USC - A Southern Experience

Introduction
If you're thinking about coming to USC, you're either from South Carolina, or want to get the hell out of wherever you're from. There is a big difference between these two types of people. USC is a great school but students coming from out of state need to be warned. The South is a totally different experience from the North. These "differences" can be good or bad. Before you make the decision to go to school far away, you really need to make sure you're up for a total 180 in what your usual surroundings are. Many people come down here looking for a southern bell or gentlemen, but half of them realize that is just not what they are looking for. It's fun being far away from home, but there are so many times I wished I was close enough to visit my friends at other schools.

Campus Life and Social Life
Freshman year was a blast, parties almost every night either at a house or down at 5 points (Bar District only 2 blocks from campus). There is always something to do and someone to do it with. However, as my second year progresses I've slowed down a bit. Greek life is big down at USC, and even though you can still survive out of this circle, the majority of USC is in it. Frats buy out the night clubs, only letting in their own so sometimes it can be tough. Academics
Business is big at USC, it has a great International Business program. However, it can be very difficult to get in. The workload hasn't been too bad for most of my friends and I; it's easy to get by. You only have 5 classes a week, as long as you get things done when you need to you will be fine.

Student Body
Most students down here are from the south. You have the southern girls who dress up at the damn football games and the guys that wear bow ties to class. People in the south can be interesting at time. Some are nice, some are obnoxious. Rainbow flip-flops are huge down here, most people wear them all year round. North Face jackets are big too for some reason; it's like a cult group.

In Closing...
USC is a big school that can be lots of fun. Football games down here are nothing you will experience anywhere else. We love our Gamecocks and we show it proudly. USC tries to a do a lot for its students and it's always trying to make the exisiting campus bigger and better. It's a fun school, but just be prepared if you are coming from out of the south; it can be a totally different experience that takes time to get used to and can get old very fast.