Well I’m glad I’m not the only one who is not thrilled with this program. Bates is absolutely horrible, not enough shuttles to and from the college and the professors aren’t the greatest. Now the question is what about housing for next year? My D said so many of her friends have already signed up for housing for next year but what happens if they aren’t able to transfer and then we are on the hook for a lease? My D did very well last semester and by all accounts should make the cut however she has a much more rigorous schedule this semester so nothing is guaranteed! Anyone else in this same boat? I definitely would not recommend Bridge program to anyone.
@Jerseyma We are in the same boat – more challenging classes this semester and hope to cross the bridge, but no guarantee. We signed a lease, but told our daughter if she doesn’t cross the bridge, she will be taking summer school classes. The question is, whether classes are available at the tech college that will transfer. This will mean that we will look at classes available at our tech college in March with USC’s transfer admissions rep (NOT Midlands advisors) to see what is available, going through the whole process of enrolling her in another tech college. If she does cross the bridge, will then cancel the classes. What a pain!!!
Also, she is aware that if summer classes are not available, she will have to go a semester elsewhere in Columbia to transfer. If that ends up being the case, we are seriously considering Columbia College. Dread the thought of her having to go to another Midlands Tech class.
I truly wish she would have attending College of Charleston and transferred into USC. She has said that over and over.
Yes, Bates is substandard, especially for the price that we are paying for housing.
@sclady12 what happens if you cancel the lease, wont you still have to pay for the full year or will she stay in the apt if she goes to Columbia College? I haven’t done any research on that yet and I’m afraid all the good places are probably taken up but I am so confused about what to do. I just don’t know how they expect us to commit to housing when we don’t know for sure whether they are staying yet or not. How do you know that you can take a summer class to cross the bridge? My D is meeting with her advisor tomorrow to ask a few questions because we honestly have no clue. I wish they would keep us parents informed of their status and options available in the event they can’t cross over so we could have an idea but they don’t even want to talk to us unless its to pay a bill. I feel like we are still in limbo just like senior year of HS not knowing where they are going. Too many unknowns for me.
I signed as guarantor and am locked in for the year. If she doesn’t go, they can try and sublease for you, but I still have to pay until it’s subleased.
My daughter definitely wants to go to USC, so she knows that if she doesn’t cross the bridge in time for fall, she will be attending classes in Columbia, most likely at Columbia College as a commuting student for a semester and living in the apartment. Tuition will not be cheap. She is rooming with a USC student that she knows.
I would talk with your daughter and determine options if she doesn’t cross bridge in time for fall semester. If she definitely wants to go to USC and doesn’t cross the bridge, she needs to determine what she will do for the fall semester. If looking at apartment, I would definitely lock into one by spring break – that’s what we were told at the presentation during Parents Weekend. We locked in this week and there are still some good ones available, but would lock in soon.
Gateway Program states that you can attend a community/technical college close to you if you need to take a summer class. If it ends up that your daughter needs to take a summer class, I would arrange some time with USC’s transfer advisor (NOT Midlands) to have them look at the community college near you to see if there are courses your daughter can take that will transfer to USC. I would not trust Midlands to confirm what transfers. Community/technical colleges usually post their summer schedules in March. I would check with your community college because you will have to register all over again – UGH.
I was under the impression that Gateway notifies parents if their is a decline in a grade or concerns with not crossing the bridge. Nope, not at all!
I TOTALLY agree that it feels like we are still in high school limbo trying to get into college all over again. What a disappointing experience this has been. Going to cost more money going this route to USC than going to another college and transferring in. My daughter regrets it daily.
Lots of good info, thanks sclady. How do you know who to contact as an advisor at USC? I’m going to call around today to get some info on apartments. I wish my D regretted it and would just come back home to Jersey. She is bent on staying and like I said before, there is just too much uncertainty with this program at least for us. Will keep you posted!
@Jerseyma I sent you a PM with info. My daughter is bent on USC as well.
what was your GPA in high school to get accepted into the program?
I have some questions about the program
@briella Message me with any questions. My daughter just went through the program.
@SCLADY12, I would love to find out more as I have a lot of questions as I think my daughter will be getting bridged and this is her first choice school. How do I message you or if you could message me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Congrats on all that received this opportunity! Does anyone know if all Gateway acceptances went out? Thinking if my daughter didn’t get this offer that she could be on the denied list. Thanks
Yes! They were posted around 6 on friday afternoon. this is when i was notified that i was given the opportunity to be a gateway student!
@Badgersmom, yes your daughter should have received it already or at least see it in her application status page online. However, regular decisions are still not expected for another 2 weeks. Good look to your daughter!
Midland grades do not get included in their GPA at USC.
We had a invite to a different part of gate way program. Called the palmetto program, we went ahead and accepted. I guess it is a new program for this year with very limited availability. You still stay at Bates but all your classes are on the USC campus but taught by professors from USC Lancaster. It was a bit more expensive but we thought it was worth the money not to have to bus to Midlands.
@micklimey1972 Sounds like USC finally took the feedback about MTC experience for Gamecock Gateway students and decided to bring on campus with USC Lancaster professors. It will be great to have it on campus, and still have the smaller class sizes. Plus, the GPA will count. Hopefully, this will work much better and they will go this route for their bridge program. Best of luck to you this year!!