University of South Carolina

I visited the University of South Carolina in Columbia on a very rainy day, But having been here before years ago, I still maintain that it is a stunningly beautiful campus. Half of the students come from in state and half of them out of state, but transfer students from South Carolina tip the balance to about 57% in-state students overall.

The Honors College here is one of the best in the country. Honors classes are capped at 18 and taught by honors faculty, and freshmen are required to live in honors housing. And students in the honors college receive very generous merit packages, some paying the equivalent to in-state tuition, making this a great option for exceptionally bright, intellectually curious students on a budget. Students who are competitive for the Honors College have taken the top rigor their high school offers, have gotten all A's in those classes, and rank in the top 1-5% of their class.
Capstone scholars is another honors program with a slightly more attainable profile. In this program, the focus is on personal and professional development. Scholars get an upperclassman mentor and there's a big focus on community service. For this program they are looking for leaders and d those who rank 3rd-14th% in their high school class.

For the rest of the student body, this is a typical, big, wonderful, southern, state university with an enormous amount of school spirit, support for athletics, and participation in Greek life. And I think the beauty of the campus is on par with Chapel Hill and far surpasses many other of its peer institutions in that regard.

Interestingly, the nursing program is direct admit for honors students but not for anyone else. About 65% of them move on into the upper division, and most who don't have self-selected out. Nursing is hard, and not for everybody! Unlike most institutions, they do allow some students to transfer into nursing second semester. New majors here include Sports Media, Sports Psychology, Data Science, Data Analytics, and Industrial Engineering. It's also important to know that the business school is very math heavy.

In admissions, they admit to USC first, then review the major selection, and they do look at the second choice. A word to the wise: it may be hard to get into business as a second choice but a 3.75 student can usually transfer in after freshman year. In the early action round, they only look at academics and only admit top students. Every one else is deferred including most business and nursing students. In the regular decision round, they do a more extended review, looking at letters of recommendation, essays, and extracurriculars. In short, they do not deny in the early action round and they don't admit many. Lastly, while they don't recognize demonstrated interest and don't want a letter of continued interest after being deferred, a follow up with them after being waitlisted can make a difference.