Student life (Columbia, Welcome: school, university, nightlife)

[joestrummer]

I'm going to USC next year as part of my American Studies course at the University of Hull in England. Could anyone fill me in on the nightlife and general student life there, cos I don't know all that much about Columbia or South Carolina yet, and it's pretty daunting. And how strictly are the drinking laws there, cos I turn 21 while I'm there, but not until March.

Thanks.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by joestrummer

I'm going to USC next year as part of my American Studies course at the University of Hull in England. Could anyone fill me in on the nightlife and general student life there, cos I don't know all that much about Columbia or South Carolina yet, and it's pretty daunting. And how strictly are the drinking laws there, cos I turn 21 while I'm there, but not until March.

Thanks.

Welcome to USC and Columbia. I'll tackle the drinking laws first, you must be 21 to drink and I won't encourage underaged drinking, but Columbia is a college town, after all. There are two main nightlife areas in the downtown area (USC is located in the downtown area) - Five Points, which has a primarily younger crowd (under 30) and The Vista, which has a slightly older crowd. There are cool clubs and bars in both places, though, and a lot of clubs let 18-20 year olds in, but not to drink. USC is a large university so there are plenty of activities on campus, check out their website for more info on that. USC has a large number of international students, but I don't know how many there are from England. Brush up on American football before you come to USC because it is very popular here in the fall of the year. Good luck.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by joestrummer

I'm going to USC next year as part of my American Studies course at the University of Hull in England. Could anyone fill me in on the nightlife and general student life there, cos I don't know all that much about Columbia or South Carolina yet, and it's pretty daunting. And how strictly are the drinking laws there, cos I turn 21 while I'm there, but not until March.

Thanks.

USC is a fun school. There are bars close to campus, and plenty of people that go out at night. Things are slow in the summertime, though. When I went to school there, if you had a fake ID - even a terrible one - you could get into at least a few bars. But even if you don't frequent the bars, there are still fun things to do at night - parties, etc.

like matt said, if you're here in the fall, (American) football games are a lot of fun, like big social events.