Palmetto Tour: 3rd stop - USC

After spending a day at Clemson, we hit the road for USC. We arrived around dinner time and enjoyed an excellent dinner in downtown Columbia (shrimp and grits, anyone?). By 8:00 the next morning we were walking on the absolutely gorgeous campus of the University of South Carolina.

 We were told that the University of South Carolina also goes by USC (not to be confused by the "other" USC on the west coast) as well as Carolina (not to be confused with "that other" school in Chapel Hill). In the state of South Carolina, everyone knows what school you are referring to if you say USC or Carolina.

First up was a presentation from the admissions office. It was very interesting to hear about all of the changes at USC in recent years. We have certainly seen increased interest in USC from Visitation students and have noticed that their admissions process has become more selective. Apparently we are not the only school that is sending more applications their way!

• In the 1970's and 1980's USC received 70% of their funding from the state of South Carolina. In 2011, they received 9% of their funding from the state. Unlike the state of North Carolina, there is no out of state enrollment cap.
• Interest in USC is WAY up. They have experienced a 283% (that's not a typo) increase in visitors (ie prospective students visiting the campus) since 2003. In 2003 they hosted 8864 visitors and in 2011 they hosted 34, 027!
• This year they received 23,000 applications and they plan to bring in a class of 4700. Over the last ten years USC has grown from an undergraduate student body of about 15,000 students to 20,000 students.
• We heard a lot about USC's academic succcess center, their honors program (which was recently ranked #1 in the country according to the soon-to-be published guide, "A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs."), and their University 101 orientation program.
• 45% of the students at USC come from out of state; USC has the higest number of out of state students of any university in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), except for Vanderbilt.
• USC has an 86% retention rate and a 70% six year graduation rate.
• A note about USC's October 15th Early Action deadline - THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE in the admissions process for students who apply by this deadline. Only students who are clearly admissible will be admitted Early Action. Talk to your college counselor about whether this would be a good deadline for you!
Highlights of the USC tour included the new residence hall for students in the honors program. It was absolutely gorgeous and located in the best spot on campus. I have NEVER seen a college dorm like this one!

The highlight of the trip for me was meeting up with '08 Visi grad Caitlin Mayo. She was a top student at Visitation and will be graduating from USC's honors program with a degree in Accounting. Wondering what USC students wear to class? Here is a picture of Caitlin and me:

She has studied aboard in Barcelona and is a member of a sorority at USC. Best of all, she has already secured an accounting job back in DC after she finishes up her last semester. Caitlin would be happy to talk to any Visi students who are interested in USC and/or the honors program there. Ask your college counselor for her email.
Published by: TSM

Palmetto Tour: Second Stop, Clemson University

If I had a dollar for every time I heard somebody say "Go Tigers!" during my Clemson visit, I would have lunch money for the rest of the year. There is a huge amount of school spirit here and at least one out of every three students I saw was wearing orange. Here are a few highlights from the admissions presentation and some pictures from my campus tour.

• Clemson not only has one of the country's top Engineering programs, but another bragging point is that freshman engineering classes are capped at 70. Very impressive for a school of Clemson's size.
• Thinking about the Honors program? This year they recieved 1100 applications for a class of 250 students (they did not tell us how many students they admitted). Students in the honors program have the option of living in a special residence hall and enjoy the same priority registration for classes as athletes and seniors.
• Clemson students who study abroad pay IN STATE tuition for the time that they are abroad.
• More about Engineering: there are 10 different majors within the schools of Engineering. All students study general Engineering in their first year, and then specialize during their sophmore year. Engineering is the largest college on campus (1042 freshmen - that's about 1 in 3 freshmen!) and there is an 85% retention rate in the school of Engineering (can you tell I was sitting next to an Engineering dean during lunch?)
• The Clemson campus is vast and covers a total of 1400 acres. As a point of comparison, Georgetown University's campus is about 104 acres.
• Wondering about admissions? This year Clemson received 18,401 applications and admitted 10,619 students. 12, 358 of those students were applying from out of state. 7030 out of state applicants were accepted. Clemson plans to enroll about 3200 freshmen.
• The profile for admitted students this year was an SAT score between 1160-1310 (on a 1600 scale) and a 4.18 GPA. Clemson admits students by major and all applicants are encouraged to indicated a first and second choice major on their applications.
• Fun fact: According to the Clemson power point presentation, 8 students from Gonzaga enrolled last year - making Gonzaga one of the largest out of state feeder schools to Clemson!

Here are some photos from our tour of the shiny new facility dedicated to students studying Package Design Science. Have you ever wondered who is responsible for thinking up the packaging for products in the grocery store, boutiques, and every other retail establishment you frequent on a daily basis? We had an up close and personal tour of how product packaging is researched, created, tested, and mass produced.

Here are a few examples of student work:

Here is where the magic begins:

This is the big, expensive machine that creates the packaging! Those are Actual Students working on their project.

After the extensive tour of campus, it was time for a snack and the lovely Clemson admissions folks treated us to Clemson ice cream (made on site!). Delicious.

The big finale of our Clemson tour was a visit to the football stadium. As we all stood there taking in the magnitude of the scenery, something started happening on the scoreboard. I didn't get a great picture, but hopefully you can make out my name in lights! It was a very exciting way to end the day.

Thanks for the wonderful hospitality, Clemson! Go Tigers!
Published by TSM