The University of South Carolina: A Guide for Prospective Students

The University of South Carolina is the state's largest and flagship university, located in the capital city of Columbia, South Carolina. With over 20,000 students on its main campus and growing, USC is quickly becoming a premier college in the southeast and in the nation as a whole. Featuring a beautiful urban campus, plenty of nightlife for even the hardest of partiers, and a sports environment like no other, USC is truly a school that deserves a closer look.

CAMPUS

There are both good and bad things that can be said about the USC campus, as can be expected of a school located in the heart of a city. While Columbia is certainly no New York or Chicago, it is still a capital city and as such it has that environment. Furthermore, unlike other urban campuses such as Georgia Tech, USC is spread out through the city rather than located within the confines of a main border. For instance, the Swearingen Engineering Building is located several blocks down and over from the main part of campus, creating quite a walk for students going to and from it and other buildings. This problem is the case for several of the newer buildings around campus, as there simply can't be enough room in the middle of a city to expand and still keep things close.

Nonetheless, the campus manages to keep a somewhat charming, isolated-from-the-city feel to it, especially around the central part. Known as the Horseshoe, this tree-lines, brick-paved section is circled by the original buildings of USC and house several classroom as well as administrative buildings. As one moves across the campus in all directions the buildings become interspersed more and more with regular Columbia businesses. Still, the USC influence is present everywhere with splashes of garnet and black and painted gamecock logos. Furthermore, all parts of the city around campus, from the streets and trees to the sidewalks and parks, are as well-kept and gorgeous as the campus itself is.

CITY LIFE

Like mentioned earlier, Columbia is a city in the strictest sense of the word and exhibits all the attributes of one. With a metro population of over 700,000 people there is no shortage of traffic, crime, or things to do for that matter. At rush hour the main highways in and out of the city become clogged with traffic, making an evening trip to one of the many suburbs quite the hassle. Crime is also a major problem in Columbia, which has a higher rape and murder rate per capita than even New York City. Still, the campus remains very safe thanks to well lit areas and a constant police presence.

During the day there is no limit to the things that can be done in and around Columbia. All the amenities of a normal city can be found, from a zoo to several malls, restaurants aplenty, parks, and more. Downtown is home to countless small shops and restaurants, and the suburbs and their shopping centers extend for miles out of the city in all directions.

At night downtown Columbia surrounding the campus comes alive with the kind of nightlife that made it Epodunk.com's #1 midsized college town. Columbia, and most importantly the area of it immediately surrounding campus, features two main nightlife sections. The Vista caters to a more refined, older crowd, featuring martini and jazz bars, upscale restaurants, and such. Five Points, located on the other side of campus as the Vista, caters strictly to the college crowd and features exactly what you think of when you hear the term "college town." The five main streets that make up the area all converge on a central point, and the area surrounding that point is the Points. The streets are lined with boutique shops and restaurants, such as "Loose Lucy's" hippy store or "Adrianna's" Italian pastry and gelato shop. But the main nightlife draw is, of course, the bars and clubs. The streets of Five Points are littered with them, featuring everything from dance clubs to a western-style Saloon. At night the sidewalks and doorways come alive with throngs of people moving through the streets from bar to bar, and the atmosphere is one that can't be beat.

USC SPORTS

As part of the Southeastern Conference, USC has a sports atmosphere that is absolutely unrivaled. Williams-Brice Stadium is the 13^th largest football stadium in the country and on Saturday's it becomes filled with nearly 90,000 rabid, screaming Gamecock fans, all cheering on Steve Spurrier and the garnet and black. As each passing season sees the Cocks improving and inching closer to the SEC title and national recognition, the fanbase (already regarded as one of the best in college football) becomes even more loyal and anxious for the next season. The entrance of the USC team from the tunnel at the start of every home game is a spectacle that has been called the greatest entrance in all of college sports.

Beyond football (far and away the most popular USC event) the college features several other teams of note. The basketball team plays in a brand-new arena, the Colonial Center, a state-of-the-art facility that houses over 18,000 fans and when not in use for games plays host to concerts and events of all kinds. The USC baseball team is consistently ranked in the top 10 of the nation and is the winningest college program of the past 8 years. Currently construction has already begun on a brand new riverside stadium for the team, which is expected to be finished by 2008.

ACADEMICS

USC offers countless degree options for undergraduates, from engineering to journalism, business to sports management. It's claim to fame is the Darla Moore School of Business, which ranks in the nation's tops year after year. In fact, the graduate International Business program has been ranked number 1 in the country for three years in a row now!

Beyond the nationally recognized programs, all of USC's academics are top notch. Many of the classroom buildings are new additions to the campus, including the beautiful Arnold School of Public Health. Class sizes range from 15 to nearly 300, held in all styles of rooms from standard classrooms to massive lecture halls. Nearly all classes are taught by an actual professor, with TA's typically relied on for outside help or to supplement the professors themselves.

OVERALL

All in all the positives of The University of South Carolina far outweigh the negatives in every aspect. It has so far provided the best three years of my life and I look forward to several more, both in undergrad as well as graduate school. The current construction of the world-class and national-newsmaking Innovista Research campus as well as constant growth of both the university and the city as a whole, the future is looking very bright for the Gamecocks of Columbia, South Carolina.