<p>So...how was that Scholars Day?? What happened while you were there? How did your kids like USC. We're excited about hearing your perspectives as we plan our own trip there in April.</p>
<p>Wow - I just wrote a novel about the trip and hit the wrong button and lost it all...... I will try again later when I have more time ....</p>
<p>I apologise in advance for the length of my post.
My D and I flew in to Columbia Fri night - nice little airport.
We met EAdad and his DW and DD for breakfast which was really nice. Our girls seemed to enjoy having someone their own age to hang around with and I enjoyed the company as well. Thanks to CC and EAdad for the opportunity.</p>
<p>Program started at the Strom Thurmond Center with registration - the students received a bag with a program, map, Cocky beanie and a t-shirt. There was a welcome by the Director of Admissions, followed by an Academic and Student services Fair. Various groups had tables set up where you could pick up brochures and ask questions - there were some freebies as well - lots of pens, etc.
Next there was a poolside reception with Dr Sorenson - a nice table set up with juice, fruit, cheese, etc.
Then the students had a choice of 14 classes that they could attend. Our girls chose " Super Bowl Adverstising" taught by an assoc Prof. of Journalism
They really enjoyed it.
Meanwhile the parents had a choice of 3 infosessions - we chose Capstone Scholars Information Session and picked up a few additional tidbits.
Next we had a Student Panel question and answer session with boxed lunces provided for all.
Since we had all taken a guided tour previously we skipped that part and went out on our own touring several of the residence halls which were open for tours. We all liked Capstone , were a little less enamored with Columbia. My daughter also liked Patterson - thought it had a fun vibe. We also looked at South Tower which was kind of interesting as well. The one constant that we noticed was that the study rooms on each floor were not very inviting - not sure if they are actually used much. I guess it is up to the student to make their own room as inviting as possible and deal with the rest.
Of course we had to hit the bookstores and found a great selection of USC apparel. I think my D has a whole new wardrobe.
While we were there we tried the atm machine and my D's card from a small credit union in PA worked so that was good. We checked out some of the dining options in Russell Hall. It looks like they are set up to use your meal plan pretty well - so that was good news.
Went to dinner in the Vista area - pretty nice.
Next morning we had brunch at the "Top of Carolina" They have it set up so everyone gets a nice view. It was an intersting perspective on the campus.
From there we said goodbye to Eadad and fam and drove around the surrounding area a little. It is a pretty nice area diredtly near campus so my daughter felt safe.
We drove out to find the mall and other shopping areas and took a detour to the Riverbanks Zoo. It was a cute little zoo and I am sure my daughter will have an annual pass ( probably her favorite place in the world) It is fairly close to campus.
The mall had a number of chain restaurants around it, a Wal Mart, Best Buy, Books a Million, and just about anything else you could want.
Overall my daughter left feeling very content with her choice and excited about heading back in the Fall. The campus was beautiful and safe and looks to offer a lot for students.
I am sure that Eadad will be able to add more info when he returns so look for that !</p>
<p>PAMom
So glad you and your D enjoyed your trip and the USC hospitality.So great you were able to meet up with another CC parent and child..I hope they enjoyed the visit as much as you did! Tell me more about the inside of the Thurmond center.. Did you see the rock climbing wall?
What stood out for you during the Academic and Service fair? What good things did you learn about Capstone Scholars..or Scholars in general?What didnt you like about Columbia as a dorm? Tell me more about the Vista area...we didnt get a chance to go exploring..all our time was prescheduled.Were there many students on campus over the weekend?
Sorry to ask so many questions!!!</p>
<p>The Strom Thurmond Center was nice and open and bright - liked that! The rock climbing wall looked to have various levels of difficulty so hopefully challenging enough for all. It looked like there was plenty of beautiful equipment - since it is all still new!
My D was looking for a campus ministry and it looked like there were plenty of opportunities there. The campus security had a table and they were very nice and made it seem very safe.She also had an opportunity to pick up some info about Greek life and service opportunities. I think there will probably be even more info at orientation. I think the thing that I noticed most was that everyone was so kind and helpful. Not a grumpy person in the bunch!
The Capstone Scholars presentation mentioned that they were looking into priority housing for Sophomore year in another dorm, possibly with suite style. That was nice. I think they are trying to give the students opportunities based on how involved they want to be. At this time it still appears that it will only be a 2 year program though.
Columbia was right next to Capstone and had a built in vanity/counter with the sink as you walked in. It was a dark brown cabinet and it was probably 4 foot long so it really made the room looked closed in and narrow in the entrance. I would not say it was horrible - I just liked Capstone better ( small vanity with sink) More flexiblity in furniture arrangement.
The Vista area looked to have a number of restaurants and bars. We did not spend too much time but it did look like an easy place to grab meals when visiting. Maybe someone else can give some more info on that!
We did find 2 other bookstores across from campus that were filled with USC apparel - so if you don't find what you want in Russell house there are 2 others very close by with a huge selection.
We also drove through the Greek village several times - it looks like it will be amazing when all complete.</p>
<p>thanks so much PAMom!</p>
<p>The Vista is a fast developing part of town with new restaurants popping up all the time. The Convention Center was just built a year ago and the new Colonial Center is down there. I would say more older adults tend to enjoy the Vista while USC students hit the restaurants and bars in Five Points- a more college oriented part of town. Columbia has alot more to offer when you go past Five Points behind the campus and go into the neighborhoods. I've lived here all my life and I had a choice to go to Clemson but I chose Columbia partly for the social life seeing that theres not much to do in Clemson. Theres always something to do in Columbia. By the way, Riverbanks Zoo in the past years has been a top ten zoo according to some association.</p>
<p>PA Mom did a great job of summarizing the events. We had an opportunity to spend all day Sunday (after brunch with PA Mom and her DD) exploring Columbia. My biggest surprise since the last visit was literally an in-and-out, was just how nice the area immediately around USC is. Unlike many schools especially those that are more urban, the area around the school is quite charming. The school has two different personalities in that the outer areas like the Strom, Greek Town and the Engineering School are quite urban with very busy streets bisecting the campus. On the other hand, inside the horseshoe and walking anywhere inside the walled/gated areas you have no sense of being in the middle of a city other than the din of traffic that is a sort of background noise that doesn't bother or interupt you, is not there on weekends, but is ever-present on weekdays.</p>
<p>Immediately around the walled/gated areas that form the central campus are charming Victorian homes that have been restored or are being restored and you couldn't help but get the feeling that it is a pretty safe place all-in-all. You had to drive a while to get into the more sketchy areas of town which is also quite a change for an urban school. </p>
<p>Also impressive is the fact that Columbia is undergoing a renaissance of sort with new construction everywhere. Near the Vista, across Gervais in fact, is a town center that is under construction with period designed retail shops on the first level and apartments above. There are an abundance of restaurants, shops and clubs that seem to be opening in the Vista area. Anything you could want from a retail or restaurant point of view is available on the northwest side of town near Columbiana Mall (about 5-7 miles NW of town) with new construction everywhere in sight.</p>
<p>PA Mom was correct in her assessment of the day's events. Everyone there is exceedingly helpful and friendly. Living in Capstone is a great plus for the program. It will now be exclusively honors and Capstone and any upperclassmen living there were told they have to move. It is centrally located for most first year classes and the rooms are far nicer than any others we saw. Columbia dorm was chopped up by the long counter that PA Mom described, leaving the living/sleeping area to be quite small. The sink area were not as nice and the whole place just appeared to be somewhat more dingy. After visiting many schools during both DD and DS college quests I have to admit that USC and Clemson may have the worst dorms I've ever seen on the whole. They did say that Capstone Scholars would get preference for living in South Quad as sophomores. It's far south, actually not far from the Strom but has four singles, two baths a kitchen and living area.</p>
<p>We had lunch in Five Points on Monday after DD attended classes. Great place called Harpers that reminds us very much of a Houston's for those of you familiar with that group of restaurants.The prof involved her in class discussion and admonished his class that they were being outshone by a high school senior! It was a first year English class (about 20 students) that she probably has tested out of with her AP English exams.</p>
<p>If you have anything more specific, let me know and I will try to answer.</p>
<p>thanks for the writeup EADad
Nice to hear about the areas around the University and the Vista and Five Points area.The one night we had some free time it was pouring rain and we were w/o a car so couldnt explore.
As far as dorms are concerned,did you get a chance at all to see any of the newer quads?We were only allowed in to Maxcy and Preston House,both old refurbished buildings on the Horseshoe.Good thing we learned is they are taking down the two dorms called the Towers and locating a new Honors Complex on that site...I suppose that'll take years to complete however.</p>
<p>They only had freshman dorms open for viewing including South Tower which houses sororities. We drove around and looked at the quad dorms (South and East) of which South is apparently going to become a Capstone preferred dorm for Sophomores. It is older but looks to be a nice option for sophomore year. Towers are pretty awful looking from the street...remnants of that fabulous fifties/sixties architecture that is so terribly dated on college campuses now.</p>
<p>Honors is in Maxcy and first 4 or 5 floors of Capstone next year. Remainder of Capstone is for Capstone Scholars with overflow in Columbia. </p>
<p>My overall impression of Columbia went up significantly after this visit. Our trip in July was getting in late in the afternoon in a hard rainstorm, grabbing dinner in the Vista at a place called Liberty (we ate there again this past Sunday since many places in Vista were closed on Sunday) morning info session and tour, quick lunch then on the road again heading to Greenville. We really thought that Greenville was quite nice after two nights there but had formed no real impression of Columbia other than USC clearly being an urban campus before this weekend.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. DD and DH are going on the 7th and 8th of April. On the 8th, all of the freshman dorms are open. It will give DD a chance to see them all. Since she didn't make Capstone, she has to make a different choice if she chooses USC. She already has an oboe lesson/audition scheduled for Friday at noon. I hope she has fun.</p>
<p>Thumper1 - My D also liked Patterson. She has a friend whose cousin goes to USC and she recommended Patterson as well. It wasn't new or particularly nice structurally but it is an all female dorm and the girls really bond there ( at least that's what we heard).
Some of the dorms in the womens quad looked newer but I am not sure if they are for freshman.</p>
<p>For the parents of D's..our female tour guide also had alot of good things to say about living in Patterson her freshman year.</p>
<p>We had a mixup with one of the classes that DD was scheduled to attend on Monday. The prof had a conflict and was a no show. USC tried to reach us to tell us but we were having cell phone reception problems all weekend and never connected. </p>
<p>Upon returning home both DD and I had emails waiting for us apologizing for the confusion. Since then we have exchanged phone calls and at least 8 emails and they have arranged for the department chair and another person to call DD this weekend. I can't begin to tell you how impressed we have been with their concern and the desire they have shown to make her feel really wanted.</p>
<p>As PAMom, Thumper and others have said in other posts and threads, they are very approachable, and honestly, I am amazed at the level of "touch" they have for a big, public institution.</p>
<p>On another note, I'm going to have to look into how good Cingular really is there because we all had problems with long switch/connect times, strange "unknown" caller IDs when calling each other and missed calls going straight to voice mail but not getting notified that we had either missed the call or had voice mail.</p>
<p>I found that my Verizon service worked fine there each time we visited in case any body is thinking of changing providers.</p>
<p>If anyone who is heading down there on the 7th/8th visits Five Points could you please jot down the name of the Futon Store? I thought I would remember it but just too much information to digest. It's located either right next to or very near the Greek Store. I have been googling and can't find it. It has an unusual name. Thanks.</p>
<p>EADad...
Not going again till Orientation which we just scheduled for June 30 (S's HS here in NY goes way late and graduation weekend is the last in June plus he has a job) but Thumper's D and H I think are going next week.
Not surprised at the level of attention they are paying to you,they almost seem to kill you with kindness.We had a question about which orientation to attend,called our McNair admissions contact,she wasnt available so spoke to someone else.He had the original person call us to follow up to make sure we knew she knew we had called even though he gave us the answers we needed.</p>
<p>Eadad, I'll check with my best friend who lives in Columbia.</p>