<p>Well I am in 11th grade and I have been thinking about going to University of South Carolina at their Beaufort campus. My question and concern is: is there difference between this campus and their main campus in Colombia. University of South Carolinas main campus is at Colombia and they have been ranked pretty good. I just don't know if the Beaufort campus would rank less or is it considered the same, like am I still going to University of South Carolina. College board/naviance only gives the average SAT and GPA for the colombia campus so I am assuming the all the campuses are included under where they rank?</p>
<p>I just want to go to the beaufort campus for the location, but I still want it to be the regular USC rank. </p>
<p>I guess a better way to ask this question is: is it possible for me to apply to USC colombia and not get in, but get in at beaufort? I hope not....</p>
<p>If you don't know USC, just think of this in a general situation. </p>
<p>If you do know University of South Carolina specifically the Beaufort campus, how good is it and how does it compare to Hofstra?</p>
<p>If you’re an in-stater for USC, you’re probably much better off heading there than Hofstra…and this is words coming from a native New Yorker. </p>
<p>It is not worth the high private school price tag from what I have heard from neighbors and friends who know about that school as it is less than a 50 minute drive from where I am in NYC. </p>
<p>Heard from a few recent full-scholarship graduates that the school views students/parents as cash cows to be milked, is mostly populated by academically average/mediocre rich Long Island kids who didn’t want to go to a lower-ranking SUNY, and that the university has been having some serious financial issues. </p>
<p>Also, check out nervoussenior10’s comments about Hofstra and other private schools in the Long Island area. His/her comments are really on the mark judging by what I’ve heard from neighbors and other New Yorkers:</p>
<p>Actually I am a native Long Islander. My GPA is a 3.26, I have a SAT tutor (hoping to do good on them), and frankly I have no sports or extra circular stuff. I am currently in Honors Spanish hence I will be taking AP spanish next year (12th), I will be taking an AP science next year too, and hopefully AP Eco. Otherwise I don’t really have any APs. From here, where do you think I stack up? Also, I definetly want to be a criminal defense attorney. </p>
<p>I guess that description of Hofstra is pretty accurate. I don’t know exactly where I want to go. Hofstra has always been a choice thoguh.</p>
<p>Again, I want to go to University of South Carolina Beaufort Campus mainly because my family keeps a vacation home right near the Beaufort campus along with a boat and a car hence it would be a great life style for me, also there is a possibility I may be able to be an in-stater. University of South Carolina is ranked #111, but I worry that the Beaufort campus is not as good (the main campus is Colombia). The Beaufort campus is also A LOT smaller, it only has 2000 kids. So can anyone tell me if they think that is true (the other campus not being as good)? Or is that not possible as it is all included under the University of South Carolina? Like when I am applying to a law school or maybe trying to transfer what will appear that I attended USC or specifically USC-Beaufort? The other thing that worries is that I may not fit in, it sounds like a very southern small college and I am a pure NY/LI-er. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Lastly, I at one point dreamt about going to Fordham, but I don’t think I could get in (what do you think), so I was thinking of transferring to Fordham from USC-Beaufort after maybe two years, if I have a good SAT/ACT score and I do really well in USCB, do you think it is possible?</p>
<p>If you’re interested in being a criminal defense attorney, I’d go to whereever is the cheapest to minimize undergrad debt. Law school ain’t cheap and going to a tier 3 or tier 4 law school is always a risky proposition…especially in this economy when even lawyers who graduated from the top-14 are having issues with finding gainful employment. </p>
<p>Have you considered one of the SUNYs or even some CUNY campuses? </p>
<p>From what I’ve heard and seen from knowing many lawyers and law students, where you went for undergrad does not really matter except for the top 3 law schools(Yale, Harvard, Stanford) and that around 90% of your law school admission is based on undergrad GPA and LSAT score. </p>
<p>Also, as someone who has worked with attorneys, I’d also recommend doing a legal internship/working in a criminal defense/DA’s office to see what the work is like in your preferred practice area. You do not want to be like the law firm associates I’ve encountered who ended up hating working as a lawyer after going to law school and getting hired at topflight law firms because their source of information on being a lawyer was mainly from what they saw on Boston Legal or Law & Order.</p>
<p>As for transferring schools, if you do really well in your first two years at USC or some other state school as an in-stater, you may find you have more options than Fordham…especially as transfer admissions tend to put much more weight on college grades if you’re transferring in as a junior. </p>
<p>Also, a word of advice…make academics your #1 priority and doing some ECs/fun stuff at a reasonable level so it doesn’t cut into #1. Don’t get too caught up in the “great lifestyle” with the family boat and car. Doing the latter is a great potential road to mediocre GPAs…and in one older cousin’s case…almost flunking out of college altogether.</p>
<p>Actually my father is currently a Criminal Defense attorney and I have gone to work with him many many times (since I was 10) and I have a very good taste for the profession. I know it is nothing like Law & Order I definitely want to be it, though I am not great with public speaking, it is something I will work on. Also the plan is that I will go right with working as a partner with my father who has his own practice, so I guess it really does not matter where I go, just need my license, however, I still want to go to a pretty good school and have a fairly commendable history, don’t you think?</p>
<p>So, I guess if you do really well as an undergrad, what school it is you are doing well in matters less then your GPA in that school. In other words, say I’m transferring into Fordham, if I have a very good GPA in USC, I may have just as good as a chance as someone with a good GPA from Colgate? That would be really cool if I get transfer into Fordham. Then again Fordham will be very expensive, and it may be nice to save my dad some money at USC as he will be paying for all my college/lawschool stuff. </p>
<p>And what do you mean that transfer admissions put more weight on the college gpa if you are transferring in as a junior?</p>
<p>Meaning that if your high school stats and sometimes even SATs were mediocre/below par for a given college and yet, you pull a great cumulative GPA in college(3.5+), that college GPA will count far more than your high school GPA and sometimes even SAT scores. </p>
<p>It was one reason why so many HS classmates who were C/C+/-B students in high school were able to transfer up to topflight LACs like Reed and elite universities like Columbia, Cornell, CMU, and Brown.</p>
<p>My remark about the name of your undergrad does not matter with 3 notable exceptions was in regards to law school admissions…not undergrad transfer admissions.</p>
<p>So what do you think, in my situation, is USC-Beaufort a good choice coming from high school for my situation? Even considering the fact that the Beaufort campus is most likely not as good as the main Colombia campus?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I cannot really speak to USC campuses as I have no information about them. Only thing I’d say is if you can be sure you can get in-state tuition there, then go…otherwise I’d apply to one of the mid-lower ranking SUNYs.</p>
<p>And as far as maybe in the future transferring to Fordham or some other college similar? Do you think it is a waste for someone on my situation?</p>
<p>And as far as law school admissions, let me get this straight, is it true that your GPA in college matters more then what college it is? So a person in the top of their class at USC might not have a problem getting into Harvard law?</p>
<p>Understand that USC-Beaufort is not USC-Columbia, any more than U. of Michigan-Flint is Ann Arbor. Until 2002, it was a two-year college offering access to basic higher education for local residents. Though it’s now four-year, it’s not much more ambitious in scope. It’s students are generally locals who have other priorities than going off to college in another area. Though it has some housing, most students will commute in and out while balancing their day jobs. I have nothing against USC-B - it plays an important role for residents of its part of the state - but it’s nothing to leave New York for. Attracting good students from other states is not what its mission entails. I have to assume that the only appeal it might hold for you is its proximity to Hilton Head. That’s all well and good too, but Hilton Head isn’t a town for college students; it’s a gated community for people my age (who have a lot more money than I do).</p>
<p>Finally someone that has heard of/knows about USCB!</p>
<p>Well, that is sort of what I was afraid to hear. I kind of new it was below my level. I probably could get in to USC (Colombia), Stoneybrook, Hofstra and a reach/dream for Fordham. The only reason why I wanted to attend this school is because I would have a really good lifestyle down there. My family keeps a vacation home in Hilton Head which I would live in along with a car and a boat, it would be a fun time. However, I looked on naviance and it told me that the dorms have a population of 350, while the school pop is 1500-2000, so this means that (as you said) they are mostly commuters and frankly in that case, as a New Yorker I don’t know if I would fit in, which I would not like. But then again the lifestyle I would have there sounds appealing, I actually would be a commuter, too. So here’s what I’ve been thinking and tell me if it is unrealistic. Maybe go to USC-B for two years and then transfer to Fordham. Do you think transferring to Fordham from such a low end school if I had a very high gpa at USCB would be hard?</p>
<p>Also,
One quick question, with my gpa how fit for USC - Colombia do you think I am?</p>
<p>Princeton Review says that the average GPA for USC admits is 3.9, but that’s got to be weighted. I don’t know that 3.26 would be out of the question; note however that the median SAT is just under 1200 (and that the city is spelled Columbia - Colombia is a country in South America ).</p>
<p>I can certainly appreciate that a pad in Hilton Head with a car and boat sounds like fun, but commuting 10-15 miles to a commuter college from there really isn’t college - it’s just amassing course credits. I think that you need to look for colleges at which you’d be excited to be a fully-participating citizen of the campus.</p>
<p>After talking it over with the rents, the current idea is for me to go to Columbia (if I can get in), stay there on campus with a car there on campus too, and on the weekends go to Hilton Head when I please (it’s a two and a half hour drive). I like the idea a lot. And I agree with you on Beaufort and it was always a little worry in the back of my mind. </p>
<p>Now my only worry is getting in to USC, I am worried I may not be able to. I have no sports or extracurricular stuff, just a weight 3.26 gpa, although I think by the end of this year (11th grade) I should have it up. I am also expecting to be taking some APs next year and I am hoping I will do well on the SATs/ACTs as I have been working hard with a tutor on them. </p>
<p>If I do not get into Columbia, maybe I can go to Beaufort until I can transfer to Columbia? Do you think this is possible and how long would I have to go to Beaufort? I hope not though, I really hope I can get in to USC. </p>
<p>Oh ya one other thing, on Naviance which gives the average SATs and GPAs of the kids accepted to colleges from my school said that the average for USC was 3.10!? Maybe that average is affected by kids that got in through sports?</p>
<p>You may also want to consider the College of Charleston - similar entrance requirements to USC and similar distance to HH. You’ll want to call the Admissions Office at USC to ask about both admission chances and transferability. Here’s their webpage on transferring:</p>
<p>I know nothing about the Beaufort campus, but I believe that the satalite campuses tend to be OK (I went to “Upstate”). When you graduate, they all say “University of South Carolina” on the diploma. If you make good grades you can always transfer later.</p>
<p>I really don’t know that English 101 (or any other basic class) is much different at an Ivey League school than it is at a community college. There may actually be an advantage at a smaller college in that the classes will tend to be smaller than at a major university.</p>
<p>The big disadvantage about going to a smaller campus is a reduced number of courses and/or majors available and the lack of a true “college experiance”.</p>
).</p>