<p>Hi all. I'm a PA mom sending a new gamecock on her way in a few weeks. I'm horribly nervous (this is my one and only). My first worry is that USC may be a suitcase school on non-football weekends. Fortunately, her roommate is from MD so that's not an easy drive either. Should we allow her to have a car after fall break? I'm not so worried about what to bring as much as how she will do (although I've not expressed this to her as I've only given her my most upbeat voice)!! She's confident, caring and smart, so I'm sure she'll be fine. She's staying in Columbia Hall--anything I should know? One last question...HOW do you get football tix for parent weekend?</p>
<p>I had many of the same concerns. Having a roommmate from OOS will help a lot, as well as living in Columbia. Many students in Columbia and Capstone are from OOS so those dorms are never deserted. My d did find that many students went away for weekends, but it is a huge school so there were always plenty of students around as well. A few of her best friends are from SC and they only went home a few times, so it just depends.
Sorry I can't help with the football tix question - we didn't go to Parents Weekend last year.
Good luck to your d! (FYI - are you from Eastern Pa , Western Pa? We're from a Philadelphia suburb)</p>
<p>carolccw,
I found the following info on the USC website about football tix for Parent's Weekend: (It is copied and pasted)</p>
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<p>Football tickets to Carolina football games are generally limited to USC boosters and members of the Gamecock Club. Most seasons, tickets for all games are sold out before the end of the spring prior to the season starting. Typically, general admission tickets are NOT available at the USC ticket office. If you have questions about athletic game tickets, or how to become a member of the Gamecock Club, please contact USC Ticket Office via their website <a href="http://www.uscsports.com%5B/url%5D">www.uscsports.com</a> or via phone at 1-800-4SCFANS. </p>
<p>Closer to football season, you are also encouraged to visit the Ticket Marketplace at <a href="http://www.uscsports.com%5B/url%5D">www.uscsports.com</a> (You will find it listed under Tickets). Current season ticket holders use this site to sell tickets at face value. Check frequently as the options may change daily.</p>
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<p>If you go to the Future Students link of USC website, and then on the left, click on Parents' Programs, it will take you to a page with a logo of a tent. Under that, it says for more info on Parents' Weekend, click here. That is the link where I found this.
Also, I found on some Capstone information that 58% of the incoming 07-08 Capstone students are from OOS this year: 23 are from PA and 1 is from Delaware! Capstone is right next to Columbia, and some of the Capstone students are housed in Columbia dorm, so it sounds like your daughter will have plenty of friends from the PA area.
I'm sure lots of students stay on campus on weekends. We're from Greenville, just 2 hours away, but S only plans to come home about once a month at most. We will likely drive to Columbia once a month, take him out to eat, etc.
Only 3 more weeks!</p>
<p>My daughter is OOS from Maryland. She lived in Capstone last year and never complained of lack of things to do on the weekends. She only came home to Maryland on the major breaks, but she made friends with instate students and they invited her along for an occasional overnight trip home.</p>
<p>She did not know anyone when we left her there last August, but she had a great first year and loves USC.</p>
<p>Carolccw,
One more bit of info about the football tix for Parent's weekend. Again, this is a copy and paste from that same site.</p>
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<p>mportant Questions:</p>
<p>How do we obtain football tickets for the USC vs. Vanderbilt football game?
It is undetermined at this time if football tickets will be included in the Parents Weekend package. We strongly encourage parents to pursue tickets independently. </p>
<p>carol
S lived on the Horseshoe last year (Maxcy) and it was 50% in state, 50% out of state. Kids tend not to go home.Maybe some do at the beginning out of habit ..laundry,Moms cooking,etc but as they get into the swing of school they stay around.Theres lots to do on non football weekends (S is active on the Carolina Productions board,trust me theres lots to do)and the surrounding town has lots to do also.She'll find a way to do whatever w/o a car..S didnt have a car there last year.Theres always someone with a car wanting company to go somewhere (Wal MArt,Mall, movies,etc).S's from NY and his best new friends are all S Carolinians.One is even from Columbia and while he kept his HS job even he doesnt go home often LOL.The only time he was up in the air about plans was the fall break days.They wound up going to one kids house in Greenville (about 8 kids) but didnt stay the whole time..its 4 days total...
About football,sorry can't help you.Didn't attend Parents Day last year ( it was about a month earlier than this years so we didnt see the point).
But S says theres always someone selling tickets near the stadium on game days,and your D may be able to rustle them up for you before the weekend.And even if you dont get actual tickets, you can still experience the tailgating,and then go to a sportsbar and watch the game on TV!!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your information. I feel better now about the weekends and, as for football tickets, I'll assign that task to the new gamecock! USC is so incredibly friendly and beautiful, I'm really anxious to see how much she likes it. By the way PA Mom, I am also from a Phila suburb; we live in Chester County.</p>
<p>Oh, and one more question for OOS parents. We planned on leaving PA on Friday and arriving at the dorm during our "assigned time" which is between 12 and 2pm on Saturday. We did not plan on staying Sunday as my daughter pretty much thought a quick release would be easier for her than dragging the good-byes on! I knew we would probably need to hit a Target or wallmart prior to our departure, but do you think it's beneficial for us to attend the convocation activities on sunday?</p>
<p>The convocation is pretty nice for a freshman's parents,that first formal University event,academic regalia and all LOL.Also, some departments have informal get togethers on Sunday for new freshman,continuing students and the parents,to meet faculty and administrators.
Were you planning on driving back to PA on Saturday after the move in and trips to stores?If so, you might want to reconsider you will be BONE TIRED by Saturday night!! If you were planning on staying over but not attending the convocation it might be worth staying later in the day.Plus,stuff might come up requiring an extra store trip or two.It also would leave you some "drive around" time to get more comfortable with the area.</p>
<p>I will echo all the others. No reason for concern about suitcase school issue. Columbia and Capstone had high OOS percentages last year and since they are next door to each other, a lot of intermingling also occurs because of the dining hall in Capstone.</p>
<p>You might consider waiting to leave until later in the day for last minute shopping issues. There's a nice Sunday buffet at the top of Capstone (reservations required) that might be a nice send off as well, though don't feel too bad if she is already entrenched with "being in college" and wanting to spend time with her roommate and new friends.</p>
<p>There are also many departmental open house/meet and greet sessions on Sunday afternoon for parents and students. Depending on her school (ours was/is Sports Management) they had a nice buffet with head of dept and faculty on hand to meet and greet which was really a nice touch.</p>
<p>eadad,
Could you tell me more? We haven't heard about Sunday buffet, and didn't that parents were invited to the dept. meetings. Will they mail something out about the buffet in the top of Capstone? Or does that appear when you RSVP for the convocation and dept. open house? Or can anyone make reservations for the buffet just as you would at a regular restaurant? Sorry for so many questions, but it sounds like that would be a nice thing to do on Sunday.</p>
<p>You might want to try your local alumni association for football tickets. We just happened to meet someone who is an alum and has multiple season football tickets and she has offered them to us on the weekends she can't go. Few alums go to all the games and most that purchase them, do so for the whole season. Otherwise I have been told that (except for Clemson and other big games) tickets can be purchased gameday very reasonably.</p>
<p>The Sunday buffet is a regular weekly feature at the restaurant at the top of Capstone dorm,called Top of Carolina, not just for move-in and is attended by residents of Columbia (the city) as well as those with USC affiliation. It is NOT a USC event.</p>
<p>It's your normal all-you-can-eat breakfast brunch fare from cook-to-order omelettes, waffles etc to a wide variety of luncheon offerings and desserts and fresh fruit....very much like those at nicer hotels just this one comes with a view since the restaurant atop capstone revolves. Reservations are made like at a regular restaurant. I did a google search and found the phone number and left a message. They called back and confirned a day or so later.
That was the process last year, not sure if it has changed.</p>
<p>I suggested it since it is a nice meal and could be a nice way to send your new Gamecock off. The departmental meetings don't require an RSVP to my recollection, and I'm not sure if all depts offer them. Ours took place at around 2:30 or 3PM on Sunday afternoon, was quite informal, but I thought a very nice touch...another one of those things to make mom and dad feel good about their decision to send DD or DS to USC. The food at the dept mtgs was mostly appetizer type finger foods and desserts so not something you would want to skip breakfast or lunch for.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for all the great info! Although we're just a couple of hours away from USC, this brunch sounds wonderful - worth the drive! It might be something we'd like to do with our son, not only after move-in, but several times during the year. Since S will be in Capstone, this would be ideal. Thanks again!</p>
<p>I just received a parents e-mail from the University which addresses football tickets. If you did not receive this e-mail log on and check the updated Parents Weekend info - apparently tickets are available on a limited basis.</p>
<p>just to expand on what PAMom wrote...
it says football tickets will be a/v on a first come first served basis as part of the Parents Weekend Package when they open up registration for their events(don't worry, they havent done it yet).You need to join the Parents Association...its free... so you are on their mailing list.Its at <a href="http://www.sa.sc.edu/parents%5B/url%5D">www.sa.sc.edu/parents</a>. Then you'll get an email earlier than the regular mailing will go out so you'll have a better chance at the tickets.Be aware..they do charge a price for their events,like the party at the Strom and the tailgate party.</p>