Usc???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of South Carolina
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<p>Hey, I'm a junior from California and I'm trying to finalize my college list. I recently came about USC. They seem like the perfect school. They have the best major in the world. Entertainment and Sport Management. A football scene that brings in 80k people to every game. An urban location, with a very nice campus. Warm weather (60-80 degrees throughout the school year). A party school reputation with a large greek scene. Bars and Clubs abound. Beaches less than 2hrs away. And really hot girls. Also if you get an OOS scholarship you also receive instate tuition. And a Burger King and Pizza Hut on campus. It sounds amazing...</p>

<p>However, I have had a very bad experience with the South. I went to Nashville, and I really didn't like it. Everyone had this dumb look on their face and I just don't understand why they still wave the confederate flag. I know it's a symbol of southern pride , but it also offends a lot of people. And it just felt like I was in a backwards world. And I definitely hate country music. I don't know how Columbia, SC is...so if you would like to compare it to my Southern experience that would be great. And I would love to hear your opinion of USC!</p>

<p>Also my basic stats are a 3.5UW/3.7W, SAT somewhere between 1100-1300. And I'm top 10% of my class. With strong ec's (sports, community service, leadership positions), good essays and good recs too.</p>

<p>Thanks. And info on the Entertainment and Sport Management major would be great.</p>

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<p>My S just finished his freshman year as an out of state sports Management major(home in in New York). Unless you can suspend the attitude about the South,you won't like it there.Otherwise, its everything you say and more.He's had a stupendous year.
I would temper a bit on the party scene,huge frat presence.Probably not quite as large as you think.
And you might want to check the stats on the scholarships.You may need the higher end of your SAT's and grades to win the scholarships there.
Sports Management major is among top 4 ranked in the country.Lots more info about it is on the departments website.</p>

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<p>D also just finished freshman year in the Sports management program and is also OOS. I agree with caythymee that you will need to lose the attitude about the South if you want to fit in and have a good experience there. That is not to say that there aren't elements within the school that are VERY Southern because there are in fact several fraternities and sororities that are still re-living the glory days of the Old South but in general that is NOT the case.</p>

<p>USC is becoming a HOT school for all the reasons you mentioned plus the fact that President Sorensen is working very hard to strengthen every area of the school and to bring in more of the best and the brightest by enticing them with generous merit money. The party school reputation is perpetuated by the student body but in all honesty, compared to some SERIOUS party schools, is much more hubris than fact. Read this as "don't believe the Tee shirts...."</p>

<p>I'm not saying they don't party but outside of schools like Bob Jones University in Greenville or Oral Roberts in Tulsa, which schools don't party? The Greek scene while bigger than at some schools like UNC, pales in comparison to the other more "Southern" schools like Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss etc. You certainly don't have to be Greek at USC to be a part of the social scene as you do at these other schools.</p>

<p>If you have a problem with the Confederate flag being on display,(and I'm not saying that it shouldn't bother you) know that it still flies in front of the Capital building right down Assembly Street and only until the last few years still flew over it!</p>

<p>The Sports Management program is over 70% OOS so the regional and cultural diversity within that program far exceeds that of the overall school. In addition the Capstone Scholars program was 56+% OOS this year which made Capstone House a nice place for OOS students to easily acclimate.</p>

<p>Every part of the country has its strengths and weaknesses. Overall the pace in the South is a bit slower and more relaxed and people do tend to speak a little softer and a little slower but the biggest mistake you could make would be to correlate that with lack of intelligence. </p>

<p>The Columbia metro area is rapidly growing. There was an article in this past Sunday's newspaper that said that the population had grown from about 590,000 in 2000 to I believe over 730,000 in 2006. Downtown Columbia has major mixed use construction projects going on everywhere and there is a rapidly growing number of urban townhomes and condominiums that are in the $350,000-$500,000 range not only around the campus but also other downtown areas.</p>

<p>My D turned down UGA, Clemson and other "higher ranked" schools to enroll in USC's Sport's management program and, like cathymee's S, had a "stupendous" year. In all honesty I don't think that she or we could have asked for a better outcome.</p>

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<p>eadad
In light of the "moving slower" scenario,S returned home sunday and felt right away at the airport that everyone around him was moving way too fast..and talking too fast as well.
He's returning there next week to take the Maymester Sports Mgmt class thats travelling to baseball stadiums for two weeks...what could be better than that?
Hope D had a great first year experience as he did in the dep't.Overall, we think he made the wise choice over U Mass's,UMich and UMaimi's programs.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the information. The school really seems great, but I'm not sure if I want to be submerged in Southern culture. I'm still unsure if I want to apply or not, so I would love to hear some more opinions of USC. Thanks.</p>

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<p>"the Maymester Sports Mgmt class thats travelling to baseball stadiums for two weeks"</p>

<p>That sounds amazing! I was going to be a sports management major but I switched to Broadcast Journalism and plan on minoring in sports management. I'm so excited for next year.</p>

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<p>DD was accepted to USC last year but ultimately chose to go elsewhere. It had NOTHING to do with the culture on the campus, it was the size of the school. She wanted something smaller and sadly, while she got a McKissick Scholarship, she did not get accepted to Capstone (which would have made the big school smaller). DD loved USC...thought the college itself was terrific. There were many folks from all sorts of places and the campus itself, while southern polite (which we all loved), was not "slow moving southern" but rather was very cosmopolitan in DD's view. DD and I continue to recommend this university to students looking for a large flagship U in a different part of the country. Columbia IS a southern city, but is growing in leaps and bounds. BTW...we are from the northeast.</p>