<p>USC is on our list of possible schools and we're visiting campus this summer. I've seen several articles about safety issues near campus, particularly the Five Points area, and even the school president saying it isn't safe and there are plans to offer more activities on campus. Can anyone familiar with the school and area give more info on security? Have more activities been added on campus? Is there truly a gang problem as I've read? Quite honestly, I want a better idea of how safe the area is before we spend time and money flying there to visit. While my daughter is interested in large schools located in cities that offer a variety of things to do rather than rural areas or smaller college towns, safety is my number one priority. Thanks for any insight you can share.</p>
<p>My daughter just finished her freshman year at South Carolina. They did have the one student shot at 5 Points toward the beginning of the year but I didn’t hear about anything else. I don’t think my daughter went tom5 Points very often and she tells me she hasn’t felt in danger ever. The shooting happened at 3am after a concert and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My daughter loves USC. My daughter did join a sorority so I think a lot of her social activity is not at 5 Points as much. </p>
<p>In my two years on campus at USC, I never had an issue. I was a pretty wild and reckless freshman when it came to my safety though. My friends and I really were not worried one bit. One night, my friend and I decided to go to the Strom at about 11pm and when while we were there, we got a text message saying that there was some sort of armed robbery and the suspect had run down Blossom Street… almost at the exact same time as my friend and I. The Strom went on a semi-lockdown and wasn’t letting anyone in and made everyone clear out at the same time. My friend and I freaked out and got a guy friend to come walk us home.</p>
<p>After that, I was always a lot more cautious and made sure to stay in groups at night… things that you should do anyways.</p>
<p>If you tell your daughter to be careful, don’t go out alone late at night, etc, then she’ll be fine. Just city smarts. There are 30,000 students at USC, making it the size of a small city. There are bound to be problems, you just have to be aware and if you are, more than likely you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>There are some issues, but I’d say, overall, USC is a pretty safe campus. They have a lot of features and systems put in place to make it safer. (Like a night shuttle, call boxes everywhere, good lighting, police escorts, etc.) Every year, they try to improve it and the whole student population is really big about increasing safety in all sorts of ways.</p>
<p>Also: It’s my experience that freshmen are the most carefree about safety. Not exactly sure why that is. My sophomore year, my roommate and I would invite girls over to our apartment and insist that we walk them back to their dorms, and a lot of the time they would run off before we could walk them home.</p>
<p>My d also just finished her freshman year at USC. She absolutely loves the school and tells me she has never felt unsafe. She actually had met the girl who got shot (was in one of her first semester classes) and felt horrible about that, but it didn’t seem to change her opinion of the school at all. She never told me about it at the time, knowing I’d flip out. Unfortunately in this day and age,that could really happen anywhere, though. We live close to Philadelphia and also go into NY city quite a bit, so to me, USC does not seem scary at all. It actually doesn’t even really seem like a city to me, but that’s because I have lived near a big city all my life. I guess it’s all relative to what you are used to. My other d goes to school basically in the “middle of nowhere” and there is crime there as well. My d looked at about 12 colleges and one of the main reasons she chose USC was because she loved the campus and felt “comfortable” there. From what I understand, Five Points is ok during the day, but you need to be very careful at night. My d and I actually walked around Five Points when I moved her out in May, and it’s fine in the middle of the afternoon. From looking at many colleges with my daughters over the past few years, I think most campuses have areas like that…some a lot worse. I did have to yell at my d several times this year for walking across campus by herself at night to go to the gym etc. LIke AUGirl said above, I do think freshmen feel invincible at times…but that should give you an idea of just how safe my d feels there!!! (even though I know she needs to be more careful!) I think you should definitely visit and see for yourself. We have several girls from our area who started there with my d and they all absolutely love it.</p>
<p>5 points is fine through dinner hour. Where it gets sketchy, IMO, is around midnight and definitely at 2am when bars close and push everyone into the streets. Often people loiter and it is prime situation for fights, etc. The bar that seemed to be magnet for gang members has been closed down. As a mom, I’m sticking with “nothing good happens after midnight”. There is stuff taking place on campus - it’s just not drinking, the reason most kids go to some of these places in 5 points (it’s not for great music). My D enjoys Vista and her group often walks there, but again, on the fringes of that area there is one more sketchy bar and there were shots fire there about a month ago - again in wee hours of am. USC has also gone back to some type of shuttle for 5 Points - they were providing cabs from the central fountain, but that’s where the girl who was shot was so nothing is foolproof. President Pastides is pushing for the area to be pedestrian only on weekends to control who is there but he can only make suggestions since it is city. City just got new police chief so we’ll see what he comes up with.</p>
<p>The city announced today that they are using funds formerly earmarked for one of the Vista festivals to pay more safety officers (not police) to patrol downtown and Vista in recognition that when The Hub (student apts) open on Main St. next fall that there will be more students walking around Main St and from there to Vista.</p>
<p>It’s an on-going problem that is being worked on. My D feels very safe on campus.</p>
<p>jennie11 What other schools are you considering visiting? My S ultimately has chosen USC and will be a freshman in the fall. I was also concerned when I read about the crime in Columbia. We did visit the school several times and Columbia is more like a town then a city. We ate dinner in the 5 points area and walked around a bit (prior to knowing about the area) and it was the only area in the vicinity of the school that felt sketchy. I would like to know if 5 points is the main area for students to visit after turning 21. Is there another area for the over 21 crowd to go out where they don’t have to worry about driving? Where do students venture out to when not on campus? Are the campus police visible? I realize there is no guarantee of safety at any school in any area. Blacksburg VA is a bucolic earthy safe town and look what’s happened there. I have a son who attends VT and he feels incredibly safe.</p>
<p>@VinMic2, we have already visited Univ of TX, SMU, and Alabama. We are visiting USC, UGA, and College of Charleston this summer. We’ve visited other schools, but she’s already pulled them off her list so these are the remaining possibilities at this point. </p>
<p>I do appreciate all the feedback from everyone. We’ll visit and continue to ask questions while there. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’d say the over 21 crowd tends to go more towards the Vista (although a lot still are over at Five Points), which is also walk-able from USC. It’s safer and more upscale. The reason lots of kids go to Five Points is because there are a lot of bars in the area that will accept fake ID’s or won’t card at all. The Vista is more strict with this, so the under-21’s don’t go over there for bars. They go there more for eating out.</p>