<p>our son was accepted into USC Honors College and received Coopers Scholarship....YAY!</p>
<p>Letter mentions Scholars Day on April 5th. Any insight/comments about this event? Thanks.</p>
<p>It's an all day event held at the Strom with all departments represented by dept heads and faculty. There are separate meetings for groups like Capstone Scholars etc. They have mock classes the kids attend to get a feel for things....some very cool real classes are represented like "Super Bowl Commercials/Advertising" they hold campus tours for those who haven't had one. They serve lunch, have student panel discussions, do dorm tours have Q&A sessions etc.</p>
<p>There's a room with booths set up representing most student organizations/activities, info about the Greek system and rush etc.</p>
<p>D met up with another CC parent's (PAmom's) D (we had arranged to meet for breakfast, much to both kids consternation) and they spent the day together, got along well and they ended up deciding to room together freshman year several days later.</p>
<p>All-in-all we felt it worthwhile. We had only visited in the summer and were again there on a weekend so we knew that the campus would again be pretty quiet. We planned/opted to stay through Monday and had them arrange for her to attend several real classes Monday morning. This way we could see the campus when it was in full swing with normal operations and students everywhere just to get a better feel for things...it really helped her decision process since she was also accepted to UGA, Clemson, Auburn Honors and several others with good merit monies at many of them..</p>
<p>tuck
congrats to Son! If you haven't visited or visited in summer, Scholars Day is a nice campus intro.Everyone attending will be a recipient of some academic award. Its a great idea to extend the visit as Eadad did till Monday if possible to attend regular classes, see the campus in full action,etc.</p>
<p>Tuck. Congrats to S. If S has not visited please make sure he visits before he makes his final decision. It is a very good school and a very nice campus. I agree with the previous posters you want to visit when the students are on campus and classes are in sesssion, that way your son will get a better feel for the school.</p>
<p>thanks all for your speedy replies re scholars day
we will definitely take your suggestion and stay on into monday...great idea!
it will be good to have more time to explore all usc has to offer as son has only spent one day on campus prior to this event
usc is definitely on his "very" short list! us transplanted texans are looking forward to the george strait concert and good bbq!!!!!</p>
<p>try the Palmetto Pig thats where the kids go for BBQ</p>
<p>SC gave my son a great scholarship. We are from MA. Can anyone discuss how many northern kids actually come here? Would he feel out of place? It seems from our campus visit last summer that most of the students at SC are from the Southeast. Our son was interested in ROTC and that is why he applied at SC. He is not interested in ROTC anymore. His other choices would be Penn State (no financial aid at 34K), and UMASS, costing the same as SC. We are intrigued to be wanted and given the scholarship, and are thinking seriously of attending the scholars day.</p>
<p>Lots of OOS kids appear to be from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. D also has friends from MA and CT and all three of her roommates next year are from NJ.</p>
<p>We are from Texas but with Northern/Midwestern roots; she has NEVER felt out of place. You can PM me with more specific questions if you like but it may be late or tomorrow before I answer...tickets to the Mavs -Celtics game tonite........</p>
<p>kevinsmom
S is from suburban NYC area.One roommate is from Pittsburgh.Other friends from Virginia,NJ,Texas,upstate NY,another Long Island girl,Florida.He mixes easily with local kids,and his best three friends are all from SC. We had lots of the north-south trepidation going in but all is good especially in the Honors and Capstone settings where lots of kids are out of state.You'd be surprised lots of faculty from Northeast as well, and Administrators.
I encourage you to attend the Scholars Day and stay over till Monday if you can to see the campus in action,studentwise.We visited UMass as well b/c of S's major(S applied and was accepted with scholarship $) but there was no comparision as to quality of the institution.</p>
<p>Do you need to get an invitation to Scholar's Day? I was offered the Woodrow Scholarship ($10,000/year) so would I be qualified to go?</p>
<p>I don't think you will find any issue with being OOS at SC. My D is a freshman in the honors college. We are from the Chicago area. D has friends from SC, but seems to have more frieinds who aren't from SC. Her sorority also seems to have more OOS girls. I think some of the SC kids do go home more often, so those who live farther away and don't get home often tend to spend more time together.</p>
<p>kevinsmom,</p>
<p>We are from Maryland. Our sophomore daughter is in the honors college. She loves SC. She has plenty of friends from both instate and OOS.</p>
<p>kevinsmom or others</p>
<p>If you decide to go and want some recommendations for dining spots etc you can PM me.</p>
<p>Everyone,
Thanks all for the info. We will decide this weekend about the scholars day!</p>
<p>Hey all. I'm currently an OOS freshman at USC. If you guys do decide to come to Scholar's Day, I definitely recommend staying over til Monday so you can get a feel of what the school is like on regular, non-prospective oriented days. If you want to stay over with a current student or just spend some time hanging out with some, feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can find someone to host.</p>
<p>We live in Greenville, SC. However, is registration starts at 7:30am we will probably want to spend Friday night in Columbia. Last time we visited, we stayed at the Inn at USC. However, since this is on the opposite side from the event location... any recommendations on where to stay. We will have 4 in our party.</p>
<p>There's a new Courtyard by Marriott right across the street from the Coliseum and Koger Center that is probably the closest hotel to the venue. There's also a new Convention Center Hilton near The Vista but you can literally drive right down the street to the Coliseum parking which is where you'll be parking.</p>
<p>The Inn at USC is still the best deal around with the free breakfast buffet though especially when you let them know you're there for Scholar's Day.</p>
<p>the Downtown Hampton Inn in the Vista,right next to the new Hilton is really pleasant and has the free breakfast as well. i think their rates would be more reasonable than the Hiltons.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on hotels. I almost waited too late to make reservations for Friday night. Courtyard Marriott & Inn at USC were fully booked. Downtown Hampton Inn had smoking rooms only. We got a room at the new Hilton (cost $10 more than Hampton Inn).</p>
<p>Anyone else planning on going? My D was accepted into Capstone and also invited to live in Preston. Therefore, we are going to take a look at Capstone & Preston while we are there.</p>
<p>The new Hilton is very nice and has a Ruth Chris steakhouse in the lobby; we stayed there for parent's weekend. There is one quirk to the place though; as I recall rooms with king beds only have showers-no bath tubs so if you have someone who likes baths you might verify when checking in if there is a tub in the room....</p>
<p>Great location you can walk to any restaurant in the Vista and it is literally two or three minutes max to the Coliseum.</p>