I am a senior in hs and I’m choosing rn between University of Arizona and University of South Carolina. I like a lot of things about U of A that USC doesn’t have and vice versa. I have done a lot of research on both schools, as much as I can, but I still don’t really know what the social scene is like at each, and I have only been able to see what people post on here about them. I really liked the people and campus at USC but I feel like there isn’t a lot to do besides go to bars. I also was wondering if bars get boring if they’re your only option for 4 years. I know it’s easy to get in with fakes but I heard the cops have been more strict lately and are catching people who are drinking underage and I don’t want to have that happen. I know that U of A has a lot of parties and is a really fun school but I don’t really go to house/frat parties because they aren’t that fun (in my opinion) and also get boring when you go a lot. Are bars and clubs easy to get into at U of A with fakes?
Can someone who attends either school mind clarifying if I have the right idea about each school or if there is more I should know about the social scenes?
@kt3319, Well, there are quite a lot of things to do within 2 hours of Univ. of South Carolina. My kid will probably be going to USC too. We do live 20 mins north of the school so we know the place. In town, there are bars, and your local clubs. Then, there’s the river just to the west where people go kayaking and canoeing every weekend. If you want to really go hiking, the blue ridge mountains are 2 hrs away. You’ve got Charlotte just an hour north with even more things to do. You can make a weekend trip to the beach (Myrtle beach or Charleston) with both being about 2 hours away. Charleston’s downtown also has a very old historic feel to it. It all depends on what you want to do. The only thing they don’t have here is Las Vegas and the desert.
Columbia isn’t that big with about an 800K metro area, but then there’s Charlotte with a larger 2M pop. metro, and you can easily travel to scenic destinations about 2-3 hrs away whether it be at the beach or up the mountains. Being from Southern Cali, this is the closest thing to Cali that I can find.
What are you looking for? You don’t want to bar hop, but you don’t like frat/house parties either? I would personally find all bars boring over 4 years. What you are going to find is that you will change over the 4 years and what you found thrilling first year will not be as enticing even by Sophmore year. South Carolina is a very social school, especially in the Fall. SEC football is quite an experience. There is a strong Greek life, and non-Greek options as well.