Looking for info/perspective on Bridge to Clemson

Colleges and Universities A-Z Clemson University
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<p>MY son just got his you've been recommended/accepted for the Bridge to Clemson program. I hae read what there is on the Clemson and TCTC sites but wonder if anyone on here has comments about the program/ process. (accepted for BS Comp Sci and thinking about switching to a Engineering major)</p>

<p>Plan of doing a visit there next weekend and we are wondering what we should look for/ question.
Stats for those who wonder
He is a mid 1100 sat
3.5ish gpa mostly CP classes with one AP (Bio)
Varsity sport for 3years with some other minor outside activities that look good
Problem is he come from a HS that places more Clemson students than almost any other in state making him less competitive against his HS peers. </p>

<p>Any helpful question/advice would be gladly accepted.</p>

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<p>UpstatersDad, personally I’m not that thrilled with the Bridge Program to Clemson. I think it would be better if you really have your heart set on Clemson to go to a real college for your first year and then transfer to Clemson for your 2nd or 3rd year of Clemson. The other real reason to go to the Bridge Program is if it is financially better to go to a community college. But personally, I would go to a college with a real general engineering program your first year, do well and then transfer into Clemson as you will get a better education for your first year than going to TCTC since a solid foundation in calculus, chemistry and physics is important for an engineering/computer science program.</p>

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<p>Where you in the program or have you had any dealing with those who were?</p>

<p>I can understand the questions as to whether the program will lay the right foundation for some, but… as a guy who runs a nuclear power plant surrounded by Engineers and degreed professionals, myself included, many of whom started at community colleges let me add some prospective. Most will tell you that the smaller classes often using the same text books, and teachers/professors with usually just as much teaching experience, sometime even more “teaching”, can help some students who might otherwise get lost in a 100 person Intro to Engineering class. I had friend at VA Tech who had well over 100 in his intro class.</p>

<p>My question about the transfer from a “real college” (nothing personal but that sounds a little 4yr school elitist) is that many schools have different thing they push in these intro classes. Sure they all use the same basics but what leads to Diff EQ at one school is different at another. Does the Bridge program use the same text, same class objectives, same lab programs, same writing guidelines , same … Well you get the picture. I plan on asking these and many more questions when we visit, but want to see if I can also get a feel for how people who know the program feel about it.</p>

<p>Thank you for responding. I do really appreciate your prospective, even if my post sounds a little lecturing.</p>

<p>The “heart set” thing is kind of an issue for him but Clemson is an even up choice for him with CofC due to friends. He seems to be ok now, but a first he was a little bummed, after we talked he felt better. I likened it to making the team but being told you will be on bench/practice squad 1st season. You’ve earned the spot on the team but have to prove you can work at the higher level. Kind of like redshirting a freshman.</p>

<p>My take on it is that Clemson is so focused on the numbers to get into the top 20 that they turn away (send to Bridge) kids they used to take but now do not want counting against the stats. They get them as sophomores and can tout their transfer success. (Leading to another question I wonder how bridge kids do in yr 2,3,4) </p>

<p>All in all it seems like a good fit for him as I think he might need a softer/ more personal introduction to college that the program will provide. He can grow through the first year and hopefully make the transition from HS to college more smoothly because of it.</p>

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<p>Also wondering if a Bridge student can get into RISE program after transfering over, and can they get involved before that? Wondering what a transfer student can get out of RISE, or is it only for those living in that dorm and only for freshman yr?</p>

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<p>No, the RISE program is only for freshman students. I’m pretty sure that bridge students who transfer into Clemson aren’t eligible for participating in the program.</p>

<p>I am not in the program so I obviously have a pretty biased view. I can be pretty sure too that calculus at tri-county technical college is nearly the same as Clemson (maybe just a bit smaller pace). However, I think a difference in the two colleges is the quality of the professor teaching the class and the peers that you will have in your class. The professors at Clemson are highly knowledgeable in their fields and most likely do some sort of research and if you are interested in something in a specific field such as a specific topic in Chemistry, you can talk to that professor and maybe get hooked up with a research project as an undergraduate. Also, at classes in Clemson, your classmates will be pretty smart and you will have chances to interact and share information among each other. I’m not knocking down community colleges but I think the student body academically is slightly better at Clemson than at TCTT. I’m also not sure how many Bridge Students are in the program and if there are enough in the same classes, then that could be good in that case. </p>

<p>I definitely agree with your take that Clemson is focused on the numbers to get into the top 20 that they turn away students to the Bridge Program to decrease their acceptance rates. It’s definitely strategic for them while still getting an extra person’s tuition in the future.</p>

<p>Another thing to consider is that Bridge students cannot get football and basketball tickets for games or pledge a fraternity. Another thing to consider with the Bridge Program is the lack of connection with any sort of campus life. The housing option where Clemson Bridge students live at is far from campus and thus it isn’t very likely that your son will be at Clemson a lot and if he makes any friends, it will likely be with people in the Bridge Program. (not to mention that housing is pretty expensive for bridge students since Clemson has a deal with an up-scale housing community, I think Highpointe is $2,880/semester as compared to $1,800 for a freshman dorm at Clemson). </p>

<p>I’m not discouraging the Bridge Program, if your son is determined to succeed in classes at Tri-County Technical College, willing to experience off-campus living as a freshman, and ambitious to make a smooth transition to Clemson, it can definitely be an excellent choice for him. I’m just trying to let you know of some of the possible negatives of the Bridge program in my opinion.</p>

<p>Once again, this is probably pretty biased and an uninformed opinion as I am not in the Bridge Program so please take what I said above with a grain of salt and make your own judgement. I can try and see if I can contact some Bridge Program students and get their opinions of the program.</p>

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<p>Thanks, I figured the RISE program was a freshman only thing but coould not hurt to ask.</p>

<p>I would not argue that the overall quality of the professors at Clemson will be higher, but we are talking about first year basic classes. They will be taking classes in class rooms not lecture halls and have close interaction with professors as freshmen. Were you offered any projects during your freshman year? Sure the peers at Clemson will as a group be better students but since the program is taking around 500 kids I would think that most of the classes are going to be almost only Bridge kids.so you are still talking screen capable kids that Clemson is obligated to let in if they make the grades. Yes he would miss out on the initial year friendships but the ones he will make at Bridge will carry over.</p>

<p>I do understand your thoughts on community college as I agree in general the student population at a CC is there for 2yr degrees and very few, less than 50% by one stat I saw, ever go onto get a 4yr degree. How ever in this case I think I would look at Bridge as a freashman year at a 4yr school with slightly lower acceptance standards becasue everyone there is on a track for a 4yr degree.</p>

<p>As for the housing cost well I see it as $6,000 to $8,000 less for the whole year going to bridge means I can afford a little more for room (a nice one at that). Sports can wait till soph year, although with the extra money I guess I could afford season tickets ;)</p>

<p>I just want to make sure the Bridge program will allow him to get where he wants. I think Clemson is a great school, I work with lots of Clemson grads, and know the type of education you can get there. I am not blind to the possible drawbacks, but given the chance to be at Clemson after a year of work at TCTC I think he would learn the value of not want to miss out again because he did not give his best effort. I can honestly say he did not do that in HS and now he knows the end result, great life lesson!</p>

<p>I would love it if you could get some Bridge program “grads” prospectives on the program and process. Thank you for your help and opinions, it shows why I want my son at Clemson. The people there love the school and care for those that are part of the family, even those still trying to join!</p>

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<p>After talking to his counsler and a few friends it seems several friends with solid scores and GPA’s (higher than his) also got bumped to the Bridge program. Interesting, two years ago (last year I could find stats for) this HS placed the most students per population (for a public school) into Clemson in SC (41). Wonder how the numbers will work out this year? I know some of the kids who got in last year had lesser scores than some of the kids not getting in this year. From what I understand they over accepted last year and the standards got tweaked this year to account for that.</p>

<p>Any one got any ideas on that?</p>

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<p>It’s pretty unpredictable what Clemson does. I had a 3.06 GPA at a challenging high school and got accepted with no conditions to Clemson. One of my roommates had a 3.7 GPA and got rejected and had to appeal to get in. Another one had a 3.4 GPA but was required to attend a summer school program to ease the transition to college.</p>

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<p>After seeing the numbers for last year I can see why this year is so confusing. My friend at work has son who is Chem Eng major (soph this year I think) who said they ran out of room in the dorm this year! BTW he was in the Rise dorm last year and made many good friends. Funny what you find out around the office when you start to talk about your kids!</p>

<p>We are touring Bridge and Clemson next week to nail down any last questions but I think for my son the Bridge may be the best way to go.</p>

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<p>Yep they did run out of room in housing last year. First semester, they had kids living in renovated study rooms/renovated closet rooms until second semester when people transferred out or people left from study abroad when they could move people to better housing options. I’m in an apartment complex this year because they ran out of room in the freshman dorms but luckily they still had a spot in an apartment before assigning closet rooms haha</p>

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<p>Well at least the did not go out and buy a bunch of the left over FEMA trailers from New Orleans! That would not be fun with as cold as this winter has been!</p>

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<p>Word my S is getting at school is that there are alot of kids getting Bridge program and Clemson numbers are way way down from normal so far. Just counslers opinion and word of mouth amoung his friends, most of whom where expecting Clemson offers.</p>

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<p>I went to the State Of The University address President Barker gave yesterday and he said that this incoming freshman class will have approximately 400 less people than the last freshman class</p>

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<p>Would make sense, and I would guess they will be cutting back just a little on the transfers too. 400 less would put them just under 100 smaller than a normal class. Wonder what the attrition will turn out to be for this year? Normally Clemson runs about 92% return for freshmen will be interesting if it takes a few point jump this year.</p>

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<p>A couple of quotes from the Bridge Program from people I’ve talked to:</p>

<p>“Math/sciences are REALLY hard at Tri county. Its not bad. I mean it helps if your the type that didn’t study much in high school. Highpointe is awesome place but strict on policy,parties etc. PERSONALLY after being in the bridge I would have appealed their decision about being in the bridge program”</p>

<p>“well… i think we have no association to clemson at all… if you really wanna know
i’d do it again… but i believe they should have sometihng different… on campus visits or something. its **** how we just live here… go to tech… and can “bridge” to clemson. eh… live at highpointe? no. i would not. i believe this place is ****. because if we have a beer can in our trash can it means we get a meeting that we can get “expelled””</p>

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<p>this has been interesting to read. I was also accepted into the Bridge Program at Clemson, and I was trying to find out more perspective on it. I know some people who go there, and they said they love it, but I guess it just depends on the person. I’ve been a die hard Tiger fan my whole life, so it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth finding out about their admissions process. I’m trying to decide whether I should go to Bridge, or go to a smaller college my first year and then decide from there if I want to transfer. I just don’t know if going to the Bridge Program would be worth it. Personally I want the campus experience for at least my first year. I just almost feel a little isolated, even if it is only two miles away from campus</p>

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<p>Yes I have heard it is a what kind of person you are thing when it comes to how you feel about the program. From the parents I have talked to who know about it they seem to like the program and have been very positive about it. Of course they are not attending, but they are PAYING! For my part I will just buy my S season tickets with the money saved!
As for the transfer from another school, I am not fan of going to school where you hope you can transfer to where you want when you can go where you know a transfer is guaranteed! The college experience is going to be what you make of it no matter where you go. Freshman year is only a small part of it and if you plan to transfer how will feel about the “experience” of going somewhere that you plan to leave because it is not where you really want to be?</p>

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<p>It seems that this website is the only one where I could review the Bridge to Clemson program. I just want to repel students away from the program the best I can. I would invite users of the site to email me with any questions. I am currently in the Bridge program in my second semester and I wish I had known plenty of things before commiting. I promise I am not biased in any way. I currently have a 4.0 at TCTC and have no reason to have angst towards the program. However, I deeply regret my decision and would have taken a much different path. </p>

<p>Before joining the program, prospective students are misled about how their Bridge experience will be. The biggest mistake is thinking that students in the program actually visit Clemson. They don’t. Highpointe is not very far from Clemson distance-wise but unless you want to drive (have fun finding a parking spot at any time of day), the bus is very inconvenient. The bus only goes to and from Clemson once per hour. So if you go to Clemson for anything, plan on spending the full hour there because if you go there to eat, you will most likely be waiting for 30 minutes. They will tell you that you are no different than a Clemson student but that is very far from the truth. Bridge students have many, many restrictions. From entering buildings that only current Clemson student ID’s get into, to joining clubs that Bridge students are not allowed in (there are many of these, sport clubs and intramurals as well), I promise you will not feel equal. From my observations, most Bridge kids do not go to Clemson’s campus for any reason ever. It is a complete waste to purchase a meal plan because it is simply way too inconvenient to use it. You just don’t feel like wasting an hour and 10 minutes to go eat when you can just make something at home. </p>

<p>One of the reasons that I thought Bridge was appealing was because of price. I was very wrong. If you are considering Bridge, look at the fees. I promise you will not pay very much more to go to another state school you are already accepted to. Tri-County has extremely high demand so they are able to charge prices that people will pay for their classes. More than many tech schools I have ever seen. The fees to live at Highpointe are just insane. You sign a lease that is not even a year long (8 months, because you are literally kicked out during the full Christmas break as well as summer). It is roughly $6000 for the 8 months you receive for the 2012-2013 year. By my calculations, this breaks down to $750 a month! This is just unheard of for even the best apartments in the area. I could go to any other apartment in the area and rent two rooms for the price of that for the entire year without all of the ridiculous restrictions that Highpointe puts on you. At University Village, a popular apartment complex in the area, rent is $385 with everything included. Please, whatever you do, do not be fooled when you take the tour of Highpointe. Highpointe does have visually appealing apartments but they are very cheaply made. I have had to call maintenance for at least 5 different things during the duration of my stay. The water is absolutely filthy, disgusting, I don’t even know what to call it. The water in the kitchen is pure white, and the water in the bathrooms will turn your shower straight black within a week of cleaning it. The water situation is one of the worst parts. The absolute worst part though is the ceilings. If the neighbor above you opens a cabiniet, you hear it, if they walk or talk, you hear it. I am waiting for the moment when our vertical neighbors fall through the ceiling into our room. </p>

<p>For privacy reasons I will not go into detail about this incident but I had a friend accidentally break a part of something that I could have gone to Lowes and easily fixed for $10. Leaving details out, they said if certain things happened, they were going to charge me $800 to fix it! If it had come to that I would have had no options but to take them to court over it. The actual maintenance staff is very cool and helpful though.</p>

<p>I haven’t had much experience with the clubhouse at all but I know many people use it to visit the gym and study in groups. From what I have heard, it is a nice place to go.</p>

<p>The bridge staff is helpful and will try their best to help you if you have a problem.</p>

<p>Wrapping things up, honestly I believe Bridge would only be right for you if you truly think you will have a very difficult time transferring in otherwise. When Bridge eventually moves onto Clemson’s campus, it will be a different story. Tri-County is not that difficult. My high school was much more difficult and challenging than TCTC. I know that had I not gone to Bridge, I would still have been able to transfer in to TCTC and saved plenty of money along the way. I will be honest and say that the restrictions they place on you relating to “recreational activities” are challenging. I know because I do my fair share of those. However, the Bridge kids are completely wild and I cannot support the restrictions more. Cars have been stolen, there has been vandalism, and people have even been kicked out for growing marijuana in their bedrooms. However, other restrictions such as not having candles, because of fire dangers are unheard of anywhere else. They will look through EVERYTHING when you are away and can do so at any time. This to me is simply unconstitutional whether you sign a lease or not. Even 4-year college dorms do not do that. I will say that prospective students should look at their SAT/GPA and seriously consider whether they can handle Bridge and/or Clemson. I know plenty of students who were let into the Bridge engineering/computer science programs only to find out they cannot even handle TCTC’s classes let alone Clemson’s. Needless to say, I highly advise against the Bridge Program, feel free to email if you have any questions.</p>

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<p>I think jones102 makes some good points - overall I feel that the Bridge program is the route to go only if you are absolutely sure that you want to go to Clemson (and you wouldn’t want to go somewhere else). Definitely feels like it would be a waste of money for someone from out-of-state but that’s just my personal opinion. It is definitely something you have to think about before you decide to commit to the program.</p>

<p>Highpointe is not anywhere close to Clemson and yes it is inconvenient to people who don’t have a car (and parking at Clemson without a parking pass is a hassle) - there is a shuttle from Highpointe but like Jones said, it isn’t exactly convenient either. That being said, you don’t have a lot of interaction with Clemson students as well since you are not taking classes there nor is there a lot of reason to be there. Don’t think I know of any buildings outside of Fike Recreation Center where you have to show your student ID to get in…also you probably can’t join intramural or club sports teams but I don’t see why you can join other student organizations as well (nobody in the ones I’m in ask if you are a bridge student).</p>

<p>Yes, there are some pretty hefty fees involved with the Bridge To Clemson program (probably as Jones mentioned, they can) - it might even be worth attending another state school, getting good grades and transferring back to Clemson than taking classes at a tech/community college. As for Highpointe, there’s got to be some deal there between Clemson and the developer of Highpointe (Tom Winkopp). It is expensive but on the other hand, it isn’t much more expensive than living in an on-campus apartment. I lived in Lightsey Bridge II last year and I think I paid $6,000-7,000/year.</p>

<p>I know some people who have lived at Highpointe for a while. Never heard any complaints about the water, definitely have above noises from people living above them. It seems that they enjoy living there though so that’s all I can comment about that. And yes I have also heard that the Bridge students at Highpointe can be crazy and out of control.</p>

<p>“Wrapping things up, honestly I believe Bridge would only be right for you if you truly think you will have a very difficult time transferring in otherwise.”
Think this statement sums it up nicely. I don’t think everyone should automatically run away from the Bridge program as I know many people who have been successful Bridge students and have now graduated from Clemson but it’s definitely not for everyone and be careful to think about what has been mentioned here and evaluate if that’s what you want for your freshman year experience.</p>

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<p>Hello everyone, it’s my first post and I just wanted to leave some feedback about the Bridge to Clemson program. My daughter got accepted almost the same reason as everyone else did, great high school GPA, but not high enough test scores. First semester went very well for my daughter, until roommate issues began to occur and classes that she was told would transfer to Clemson were not correct. Let me start with orientation in the summer of 2012: </p>

<p>Orientation was about 300 of us slammed in Tri County’s “Cafe”. Lunch? Terrible. The program was presented by administration and former students as almost a “promised land” route for students that wanted to get into Clemson, but didn’t make it. Highpointe seemed like a nice place to live and convenient. Wrong. Highpointe of Clemson is over 4 miles away from Tri County’s campus and 3.5 miles from Clemson’s campus. As another user posted, they made it seem like the students were going to be more apart of Clemson’s campus than TCTC. Wrong. Highpointe is off the beaten path to Clemson. Parking is a pain unless you want to fork over $70 for Clemson parking pass that you may use once or twice, add the $30 TCTC parking permit and that’s $100 in parking fee’s alone. The fee’s don’t stop there. $800 in security deposit, and fee after fee after fee from BOTH Clemson and TCTC. </p>

<p>Ok, let’s get back to the housing issues. Freshman year, 4 people to an apartment is a big step for most people. Anyway, my daughter was stuck in a situation where her roommate was smoking marijuana non-stop. My daughter called the “RA on duty” and she said nothing could be done about the situation. About 2 weeks later, the RA’s caught the roommate red-handed. The consequence for the roommate? Having to write a two page reflection paper about why she shouldn’t smoke marijuana. This is not a joke! Finally, I called the office and spoke with one of the administrators. Her attitude was nonchalant about the whole situation, which infuriated me. All I wanted was my daughter to be moved or the roommate moved. I simply got the response, “Nothing can be done.” Come to find out Oconee County Sherriff is called on a nightly basis to control the drug trafficking throughout Highpointe and the bridge program. </p>

<p>I would not recommend this program to anyone. The lack of knowledge of the staff and administration is unbelievable. My daughter could have just gone to Tri-County for over 2K cheaper and still transferred to Clemson within a year.</p>