<p>Hey,
I've been looking at universities for a while. At first, I was debating between Furman University and USC honors, but now Furman doesn't seem to call my attention as much. I recently heard Clemson had an Honors program (Calhoun Honors College), and since I've been to visit Clemson before and have liked its rural setting a little better than USC's more urban setting, I also took it into consideration. What are the pros and cons of both? I know USC Honors seems to be a more "famous" than Clemson Honors. I'm looking at studying at one of these places for undergrad. I'm interested in finance, European history, and possibly political science. I haven't chosen yet which of the three I'll major in, but if you asked me today, I see myself as a banker in 10 years. I have also wanted to minor in French and do a semester away in France, or possibly another French-speaking European country like Luxembourg or the French part of Switzerland. Both honors colleges seem to have decent study-away programs. Also, I enjoy playing tennis a lot, do swimming, some soccer, and play the piano and viola. Obviously my first priority, though, is the strength in education in finance (and secondarily in European history and poli sci)... the rest of the stuff is not as important.
Also, lets say I wanted to study at Princeton for a graduate degree (that's not my plan right now, but who knows what my plans will be in 4 years... just wanna leave doors open), which of the two would be more helpful in getting me into Princeton?
Thanks for any help!!</p>
<p>Clemson has a fantastic business program. On a whole, there are many positives to Clemson. The business program is solid (and even better since you are in honors) and should you for some reason decide to choose something other than business, on a whole, a degree from Clemson is much more respected than USC (Clemson is like 22nd among public colleges in US News, USC is like 50th?). In the latest BusinessWeek magazine, Clemson was ranked 71st overall and USC was ranked 92nd overall. In that same ranking, they gave Clemson’s teaching quality, facilities & services & job placement a B while they gave USC the same grades except for job placement where they got a C. (source: [Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2011 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?))</p>
<p>Study abroad programs are fantastic, here are the list of places you can go study abroad with business ([Study</a> Abroad Programs : Clemson University](<a href=“http://www.clemson.edu/cbbs/spdp/studyabroad.html]Study”>http://www.clemson.edu/cbbs/spdp/studyabroad.html)), also Clemson has a business center in Brussels where many students study abroad at. </p>
<p>As for the Princeton question, let’s be honest, neither of these schools have a significant advantage since they are not “top-tier” universities, so as long as you can keep your GPA up, get involved on campus and build an impressive resume, you can go somewhere great for college.</p>
<p>I’m a civil engineering student at Clemson and I absolutely love it! Let me know if you have any more questions or if I didn’t address anything that you wanted me to!</p>
<p>USC has the stronger undergrad business program as well as political science, but there probably isn’t much material difference for European history, although USC has a much larger variety of courses for you to take. I think USC honors would be more likely to land you a spot at Princeton for grad school (but remember Princeton doesn’t have a business school). You could end up at an elite grad school coming from Clemson, but grad schools very much take undergrad into account in admissions, as they’re more likely to admit from schools that they’re familiar with or whose programs’ quality they’re certain of. Given the difference in selectivity between the two, I’d also say that the honors program at USC has a stronger student body than honors at Clemson.</p>
<p>But I think you need to explore more to see which one is really for you. These superficial differences won’t matter much if you find you definitely like one or the other more.</p>
<p>^I think there’s a misunderstanding here, I took USC to mean University Of South Carolina, I think phantasmagoric is referring to the University of Southern California</p>
<p>I am referring to University of South Carolina…
Your answer was very thorough pierre0913. do you know how the honors program works at Clemson? I know that in USC it’s like a college within a college, but I wasn’t quite sure how it was at Clemson.
Also, any suggestions as to how I could “research” it more? I have a feel for both campuses but I have no idea how the classes are
Thanks so much and this is a great help!</p>
<p>and thanks phantasmagoric
what I meant by Princeton was really Ivy-league level universities haha I didn’t really mean to single out Princeton</p>
<p>I honestly have no idea how the honors program works as I am not in it (I’m too stupid haha)</p>
<p>The best way to “research” Clemson more is to visit and take a campus tour but you’ve already done that. Apparently, you can also meet with honors students (aka “ambassadors”) in the honors college: [Schedule</a> a Visit : Clemson University](<a href=“Apply”>Apply)
If you click on their names on this page too, you can send them a email with any questions: [Calhoun</a> Honors College Ambassadors : Clemson University](<a href=“Apply”>Apply)
I can personally vouch for Caleb Ahrns (also think he was an RA this year), and Dan Telsey (great guy) and I’m sure they’d be happy to answer your questions! Also, I’ve heard of her but don’t know her personally but Liz Johnson is a financial management major so she might be someone to contact as well.</p>
<p>This website and links should help you get a feel for what the honors college is like! [Prospective</a> Honors Students : Clemson University](<a href=“Apply”>Apply)
Sorry I can’t help you out more since I’m not a member of the honors college.</p>
<p>if you are interested in Poli Sci and business, South Carolina is a better choise IMO</p>
<p>according to this brochure (<a href=“http://business.clemson.edu/polisci/posc_brochure.pdf[/url]”>http://business.clemson.edu/polisci/posc_brochure.pdf</a>), Clemson has sent political science majors to grad schools at Harvard, Michigan, Virginia, Rice, Duke, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Texas, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Pennsylvania State, CUNY Graduate Center, Emory, Florida, Wake Forest and Florida State.</p>