We are OOS (MA) and my D was accepted to USC with pretty good scholarship. This was our third choice school but she did not get accepted to her choice 1 school, second one didnt get the program she wanted. USC has the perfect combination - good business program, reasonable tuition. We will be visiting on Admitted day April 6th.
Can kids or parents give me their honest opinion why you chose USC or why not USC from your choices. Need a little help with different perspectives
Business programs - Marketing - your thoughts ?
internship opportunities ?
Too much of social party scene ? I guess thats with most state schools
Airport preference ?
What dorms are preferable for freshman - good social life and proximity to classes ?
@Hope2019 We are also OOS (NoVa/DC area). It was my daughter’s #1 choice from early on due to weather, SEC football, Greek system, school size, and location in a city vs. out in the middle of nowhere (like, say, Clemson…). She was asked to join the Capstone program and has loved living in that dorm. Having great merit aid is certainly a bonus, and icing on the cake as far as we were concerned. It just checked all of her boxes. It’s 8 hours for her to drive home, so she’s only done that for the long winter break and flies for shorter breaks. We are fortunate to have direct flights from Columbia to both DC area airports. Super easy. Columbia’s airport is SO nice and easy to use–small and efficient. Her dorm is further away from campus and very far from Greek Village but is an extremely social dorm if you’re looking for that. She would definitely recommend a suite style or traditional dorm vs. apt. styles if you want to be social and meet a lot of people. It’s been a great experience overall. It is nearly 50% kids from OOS, which is quite different from most big state schools and a huge plus. Her friends are from all over the place and most in Capstone seem to be from OOS. Everyone down there is just so very friendly!!! I love visiting.
@taloolab it’s a city, and a college campus, and bad things seem to happen in both of those, no matter where you go to school. You need to go NOT having a false sense of security, stay in groups, and monitor your surroundings. A lot of college kids are naive and just do dumb things, like leave apartments unlocked because “they don’t like carrying a key around” (not kidding–I’ve heard this over and over again) and they come home to everything being stolen or a homeless person sleeping in their bed! Just use common sense ANYwhere you go. As a young person, you’ll be a target for a lot of people so it’s important to be aware at all times. Not to scare you–it’s about using common sense. I don’t feel that Columbia is any less safe than any other college campus and the surrounding area is as safe as any city.
My son chose Carolina (OOS VA)because of his major (#1 sports sciences), a sizable scholarship, internship opportunities, big sports, warm weather and a chance to do something a little different. VA has a lot of great schools but for in state kids it can be a bit like high school 2.0. Carolina provides something different.
@Hope2019 - We attended accepted students day over this past weekend and were very impressed. My son is also admitted into business school and is a Capstone Scholar. It was an enjoyable weekend, as we spent some time all around Columbia and found the area around the campus to be safe. We liked the vibe of the students: happy, relaxed and nice, while taking academics serious. You can’t beat the weather.
It was clear that they enjoy partying (especially in the Five Points area), but all the big public colleges have lots of partying going on. We flew into Charlotte because the flights were much cheaper and the drive was easy to Columbia.
The Business School is excellent. We were impressed how a student can apply to be part of the International Business Program (#1 in nation) and then double major with accounting, finance, marketing or management. We spoke with a bunch of business majors over the weekend and found them all serious and smart and they told us that the Darla Moore staff was helpful with internships.
I’m not sure about dorms. My son will be in Capstone so he will live there.
Despite how much we loved SC, my son is still considering all of his options!
@hope2019 - We too are OOS from Mass and my son is a sophomore at U of SC majoring in IB and Finance with a French minor. Like you we also wondered about which school to choose and USC in particular. We were focused in applying to schools that gave good merit scholarships as he plans to either attend law school or get a graduate degree at some point and graduating without student or parent debt was/is a priority. He is very happy with U of SC and the professors he has had. U of SC was very generous in giving him credit for his AP exams so he can either graduate early or take some fun courses in his senior year. He is a Capstone kid and loves that program. The business school is well run and pretty rigorous. I should mention that he has completed 2 study abroad trips and is looking forward to a semester abroad next year. USC and the Darla Moore school really value and emphasize an international element to college education. I think this makes a lot of sense looking at globalization now and in the future.
Our son wanted to go to college outside of the northeast bubble and U of SC has provided him with that opportunity. We feel that he is continuing to get a great education and we would recommend the school to you. He flies from Logan to Charlotte and takes the Columbia-Charolette shuttle (they are great) to campus.
Best of luck to you and I hope you enjoy accepted students day!
My kid was sort of in the same boat. We are OOS and this was one of her top 3 choices. She put the deposit down Sunday because : 1) it is the only campus she visited where she said “leave me here today and I’ll be happy.” 2. she got in state tuition 3) my niece is here as a junior in the business school and says it is the bomb, she is studying in France right now and has an internship at a firm in Chicago this summer 4) It is GORGEOUS (have you visited yet?) 5) it is in a city -yes there is crime, but she also got into BU and there is crime there too, as in any city 6) She likes the flexibility of creating her own major 7) she wanted to be OOS to get away from everybody in her high school 8) she said the students here were nicer and more passionate than the ones at some of the other campuses she visited. I’ll be curious to see what y’all think after admitted student’s day… Keep me posted!
PS she turned down 3 higher ranked schools for USC including a “public Ivy” because she just thought it was the best fit. For me, after busting her butt for 4 years I just want her to have some fun before the reality of life sets in.
There is a lot to be said for trusting your gut and going where you get that warm, fuzzy feeling. For my D, that was definitely USC. She just said it felt like home the minute she stepped on campus, and pretty much just felt anxiety at every other college campus!
