Gamecock Gateway Program

Has anyone who has registered for Gateway received any registration information (e-mail and/or snail mail) from Midlands Tech?

@sclady, not yet, still waiting.

@Jerseyma My daughter received an e-mail from them earlier today. Hope to have more information from them in the US mail within the next couple of days.

Does anyone know if the Gamecock Gateway program cares about your second semester senior year grades? Or no because it is a bridge program?

@californiasenior2017 yes they want the final transcripts sent as soon as senior year is over.

Do you need to receive certain grades your senior year of high school to stay in the program?

I went through the gateway program august 2015-may 2016 and I loved it. Bates house might be old and kind of crappy but it will become home. The nice thing about it is that it is co-ed and its all gateway so you will get to know 95% of the residence who live there. It also has a dining hall in it if you don’t want to walk to russell. There is also a shuttle that picks up next to bates. Best thing about bates is that its next to the soccer stadium, you can get sporting event point thats get you lower level for football games.

No one knows that you aren’t a “real” usc student unless you tell them and honestly no one cares if your in gateway. You still get to go to all the sporting events and can basically do anything a regular student does. If you put yourself out there and try to meet people you will have no problem fitting in. You and floor-mates will be bff after you share the community bathrooms together.

Gateway advisors will make sure all of your credits do transfer over and will take care of the whole transfer process for you. They do plan your schedules but try to keep all your classes back to back. 1st semester i had noon-3 classes and 2nd semester i had 8:30- noon classes. The shuttle is pretty consistent the only issues i had were if there was a train or something, but most professors understand you cant control that.

Classes are just like high school you will take U101 and a bunch of basic first year classes nothing thats going to be too challenging.

The transfer process is pretty basic and i think everyone got to transfer over as long as you have like a 3.0 GPA which is pretty easy to get at midlands.

My daughter received an e-mail noting that she was exempt for placement tests; however, it was recommended that she take the math placement test b/c of her major. Does anyone know the benefit for taking a placement test if he/she was exempt?

My best guess without knowing what math is that the benefit is to be sure you have right foundation to take upper level math. Similar recommendation was made to students D knew who could exempt science based on AP. If you’re an English major and the math or science you exempt means you’re done with those subjects forever, then fine. But it you have to continue to upper level classes, then you want to be sure you have a firm foundation. D knew several students that could have placed out of a class and moved on but chose to retake the college level class to be sure they had it down pat. College classes often cover more material. Again, this is my best guess.

Call a counselor and ask if you’re not sure there’s a real benefit.

@scmom12 You are correct. Advisor stated in order to place in the upper level college level classes (e.g. Calculus) and, perhaps, save some money, D would need to take the math placement. Thanks!

I’m still waiting to hear where my D can take the placement test remotely and they said the deadline is this Friday the 26th. I’m assuming it will be delayed again? Has anyone heard yet?

Has anyone been to the orientation yet? Thoughts?

For those whose son/daughter are currently in Gamecock Gateway this year – how are they liking it so far? My daughter is giving mixed reviews – some good and some definitely not so good.

My daughter is in gateway. She HATES IT. Terrible advising, terrible financial aid (we got stuck with most of the bill), terrible teachers. Bates is awful compared to the newer housing. She has a literal countdown of when she is done. She will be one of the few that will transfer right away.

@sarabear05, so after all this, it’s ruined her general feeling towards USC? I’m thinking this could be a great program for my second D, who likely won’t be able to get in regular admission. I like the thought of her being more “monitored” with the Gateway program–I understand they take roll in classes at the tech school? I’m so sorry that your D is having such a negative experience.

I am currently a student here in the Gamecock Gateway program, and when I was hesitant about this program and how it really is, I found nothing but good reviews, but they were not the truth. I decided to put this out there because I don’t want others to go through what we are all going through right now, and I believe that incoming freshman have the right to an honest view on this mess of a program. This program is an absolute mess. The “leaders” and “advisors” have done nothing but lie to us about countless things from as little as printers in the dorm, to credit hours we need to transfer. It is run so poorly and quite frankly, all of us students are miserable and regret our decision to come here. Midlands Tech is a huge mess of a school. It is MUCH harder then University of South Carolina, and the teachers are lazy and terrible. We are forced to do much more work then regularly admitted USC freshman. I have a good friend from back home who is in the honors college at USC, and I am given more work then her honors classes. All in all is a terrible mess of a program and if you are a student who is hesitant about this program, go explore and thrive in a different institution that you will be happy. Learn from my mistakes, and good luck to your daughter.

Wow 30960a. I am so sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling. They really do make it sound like such a great way to be a part of the school and a viable way “in”. I wish you the best in your coming years of school, wherever that may be.

As a parent of Gateway student, it has been a frustrating ride for both me and my D. Agree with 30960a regarding the advising, instructors and the condition of Bates House. If anyone wants details, feel free to message me. USC and Midlands need to up their game.

@g8momk8snd They do a great job in the presentation of the program, especially at the information sessions. If only it was executed as well as they present. As a parent, my main concern is with the advising, quality of instruction (several of my D’s teacher cancelled classes during the semester), and condition of housing.

My neighbor’s d attended the gateway program and was very pleased with it. After reading these discussions it makes me a bit nervous to think about it.