<p>rockville mom
S was a Sports Management major who was also in the Honors College (graduated Dec 2010). Some of the SpM classes can be large…for example the required computer class and the intro SpM class. His Honors classes were capped, and some were downright tiny-sized.English classes and i believe Math are also capped.
S had a wonderful experience (we live in the suburbs of NYC) loved being in the South and the general friendliness and pace of life on campus. His best friends made there are all from below the Mason-Dixon line. His experience with SpM was excellent,the faculty is knowledgable and industry savvy. S managed to wrangle excellent internships…but it was through much hard work on his part in addition to using the dept resources.He did minor league baseball, NFL football and the UFC in Las Vegas internships. Unfortunately, the job market isnt so great, so he is working in a somewhat related field doing customer service and he’ll keep applying.Hey, he is at least employed full time with a decent salary and benefits!!
The campus is urban, especially the area around where SpM mjaors have the majority of their classes (think streets with through traffic but not crowded pedestrian type ) but the older part of the campus (the Horseshoe-google it for images) is just beautiful, historic, shady ,green,lively.There is plenty of open space and the recreational facilities are wonderful (the Strom).The football stadium and whole SEC football scene is a sight to behold and be a part of.Its one of the reasons S chose the school. There is a somewhat active chapter of the alumni association here in NYC that gets together for game viewing (they have their own “home” bar they congregate at).S was a city savvy kid and Columbia and the campus didnt faze him a bit,where he disliked Boston U and NYU type of settings. What they call traffic and parking problems make us chuckle.Its a nice little city with decent amenities,some excellent restaurants, a wonderful art museum and zoo. Another place to stay right next to campus and not having to use a car is the Courtyard by Marriott…its especially close to the SpM dept. We favored the Hampton Inn in the Vista area someone already mentioned…surrounded by good eating spots for the parents!</p>
<p>Lynchburg - November! That must have been awesome! You and cathymee have really increased my interest in USC. It really sounds great. Are either of you familiar with Virginia Tech or James Madison? My son is applying there as well and we have visited both of those - both fairly rural areas. Personally - I would find city life more appealing - more to do. Any interesting points of comparison between JMU, VT and USC besides the obvious difference in the surrounding areas?</p>
<p>I second the Courtyard by Marriott suggestion. It’s basically on the USC campus.</p>
<p>And yep. When I originally joined the site, I was a huge AU fan. xD</p>
<p>Also worth noting: If anyone has a student in band, then they should definitely check out the marching band. They reduce out of state tuition for all participants and there aren’t any auditions for wind players. They also give another $400 scholarship on top of that.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the info about the marching band tuition reduction for OOS Students!</p>
<p>Along the same lines, I believe that I also read that they would give members of Concocktion another $400 on top of the marching band scholarship. I believe that Concocktion is basically a pep band that only has percussion/brass/saxaphones, but I may be mistaken about that. Plus, members of Concocktion also get an additional $18 per performance during the winter semester. It doesn’t sound like much, but with an average of 3 performances per week, it could be some decent beer money (oops, I mean book money).</p>
<p>RockvilleMom,</p>
<p>Yes, we left MD and moved to VA intending for the kids to go to VA colleges but, of course, neither of them did. . . </p>
<p>I told daughter she could apply wherever she liked but she had to apply to two in-state schools as safeties (financially and admission-wise). She did not like UVA or WM in the least (sorry, if I offend anyone but she saw them as too snooty). So, she applied to JMU and VT. It also worked well as an incentive to keep her scholarship at USC. We told her if her grades dropped or she got into trouble, we were not willing to pay the out-of-state-tuition. We told her she would have to come back to Virginia. She got into both VT and JMU as well as four other schools. She, obviously, never lost her scholarship at South Carolina!</p>
<p>Her take on VT – rural, isolated and she thought the buildings were cold and unfriendly looking. The academics are good but she was interested in international business and SC is far better for that.</p>
<p>JMU – boring, just plain boring. Also did not like the way I-81 cuts right through the campus. Their business school is good but, again, the International Business program at USC is consistently #1 or #2 in the country. Now, your son might like this part: girls far outweigh boys at JMU and my daughter looked around and said “where are the guys?” </p>
<p>She also didn’t like the mountains – cold, snowy winters.</p>
<p>Now . . . this is just a girl thing–I know your’s in a boy . . . but the lack of “decent” shopping caused consternation! She was used to Tyson’s, after all. Columbiana Mall has most of the major retailers and there are lots of cute independents in Columbia. Harrisonburg and Blacksburg just didn’t cut it. She’s very much into the Lilly Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines etc and South Carolina is heaven for that.</p>
<p>She also was really excited about the big SEC football scene. If you can swing a visit to Columbia during a football game (even if you can’t get tickets), you’ll see it is a wild experience. The whole city just vibrates with excitement! I know VT has a great program but the ACC just isn’t quite the same. JMU’s sports programs are nice but they’re really not anywhere near the same experience.</p>
<p>Just walking around Williams-Brice Stadium with the tailgaters and listening to Sir Big Spur crow and watching fireworks after every touchdown is amazing. And, you know your child is there having fun with 80,250 of their closest friends!! The roar of the crowd can be heard for miles!</p>
<p>If your son is into Sports Management, I would think the connections he’d make in the SEC would be beneficial. I’m sorry I have no information about that program.</p>
<p>Have fun in your college search!</p>
<p>Rville Mom: def schedule a visit to Columbia and plan to spend time walking all parts of the big campus - my son, incoming frosh from So NJ, fell in love with it from the start - have been there three times since last summer and we like it more and more each time, and have discovered add’l parts to the campus each time after thinking we’ve see it all…the Courtyard Marriott is right next to campus as well, and a great spot to stay…at first, I wasnt thrilled with the urban-like setting as I had a leafy campus in mind, but my son liked it because of the urban aspect and it has grown on me very much…as previous posts have said, its definitely not like mid-Atlantic or northeast cities, and its true you dont really feel the urban aspect when on campus…I liked the Annapolis/Naval academy comparison by a previous post…also, was pleasantly surprised my son rec’d a woodrow scholarship which reduced tuition close to in-state, even though SATs were “only” just over 1100.</p>
<p>rockvillemom
S didnt consider VT or JMU he was dead set on the major players in the SpM world…applied and was accepted toU of Miami,UMich,UMass,U Florida. Got varying scholarship $$ to them all, USC beat them after visits and with their scholarship offer ( S was a McNair Scholar).By the way, new chair of the SpM dept at USC came from U Miami, S had gone to a summer program at Miami with him…Andy Gillantine.
He wanted big school, big sports, high quality SpM. UMass prob has the best SpM in the country but didnt stack up with sports, physical setting of the campus,etc.
S now has two friends in grad school at VT but they are engineers…</p>
<p>Rockvillemom,
I have a freshman honors student this year plus hubby and I both attended. I will mention that bigger freshman classes have put squeeze on housing. Freshmen have to live on campus and are guaranteed housing but after that it gets more iffy. As parent of daughter, I really hate the idea that she’ll have to move off campus, but I think that’s the case at many schools. If it’s an issue, be sure and check out options that give you more control over housing. There are living/learning communities - not sure if one for that major - and those also have some dedicated sections on freshman classes which helps with size plus gives students an instant social group. Also check out Capstone scholars. This is for good students that fall below honors college standards but are all put in one dorm for freshman year, core class sections that meet in dorm and social events.</p>
<p>The campus is a real campus in a city (as opposed to college of chas where it seems the buildings are intertwined with city). In the core of campus you don’t feel like you are in city.</p>
<p>Wow - thanks very much. Sounds like if he wants a big school with big sports this might be the way to go. A little further from home than we had planned - but in-state tuition pays offsets a few plane tickets, right? Now I just have to figure out when to fit in a visit.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom, its an easy 8hr drive from the Baltimore burbs, so you should be able to make it in 7.5 or better if you can clear Quantico VA by 6:30AM.</p>
<p>You know - I actually was looking at Mapquest - and thought heading down 81 into NC and then heading in the direction of Charlotte would be the way to go. We have just given up on taking 95 south through Virginia - it is always horrible. Older son is at Wake Forest and we now use 81 - maybe a little longer in terms of mileage - but more scenic - less stressful drive. </p>
<p>It’s hard right now when it is 101 degrees out to think about cold weather - but it might make for a nice weekend trip in the late fall. Or maybe we’ll wait and see if he is accepted and then go to an accepted students day.</p>
<p>If your son gets any kind of scholarship, I would definitely go to Scholars’ Day (which someone mentioned earlier). It’s at the end of March, if I’m not mistaken. They pull out all the stops, and I got a lot of good information when I went and it ultimately lead me to choosing USC. I got there the day before, and I was also able to meet with the guy in charge of recruitment for my department and got to sit in on a class.</p>
<p>I agree with jmarietol. I accompanied our son to Scholar’s Day this past March. He had visited USC before but wanted to confirm his disposition to attend. Plus, it was my first visit to USC. (My wife had accompanied our son to Columbia earlier in the year.) The weather was terrible – lots of rain – but I was very impressed with what I saw. By the way, earlier contributors are correct…for those of us who have lived in a major Northeast metropolitan area, the city of Columbia around the USC campus does not seem particularly urban.</p>
<p>P.S., Rockville Mom…re. your earlier questions about Virginia Tech, our daughter attends VT so I am quite familiar with the school. I will do a subsequent post over the weekend.</p>
<p>RockvilleMom, I’m still trying to think of negatives . . .</p>
<p>However, I did think of one more nice thing that I think makes Carolina special. They are one of the few big, state universities that still call out each graduate"s name at Commencement. They walk across the stage, shake hands with Dr. Pastides and have a picture taken!</p>
<p>They break the Commencement ceremonies up by school – The Moore School was on Friday, Hospitality was Saturday etc. That way the size is manageable. I’m not sure how the Faculty does it for three straight days but it was wonderful from a parent’s perspective. After all that hard work, they deserve the recognition and kept the crowd a bit smaller! The ceremony is inside at the Colonial Life Arena. </p>
<p>Also, Columbia is only about 90 minutes or so from Wake. The speed limit goes up at the SC line. Visit son #1 on Friday, then go to experience the football game atmosphere at Carolina on Saturday – you’ll be sold. (just be sure it’s a home game!)</p>
<p>Sorry, still no negatives.</p>
<p>I think that most of the cons, like most of the pros, are realitive and very dependant on what one is looking for. </p>
<p>I think that I saw on US News and World Report that it is ranked somewhere around 118th. Thats out of 1,600 (or something like that). So for someone who is concerned with prestige, that could be a pro or a con, just depending on what schools they are comparing it to. For someone not worried about prestige, that probably wouldn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>It’s very difficult for me to think of any cons because to my family, there simply arn’t any. It’s not that we are “in the bag” for USC, it’s just it’s a good fit for my son (we hope). It would be a lot easier to think of the cons if it was a school that he didn’t enroll in - I can think a a dozen or more cons for all the schools he considered but didn’t enroll in. </p>
<p>For some unbiased cons, one would probably have to seek them from someone who did not enroll in USC.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions of Scholars Day in March - if he gets a merit scholarship - I guess that would be the time to go. (And while I hate to assume - I would think that with a 3.93 wgpa and 30 ACT he should get something - maybe McKissick?)</p>
<p>Here’s a question for you. We are Jewish - and one of my original reasons for not including USC on the list was that there does not seem to be much of a Jewish population there. Small Hillel - small chapter of Jewish fraternity AEPi. I would describe my son as not terribly religious - but he does enjoy socializing with both Jewish and non-Jewish friends. He is kind of quiet, laidback kid and a very casual dresser. How does USC sound as a fit with this additional info?</p>
<p>No, I don’t think being Jewish will matter at all. You’re talking about 26,000 students. Will some be a pain and prejudiced? Yeah. The vast majority? No.</p>
<p>Is it a problem for your son at Wake? That’s a Baptist school and W-S is very conservative and Christian. Doesn’t Wake even still have a Divinity School?</p>
<p>Also, trivia here: one of the oldest synagogues in America is in Charleston – founded in the 1740s. And there is a synagoguge in Columbia – Beth Shalom. (isn’t there a Beth Shalom on Seven Locks Road?) And, one of SC’s most famous sons right now is Ben Bernanke, and even his little town of Dillon had a synagogue.</p>
<p>There are a good number of students from the Mid-Atlantic area and the school (and SC) is more diverse than you think. Did you know there is a Jewish studies program? [Welcome</a> to the Jewish Studies Program at the University of South Carolina](<a href=“Jewish Studies Program - Jewish Studies Program | University of South Carolina”>Jewish Studies Program - Jewish Studies Program | University of South Carolina) </p>
<p>He’ll be fine if he decides he likes Carolina!</p>
<p>South Carolina (the state) overall has a very small Jewish population. It’s predominately Baptist and Methodist. I don’t think that would be an issue. Despite what you may see at the movies, there is lots of religious tolerance here.</p>
<p>I have lived in SC for most of my adult life, about an hour and a half from Columbia. I also went to two colleges in SC. I have never been denied the opportunity to worship as I choose. I have never in any way, not even the slightest, been harassed over religion (and I am not Baptist or Methodist).</p>
<p>Columbia is large enough that there will be a choice synagogues for your son to attend if he chooses to. To the student body, faculty, and staff your son will just be another student, not a “Jew”.</p>
<p>Highly religious students tend to go to the many colleges here that are supported by their faith groups. But even at the religious affiliated colleges, everyone is welcome (with the possible exception of Bob Jones University). I went to a SC college supported by a religious group and honestly never noticed that it had any religious affiliation what so ever. The state colleges are going to be even more religion blind.</p>