some national acts, but it tends to be either southern rock or country acts. Other than that, Greenville has the Bi-Lo Center, which hosts large national acts (Bruce Springsteen came last year), and the Peace Center (big acts, but not huge ones). Asheville is about an hour away, and that’s where I go once or twice a month. There are two awesome venues, The Orangepeel (big-ish club venue) and the Grey Eagle (smaller, more intimate bar–awesome, though!). I love both places and they get tons of awesome performers. If you’re into mainstream rock type stuff, they don’t get much of anything. Atlanta is your best bet for that. I’m a huge indie-rock and folk fan, so Asheville is heaven for me.</p>
<p>5) This is an interesting question. Lots of people go to church (myself included) on Sunday, so that’s where you’ll find a good number of folks on Sunday morning. Most of the time, people have a lot of work to get done, so Sunday afternoon/night tends to be the time that weekend work is completed. There is definitely stuff to do, whether it be outdoors or on campus. You’ll find people who don’t want to do work who will be more than happy to slack off with you.</p>
<p>AS for the question about freshmen only building vs mixed: I’m not sure that there are any really well mixed buildings next year. Poteat is all freshmen except for one upperclass female independent hall (the AD hall, which is between Poteat and McGlothlin, so I’m not sure if that counts). Haynesworth base is upperclass guys and freshman otherwise. I would say that it really doesn’t matter a huge amount. </p>
<p>Pick your dorm based on these factors:
- Do you want a suite style bathroom? If so, go Haynesworth, Townes, Judson or Ramsey.
- Are you a music major? If so, go Lakeside.
- Do you like to go out a lot/Are you the party type? If so, South Housing is more up your alley.
- Are you an athlete? If so, go South.
- Are you absolutely, completely, entirely opposed to living in Blackwell? If so, put Lakeside on your preferences. (Side note: yes, the rooms are incredibly small. But–the people who live in Blackwell almost all love it. Something about the small rooms forces everyone to get out as much as possible.)</p>
<p>That’s it. If you’ve read my other posts, you know that I was in Lakeside in Engaged Living. I go out anywhere from three to five nights a week, and while it was extremely convenient to be able to have a short walk to the North Village apartments and not a 15-20 minute haul, there were definitely times when I wanted to strangle the music kids on my hall who would spend all night, every night on the hall watching musicals or laughing at idiotic videos on YouTube or playing instruments incredibly loudly or just generally being insanely annoying. So there’s a definite balance that you have to make. Either way, you’ll make awesome friends on your hall, and there will be people you’ll like in your building.</p>
<p>Thank you both Woody2013 and GeorgiaTwins for your thoughtful and informative responses!! :)</p>
<p>If you guys aren’t tired of answering questions yet haha, I have a couple more that I would appreciate insider advice not from a tour guide …</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is the dating scene really as bad as people say?</p></li>
<li><p>I’m from CA … where the heck can I buy rainboots? I’ve never bought any before. I don’t want to blow a lot of money at Sports Authority unless it is absolutely necessary. Should I wait til I get to Greenville?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it hard to eat healthily in the dining halls?</p></li>
<li><p>How many credits does the average Furman student enter with? I want to take a year off (or at least a semester) to study abroad, and I’m worried that it’ll be difficult if I don’t get X amount of credits beforehand.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hahaha no I have absolutely no problems answering questions, and since I’m here at Furman for May X, it’s not like I don’t have time on my hands.</p>
<p>I hosted four students this past year, so a lot of the questions I got from them are similar to these. I felt like I came into Furman knowing the school decently well, but then again, one of my best friends came here not even knowing that Furman has/(will have had, since the alcohol policy just changed–more on that later if you have questions) a dry campus policy. I had no idea what Engaged Living was before I signed up, and I wish that I had. I had no idea what housing was good for what. I didn’t know just how hard Furman’s classes can be, or what the First Year Seminars were. </p>
<p>To answer your questions:</p>
<p>1) Kind of. Speaking from personal experience, I really didn’t have time to be in a relationship for most of this past year. I started seeing someone towards the way tail end of the year, after I’d finished up most of everything and had time to actually start doing that. There are people in relationships, but from what I see, most of those relationships start in O-Week (we call it o-mance) and keep going serious for long terms. There is dating, but not a lot of casual dating. Because of the gender gap–it’s 56-44 female/male school-wide, and I’ve heard it’s going to be closer to 60-40 in next year’s freshmen class–it’s probably fair to say that there are far more girls looking for relationships than guys. </p>
<p>If you really want to date, you’ll probably find that there are options for doing that. Most people at Furman don’t date, and the dating scene isn’t fantastic. </p>
<p>2) You can definitely wait until you get to Greenville. There is one pretty solid mall (Haywood Mall) that has a the usual assortment of mall stores. I’m not a rainboot expert, so I couldn’t tell you where girls here buy them, but there are a ton of stores near here that you can go to.</p>
<p>3) It’s definitely not hard to eat healthy, but it can be not fun. The DH is set up like this: there’s the grill, which is on the lakeside side. That has things lot hot dogs, bbq sandwiches, and the like. It’s usually not very healthy. I rarely eat that stuff. Then there’s the nook that has the vegetarian option, which is really hit or miss, but is almost always pretty healthy, the ice-cream and frozen yogurt machines, and the bakery station. You’ll be tempted to want to eat cookies a lot. Don’t. That’s the easiest way to pack on the calories at the DH, other than taking advantage of the fact that you can have unlimited soda. Anyways, then there’s the salad bar, which is awesome and has tons of stuff including many, many salad options, as well as yogurt, granola, snack foods, and sometimes, soup. Get in the habit of eating a pretty decent size salad with every meal. It’s a life saver. After that, there is the other nook that has the sandwich station (which I’ve never actually gotten food from), the pizzas, and the pasta station. Finally, the other main entree station is the homestyle station, which has stuff that is best explained by its name. I almost always get food from there. </p>
<p>Basically, you can eat really healthy at the DH if you watch your portions, stay away from the junk food, don’t eat too much dessert, don’t drink a lot of soda, and eat salads. </p>
<p>On a related note: the PAC is awesome. It’s insanely good. The equipment is all really recently purchased. Don’t start the year off saying, “Oh, I’ll start going to the PAC later this year when I have more time, blah blah blah.” Start going to the PAC the first week of school, and work the rest of your schedule around that. It’s open from like 5am to 10pm. You can find an hour to squeeze a PAC trip in. It’s not hard. Also, there is a pool in the PAC. I feel like nobody uses it. I like to swim, so I try to swim a decent amount, but I rarely see students in there. I’d like to see that changed.</p>
<p>4) Most students don’t really come into campus with that many credits. I did a monstrous number of APs, so I’m a big exception to this rule, but most people I know have no more than eight or 12 credits. I think the majority come in with fewer than that. You’ll have plenty of time to study abroad, even if you double major. The key is this: lots of freshmen/sophomores don’t know exactly what they want to study, so they go right into doing GERs that are completely unrelated to their ultimate major. GERs usually aren’t the most exciting of classes, and neither are intro classes in your major. </p>
<p>Think about what major you think you might want to do (and if it’s pre-med, think about your favorite non-science major, because chances are pretty good you’ll drop pre-med by the end of freshman year) and try to take GERs that knock out intro major requirements. </p>
<p>I’m a social science kind of guy. First semester, I took a math course (GER), spanish (GER), my first year seminar (GER), political thought (clutch class for potential PolSci majors because it a) takes care of the ultimate questions GER b) is a requirement for PolSci and c) is a hell of a lot easier than philosophy or religion classes. I would have had to have taken every single one of these courses at some point anyways, and I used them all for GER and in one case, major, requirements. Some people take philosophy and sociology freshman year and then become political science majors. In political science you’ll knock out both of those GERs anyways, and I’m assuming, since you’re majoring in political science, you’d rather take upper level government classes, or fun electives, than intro classes. The point is this, don’t take a GER just because it’s a GER. There are a ton of them, probably a bunch in your potential major, and you can always knock out two (or even three) birds with one stone.</p>
<p>And, you can take May X courses (2 credits/yr), or summer classes if you need to.</p>
<p>Whew, that was a very indirect way of saying, “plan your course schedule in advance, and you can have tons of wiggle room to study abroad, pick up a second major, etc.”</p>
<p>Hope that answered that round of questions. If you have more, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>As I have said before, FU needs to put Woody2013 on the payroll-kudos to you, Woody!. I am not sure how many credits the average students enters Furman with-I will drill down into the Common Data Set and see if the info. is there, but I am not familiar with that. Both of our kids will be studying abroad for a semester this coming year ( junior year), and their plans were not impacted by the number of hours they brought in at the time of freshman matriculation. The important thing to pay attention to as you plan your sophomore year is to be aware of the following year’s study abroad schedule, the majors, semesters, etc. For instance, our daughter is planning to pursue an interdisciplinary major-there was just one program that truly fit the curriculum she is planning. Our son is a declared English major, but may add a second discipline such as philosophy-there were several study abroad programs that would work for him. Each of the programs is highly competitive and requires an interview and essay, so be sure to give careful thought to your plans.</p>
<p>Ditto many of the course ideas Woody makes. My biggest suggestion is to strive for balance the first two semesters. Many times students who have taken large numbers of AP classes think that college will be a piece of cake-our kids learned 2 years ago that was not the case. Come and be prepared to study hard, read enthusiastically, and from study collaboratives to spread some of the load around. Many great students in high school get HUGE wake-up calls in college-so give yourself plenty of time to study and acclimate to dorm life. Remember, no one says you have to compete with all the kids on your hall for grades-just for yourself.</p>
<p>As for the dating scene, Woody seems to put the nail on the head. Our son has been dating the same girl since Fall of 2008-it seems that most of the couples meet through the Greek system. Our daughter, however, has had a var more restrictive dating life there-constant complaint is there are way too many girls and there is no where to date.</p>
<p>Here’s the scoop on rain boots-you can get them at Target either in Greenville or order them online or through LandsEnd. Unless you really want to bring them across country, I would wait and buy them at school. Let us know if you have more questions.</p>
<p>Once again, thank you both for your responses - they are really, really helpful. I definitely think I’ll wait until I get to Furman to buy raingear!!</p>
<p>I’m thinking about going Greek but I’m concerned about the financial commitment … would you happen to know what the yearly dues are? (Not looking for an exact amount, but just a ballpark figure … I’ve heard $500 but that sounds just ridiculous!)</p>
<p>And do folks in SC dress any differently? I hate to stereotype but when I buy new clothes this summer it would just be a nice thing to know! Any fashion trends on campus that a Cali girl should be up to date on?</p>
<p>One more thing … the freshmen housing request form asks us for our top 2 choices. If I put two hall dorms that are NOT Blackwell, am I guaranteed to not get Blackwell? (In other words, do they guarantee to meet one of our two choices?)</p>
<p>Thank you once again :)</p>
<p>Oh and another question … I am pretty ignorant about the rush process. Do most people who rush get at least one bid?</p>
<p>Good question. It’s hard to find out a lot of information about the sorority recruitment process ahead of time, because a lot of it is so confusing, and there are a lot, lot of rules.</p>
<p>I had a lot of friends who went through the process, and as someone who rushed fraternities (I ended up dropping my bid, in the end, for a variety of factors), I’ll try to give you as much information as I can.</p>
<p>FIRST, some background. Furman has six sororities (not including one or two all-black sororities) that are governed by the Pan-Hellenic Council. These are ADPi (Alpha Delta Pi), Chi Omega (Chi-O), Delta Delta Delta (Tri-Delt), Delta Gamma (DG), Kappa Delta (KD), and Kappa Kappa Kappa (Kappa). There is also a music sorority. I would guess that half of Furman’s undergraduate female population goes Greek (give or take five percentage points). </p>
<p>Furman has a delayed rush/recruitment process that really affects how things play out in the process. In the fall semester, sororities are NOT allowed to recruit freshmen. I’ll explain the rules below, but this is a fairly tight rule. It’s not like fraternities, where freshmen spend the whole first semester rushing before they pick which frat to pledge.</p>
<p>In the fall semester, sorority rules dictate that, for the most part, freshmen women are not allowed to interact with sorority sisters on a one-on-one basis. There are exceptions, of course, for academics and things like that, but for the most part, there is limited-to-no interaction. This policy also says that if a freshman female is in a room or at an event, there must be at least two (possibly all, officially, but in practice, usually two) sororities present. Example: let’s say that it’s a Friday night in September, and one/a few of the guys from your brother hall are going to North Village to hang out with some of the brothers from one of the fraternities on campus (happens all the time). You decide that you’d like to come along, and you invite a few of the girls on your hall to go too. When you get there, you find that there are a lot of guys from this fraternity (a given), but also four or five upperclass girls. As soon as you and your friends walk in, you see them annoyedly look at each other, and then blow right past you on the way out. Why? Because they’re all from the same sorority, and they can’t be in the same room as you because you’re a freshman. This is a situation I saw played out countless times first semester, and it’s a rule that I’m not particularly a fan of. I’ve heard that every year there’s talk about changing it, so maybe it will be different in the fall. Who knows? </p>
<p>What it does mean, however, is that for first semester you’ll find that there will be times when your guy friends go out, and they don’t necessarily invite you. Feel free to ask them if you can come, but make sure that they text whoever it is’ apartment they’re going to first to make sure that it’s ok. Most fraternities will have one apartment that is, more or less, the “rush apartment” and that’s where they’ll have freshmen over the most often. If they know what they’re doing, they’ll go to long lengths to try to get the two sorority rule met whenever they have freshmen over.</p>
<p>You might be wondering, why is this the case? The answer: the Pan-Hellenic Council wants to make sure girls aren’t getting “dirty rushed.” This means that one sorority will find the girls it wants and try to rush them outside of the official sorority recruitment process. This would give them an unfair advantage over the other sororities. </p>
<p>So that’s first semester! Sorry for the long explanation, but the rush rules are really confusing to most freshmen and I think it would’ve been incredibly useful if more girls had known about them last fall when we were first semester freshman.</p>
<p>The official recruitment process begins at the end of first semester. You’ll have to sign up for rush and pay a fee ($25, I think). There are a couple of recruitment events, but nothing mandatory. I believe the sororities have an open house. Recruitment activities take place in January. The first couple rounds of rush are on one weekend in the middle of January. At the end of each round, you’ll eliminate one or more sororities from your list of preferences. In this sense, rush is kind of like a process of elimination–between both the sororities and you. They’ll cut people, you’ll cut sororities. The third round is on the next Friday. Saturday is preference day, which means that you’ll put down a list of your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd most desired sororities. The sororities will make their selections. On Sunday, you’ll find which sorority has given you a bid. Very few girls don’t get bids. You’ll find a sorority that fits you well, and you’ll more than likely get into this sorority. There are a lot of tough decisions, and not everyone will get into their first choice sorority. I don’t think this is a bad thing. Every sorority has its own “fit.” It’s kind of like choosing a college–you’ll make your choices about where to apply, and the colleges will make their choices about whom to accept. In the end, if you’ve done your homework both the sorority and you will win.</p>
<p>After bid day, you’ll have a few weeks of “pledging”–don’t fear, it’s nothing like what fraternity pledges do. For the most part, you’ll learn about the sorority, and get a lot of gifts. Then you’ll be a sister of the sorority!</p>
<p>Hope that helped!</p>
<p>PS:
Please don’t ask me to “rank” the sororities or explain what the stereotypes of each are. I’m not in the business of doing that. Each has their own very distinct personality. I have great friends in every sorority, and I love each of them in a different way. You’ll find the one that’s best for you.</p>
<p>Didn’t see your first post up there–sorry!</p>
<p>I asked one of my friends and its about $500 per semester. Initiation costs a lot, though. It’s about $800 for the first semester you’re in the sorority. This covers all the functions, and also a lot of other stuff. It’s expensive. You’ll have to think about whether you think it’s worth it, or not.</p>
<p>As for what people wear, good question! I’m from Maryland, so it was a bit different when I came down here and people dressed the way they do.</p>
<p>First semester, you’ll see that a lot of freshmen dress exactly the same way they did in high school–t-shirts, sweat pants, jeans, etc–but once second semester hits, and everyone is in a sorority or fraternity, things become a lot, lot preppier/classier. Furman is often called a country club. Likewise, people tend to dress in this fashion. Girls do dress up for class a huge amount of the time. You’ll see a lot of sundresses, but you will also see a lot of jeans and shirts (although not a huge number of t-shirts, at least among girls in Greek organizations). I would say, think preppy, and that’s probably what you’ll see the most of. I wish I knew more about girls fashion and could give you specific brand/outfits, but that’s about all I can offer.</p>
<p>And no, if you put two dorms that aren’t Blackwell, you can still get Blackwell. That’s why they ask you for your opinion on South/Lakeside housing. For example, my friend put McGlothlin and Poteat as his one and two, and Lakeside as his preferred area (to make sure he didn’t get Blackwell), and he got Chiles (not really any better than Blackwell, in my opinion). You aren’t guaranteed anything. Most people will apply for Poteat/McGlothlin and South Housing if they want SoHo. Obviously, not all of those people get either of those. So they’ll put a bunch in Blackwell. Blackwell is not terrible–it’s a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Here’s how the numbers will break down next year for Freshmen housing:
SOUTH HOUSING
Blackwell–about 24-25 freshmen on each hall; there are three freshmen female and four freshmen male halls in the building
Poteat–about 30 freshmen on each hall; one freshmen female; two-three freshmen female
McGlothlin–about 30-35 freshmen on each hall?; two female; one male
LAKESIDE SUITE STYLE
Townes–about 20-25 freshmen; two male; two female–ENGAGED LIVING
Ramsey–about 20-25 freshmen; four female
Haynesworth–about 25-30 freshmen; three male
Judson–about 20-25 freshmen; two female
LAKESIDE HALL STYLE
Chiles–about 20 freshmen; three female</p>
<p>Hope the math of all that helps out!</p>
<p>Hey woody2013 thank you once again for your replies!!</p>
<p>Wow the cost of sororities is really steep … I had no idea it was that much. Well, I’m definitely going to rush anyway, and keep my options open. But that is just so much money!</p>
<p>And thanks for the heads up on housing. I really want a sink it my room so I hope I get Poteat, but I know I have a lot of company on that!</p>
<p>Do you have any idea how many people double major at Furman, and would you suggest it? (I know I’ll talk to an advisor about this when I get on campus, but I wanted to start thinking about it now). I want to double major in psychology and sociology because they both interest me … but what I REALLY don’t want to do is overload myself with too many classes and then not have a fun college experience with friends and clubs. So if you are double majoring or know someone who is, is it a lot more work?</p>
<p>Oh I thought of another question if you don’t mind … I know that FU isn’t exactly famous for its diversity. But among the minorities and the rest of the student body, is there a lot of intermingling?</p>
<p>bluishblackbird,</p>
<p>Regarding your question on double majoring in Psychology and Sociology, I can’t answer that specifically but I know that Furman is known for the strength of their Psychology program. My D is attending Furman in the fall from Connecticut specifically because of the strength of that program. Just be aware that it is considered one of their most difficult and intense majors. I am sure a double major is possible but it might be a killer.</p>