More info please on USC (Columbia, West Columbia: hotels, house, transfer)

[collegeprsn]

Hello again. I have more questions for Columbia people. I am applying this fall for the MPH program in 2008 at USC. Does anyone know if there is a "separate" area for the medical school and the school of public health? Also, I am still worried about the mosquitos. How do they compare to CA mosquitos? And is there a tax on food in SC? How are gas prices? What is the airport like? Are there some nice hotels to stay in? What ones would you recommend? Does anyone know about the transferability of a CA credential to SC? I know when people come to CA to teach they usually have to take additional classes in the state. Is USC a liberal or conservative campus overall? Are the days mostly cloudy or sunny? Do I need to get a dehumidifier (I don't know if I spelled that right) if I go to SC? It is usually in the 100s around here in July, but humidity is way low. I've seen the population listed at 120,000, but does it feel like more people than this live in Columbia? I'd like city amenities with friendly people. Are there many walking paths in the city, esp. near USC? Thank you nice people for all the information you can give.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by collegeprsn

Hello again. I have more questions for Columbia people. I am applying this fall for the MPH program in 2008 at USC. Does anyone know if there is a "separate" area for the medical school and the school of public health? Also, I am still worried about the mosquitos. How do they compare to CA mosquitos? And is there a tax on food in SC? How are gas prices? What is the airport like? Are there some nice hotels to stay in? What ones would you recommend? Does anyone know about the transferability of a CA credential to SC? I know when people come to CA to teach they usually have to take additional classes in the state. Is USC a liberal or conservative campus overall? Are the days mostly cloudy or sunny? Do I need to get a dehumidifier (I don't know if I spelled that right) if I go to SC? It is usually in the 100s around here in July, but humidity is way low. I've seen the population listed at 120,000, but does it feel like more people than this live in Columbia? I'd like city amenities with friendly people. Are there many walking paths in the city, esp. near USC? Thank you nice people for all the information you can give.

A:

The School of Public Health is located on the main campus in a brand new research facility. The School of Medicine is on a separate campus about 5-6 miles away. Everything else is on the main campus close to the School of Public Health.

If you live in the city you'll hardly see any mosquitoes. I live in a neighborhood just north of downtown and we do see some mosquitoes, but not that many. Out in the suburbs you will see a lot more. The higher up you are located on a hill, the less mosquitoes you will see.

Tax on food: yes, groceries are included, but the tax is lower than on other items.

Gas prices are some of the lowest in the country.

The campus is a mix of liberal and conservative due to its location in South Carolina. IMO, Columbia is the most liberal city/county in the state. If you look at voting trends, it certainly is.

The airport is beautiful and good fares can be had with notice, though last minute fares tend to be high. To get to California you'd probably have to transfer in Atlanta, Charlotte or Cincinnati, but there are nonstops to DC, NYC, Chicago and a few other cities.

There are plenty of nice hotels...the Convention Center Hilton is opening in a couple of weeks, the Marriott downtown, the Embassy Suites, the Whitney Hotel, The Inn at USC, Claussen's Inn and the Clarion are a few. There is no shortage of hotel rooms.

I don't know about transferring credentials.

The summers are warm and humid, but you don't need a dehumidifier, air conditioning takes care of that. It is rare to see a day over 100, but they do happen once in a while. The spring and fall is gorgeous and so is the winter, though we do have a few cold days and snow on rare occasions. It is rare for a day to be completely cloudy and rainy, we have mostly afternoon thundershowers during the spring and summer. The fall is fairly dry (but not LA dry) and the winter may have precip 1 day out of 7.

The city proper population is around 120,000 due to strict state annexation laws, but the metro is over 700,000. Columbia is larger than the typical city of 120,000 - the metro population is more indicative of the area. I have pictures of the city in my website link at the bottom.

Walking - the Horseshoe (original campus) of USC is a great place to walk. We've got Finlay Park, Granby Park and Riverfront Park are the biggest parks downtown and on the west bank of the Congaree we have the West Columbia Riverwalk. Memorial Park is also a great place to walk and it is downtown, too. Congaree National Park is only a 20 minute drive from downtown and there are 2 state parks in the metro, too.

I think the people in Columbia are generally friendly and I think you'll find a lot of amenities. We have a number of large museums... The State Museum, Edventure Children's Museum, the Columbia Museum of Art, McKissick Museum at USC, the SC State House and a number of historic homes turned into museums. For concerts we have the Colonial Center (18,000), the Koger Center for the Arts and a few other smaller venues. The Congaree Vista (The Vista) and Five Points are the 2 main entertainment areas. There is no experience like The Vista or especially Five Points on the weekend of a USC home football game.

I hope you like it here; welcome to Columbia.

Waccamatt's page ·

[collegeprsn]

Hi again. As for USC academics, did it seem like a college where you have to work really hard or can just come to class and do well? I go to a CSU school and some classes are super easy, but some were super hard- the year of o chem and calculus. I want to work hard, but not too hard. I want to be able to rest sometimes! Maybe masters programs are different from the undergrad experience. If you know of any easy profs., I'd really like to know who they are! Thanks.

[JessicaAshley]

Originally Posted by collegeprsn

Also, I am still worried about the mosquitos. How do they compare to CA mosquitos?

And is there a tax on food in SC?

How are gas prices?

Is USC a liberal or conservative campus overall?

I am from Atlanta, GA - though I love South Carolina and go there a lot.

The mosquitoes all over the south can be bad, it just depends where you are. If you're near a lake, wetland/marsh/swamp area, or sometimes a river area - it might be bad (just standing water, basically). The only place they have really bothered me is hiking in the woods in North Carolina.

Yes, there is tax on food... We do have tax free shopping for back-to-school, though. I do not think it includes food. Food is much cheaper - at least that's what my CA friend told me when she came to visit.

Georgia use to have the lowest gas prices, but I think South Carolina now has them. I got back from SC and NC on August 4th and I think the lowest I saw in SC was $2.63.

In my opinion, most college campuses are liberal... However, we are more conservative in the south. We also have a different definition of "liberal" from California.

My CA friend said there are more minorities here than in CA, which shocked me!

It is very different in the south, but I LOVE it. I sincerely hope you will enjoy it as well! Please let me know how you like USC; I am considering it for Grad school.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by collegeprsn

Hi again. As for USC academics, did it seem like a college where you have to work really hard or can just come to class and do well? I go to a CSU school and some classes are super easy, but some were super hard- the year of o chem and calculus. I want to work hard, but not too hard. I want to be able to rest sometimes! Maybe masters programs are different from the undergrad experience. If you know of any easy profs., I'd really like to know who they are! Thanks.

It varies very, very widely. USC has all different types of classes. I've had some Calculus and Engineering type courses that were very demanding. I've had some other classes - mostly liberal arts - that were a breeze.

I do remember having an introductory music course that was very time consuming. I'm casually interested in music, I worked really hard, and barely got a "C." I also had a computer science class that was basically a guaranteed "A". But those are exceptions.

One thing I found peculiar was that the highly ranked and prestigious departments weren't necessarily more difficult than the underfunded and bottom-of-the-barrel departments. I found that the less prestigous departments sometimes went overboard with the amount of rote memorization required (which was difficult), and the more prestigious departments had great hands-on teaching (which was easy). Your mileage may vary.

[Dave O]

Originally Posted by collegeprsn

Hi again. As for USC academics, did it seem like a college where you have to work really hard or can just come to class and do well?

My wife is joining the faculty at USC and she kicks behind. Seriously. I have bachelor and master degrees in quantitative subjects from very good schools and I would not want to be a student in one of her classes.

Speaking of grad school...if you are looking for "easy" classes then perhaps you should reconsider whether you are ready for grad school. You should be there because you want to learn and to be the best that you can possibly be in your field, not because you want an easy "A".

Sorry if this comes off as harsh but it is the truth. Looking for professors who will give you an easy "A" is the kind of attitude that I would expect from an undergrad.

P.S. I have also taught upper level undergraduate classes so I've been on both sides of the lecturn.

[BLM_1410]

I'm an undergraduate at USC, and I really love the campus and the Columbia area.

I had a class in the new Public Health building and it's really nice, even though it's a little further to walk.

It's almost always sunny but Columbia is known for being hot and humid.