<p>We are trying to make a decision about Parent's Weekend and some of the information seems very confusing. The one thing I do know is that we need to make hotel reservations ASAP. Any specific recommendations? We will be flying down from Ohio. Also, did anyone attend in previous years but not do all the registered events? I really think I just want to go see my daughter! We have purchased very expensive football tickets before we knew about getting them as part of the registration for Parent's Weekend. But then your kid can't sit with you? As you can see I'm a little conused by all of this. Just came from orientation, which was great, but a lot of information and my head is swimming. Thanks for any tips!</p>
<p>None of my friends’ parents came to Parents’ Weekend last year, and neither did mine, so I’ll try and answer your questions as best I can. Honestly I think the whole thing is a waste of money, especially if all you want to do is spend time with your daughter. The Clarion hotel is really great, it’s practically on campus (although not at all close to the stadium), and I’ve stayed there before. </p>
<p>As far as football tickets, if you purchased one for your daughter then obviously she will be able to sit with you. But she could sit in the student section for free, if she requested football tickets. The school also does a Parents’ Weekend tailgate before the game for all of the registered parents and their kids, so that’s nice.</p>
<p>Thanks. For some reason she is having trouble being able to log in to request football tickets. Everything else works for VIP. Hopefully she will get that figured out. We are coming down with some other friends and bought good seats to the game online. I think the tailgate party sounds fun, but apparently you have to register for the whole Parent’s Weekend package and I’m not sure I want to do all that. Especially if our daughter couldn’t even sit with us, I mean the whole point in coming down is to spend the time with her!</p>
<p>Hope2help - here’s my take (considering I live in town). You can register for PW and not purchase football tickets. That’s an option and you don’t need it. I did not register last year because I don’t really need to know more about USC. Many of the educational sessions are things you will have already heard and the classes you can visit are limited and prob not anything your child is in. I know it’s hard to create a personal experience for such a large school but my comparison is my other D small college where you actually go to their classes…much more interesting.</p>
<p>Isn’t she in honors? Last year the honors parents were invited separately to a picnic on Horseshoe and that’s the one thing my husband and I attended. No suprise it was hot, but it was nice to meet the kids/parents that D had been talking about since she started.</p>
<p>Since the card has come out in the mail, it is not too early to make hotel reservations, especially since it’s a football weekend. The Courtyard marriot on Assembly is the closest…only block from honors dorm. The Inn at USC is also nice. Those are the two I would recommend where you can just park your car and walk around campus.</p>
<p>As far as student football tickets go, expect chaos. They have changed the way they distribute tickets this year. Current students requested season tickets during the year…I assume incoming can also. It may be she can’t do that until she has gone to orientation and actually registered for classes or freshmen may have to pay fees first. It’s probably somewhere on website. Hopefully she will have friends to sit with and maybe ya’ll can do your own tailgate before hand. I agree that the one tailgate is not enough to pay for entire weekend. (Sidenote: when I was student 30 years ago, student ticket holders could not go elsewhere in stadium to sit with friends either…but it was easier to sneak around!)</p>
<p>I check the parents weekend site. Students may apply for football season tickets by July 16 deadline (and can’t apply until registered for classes). There will also be opportunities to get individual tickets the week before each game.</p>
<p>Both the Clarion and Marriot are $200+ per night for that weekend. Ouch!</p>
<p>However, I did find a loop-hole at the Clarion. They offer a “Riverbanks Zoo” package which gets you zoo tickets and free breakfast for $100-120 per night, the catch is you have to book for two nights.</p>
<p>I booked it and I don’t even know if we are going yet, but I didn’t want to miss the rate. I just checked, it’s still available on their web site.</p>
<p>My parents didn’t come for Parent’s Weekend and a lot of my friends didn’t.</p>
<p>A couple did. One of my friend’s parents came down. They did their own tailgate (I think it costs like $20 to get a parking space in the fairgrounds for a game) and invited us. It was a lot of fun.</p>
<p>I don’t really know anyone who did the Parent’s Weekend activities though… It’s probably really nice for those who are out-of-state (like yourself), but most of my friends ended up being from SC and NC, so we’re not too far from home.</p>
<p>We attended last year and had a blast. We live in DC area, so it was a drive… but was well worth it. On Friday we visited the president’s home on the horseshoe and attended the party at Strom. We then thoroughly enjoyed the tail-gate tent party and the game on Saturday. We saw our daughter here and there, met some of her friends, and just had a great time. The weekend was extremely well organized, with food and drink plentiful throughout. We are already signed up for Fall 2012. I guess it’s the southern hospitality… we felt very welcomed to the USC family.</p>
<p>We’re from Florida and my son is a freshman in August. He will be in the marching band, so we’re excited to see him march at a home game - we already registered for Parents week-end. Regarding hotels, the USC Courtyard is nice and ultra-convenient, but they jack the prices up for parents week-end (we are staying there for orientation next week). I researched and found both a courtyard and a townesuites 10 miles away in Harbison (not familiar with the area but believe there is a nice mall there?), and the prices are still under $100 per night for either that weekend. I hope I don’t regret having to drive the extra 10 miles each way, but I refuse to pay $200-$300 per night to be closer for the same level of hotel. I believe there is a shuttle, not sure how that works.</p>
<p>There is a shopping mall in Harbison, and it’s not bad. The only problem I see with staying 10 miles away is the traffic, which on Gameday is pretty awful. I guess you could park at the Coliseum and take the shuttle from there, but I’m not entirely sure.</p>
<p>We didnt go to the Parents Weekend until S was a senior! We felt we had just been there for orientation and move in Freshman year. He was in Honors, so we went to the Honors reception on the Horseshoe, the Presidents House reception (private gardens there are spectacular) the Strom dance reception (S had taken two semesters of swing dancing classes…very popular classes… so it was great to see him dancing to the beach music) the football tailgate (would skip this one, very crowded) and the game. S didnt sit with us, its just too much fun to sit in the student section with the “Sandstorm” antics,etc. We had a great time, it was the only year we didnt have to help him move in anywhere in August, he was living off campus and kept the same apt as the year before.the hospitality at USC is wonderful. I remember we has some trouble booking a hotel I think we wound up at a Holiday Inn express.S had a parking pass in a campus garage so he picked us up on gameday.</p>
<p>Another place to look is garners ferry/I77 area. Doesn’t look particularly pretty out the window but there are several that might be lower price (since intown I don’t really know how much game weekends increase $). Quality Inn, LaQuinta, Sleepin, Best western, Town place suite by marriot…these are mostly geared to Fort Jackson. Looks a little blah, but as you go garners ferry toward town, you are only mile or so from Woodhill Mall where the closest (to campus) Target is as well as BB&B, Panera, Starbucks. From there you are only 5-10 minutes to 5 points and USC. I-77 access is good way to go straight to game or airport. I would think less traffic stress than Harbison which can be a disaster.</p>
<p>Staying at Marriott TownePlace Suites Columbia Northwest/Harbison - AAA rate is $80 and they offer a free decent breakfast, that is a tough rate to beat for the quality (not a fan of some Holiday Inns, La Quinta, or Country Inns). I’ve stayed at many TownePlace Suites before, and they are nice and roomy, clean, good beds and televisons, with free wi-fi. I’m the type who will leave a couple hours early to beat traffic - though not sure my wife will be very happy with that, we are driving in from FL and will be there from the 20th on, so rate and quality will need to trump convenience.</p>
<p>The main thing about Harbison is how bad the rush hour traffic is. Starting around 4:30 going out from town is basically a crawl from zoo exit to harbison. Same coming in early in the morning, but that’s probably not an issue. On saturday and Sunday it won’t be that bad just annoying. Trick is that is you’re on campus Friday, eat dinner with child in town and don’t try to go back out til rush hour over.</p>
<p>Mall is nice and has major stores…also most major restaurant chains</p>
<p>@scmom12, good info, will take that into consideration!</p>
<p>Last year we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on Harbison at Columbiana Mall, it was probably the nices hotel I have ever stayed in (and I have stayed in a lot of 5 Star hotels), huge room, brand new everything, ultra clean with comfortable beds and hot tub in room.</p>
<p>We left for the stadium super early, and didn’t have any traffic issues. I had already learned that if you pretend like you are going to the band hall instead of the stadium, and then head to the stadium from the band room you can miss a lot of the traffic.</p>
<p>Marching band parents really don’t get any opportunity to spend with their student because the band will parade around campus and then around the stadium for hours. For those interested in seeing the band they stop and do a standstill show periodically in the parking lot adjacent to BoJangles (the parking lot where the parents day tent is setup). </p>
<p>We did stay Sat night and had breakfast with son on Sunday morning.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Hampton Inn Columbia Downtown Historic District and it was very good. We will be back there soon.</p>