Dorms for freshmen females at the University of South Carolina

[Southmom]

Hello. I am about to submit the housing application for my daughter to the University of South Carolina and they ask on the application for her to list her top five dorm choices. Neither she nor I know anything about the dorms. Do any of you have any recommendations? She is fine with either suite-style living or the traditional dorm rooms.....Thanks for your help!

[chocoholic]

Have you looked at their website? They have very detailed floor plans and maps of building locations. You can choose to be closer to their (fabulous) gym, or library, or main green.

[Southmom]

Chocoholic: Yes, I have looked at their website and I have their housing brochure with pics in front of me. I actually attended USC (many, many moons ago), but I know that the dorms have changed drastically since then. I'm hoping that my daughter gets an invite into the Capstone Scholars program and then will either live in Columbia Hall or Capstone, but I realize that she needs to choose her dorm carefully in case that invite doesn't happen. It's just hard to tell which dorms are old and dumpy versus newer and cleaner based on the floor diagrams. She will be majoring in Exercise Science, but I assume that most of her freshman classes will be in general topics (English, Chemistry, etc....) so she won't need to pick her dorm room based on the location of the College of Public Health. Any input into which dorms your sons/daughters seem to prefer? Thanks!

[chocoholic]

We visited in March this year, and my S really liked Capstone, which he was invited to join. However he did not choose to attend S.Carolina.

Is there a chance for you to visit since you live in SC? I know my kids would choose space over newness, and you will probably find the newer dorms to be smaller. My D's dorm (not in SC) is a very old and kinda shabby building, but she has 800 square feet of living space which she will never give up. They painted green and purple, hung colorful fabrics on the walls, and now it looks like an old Italian villa.

[dbwes]

southmom -- This would be a good question to post on the South Carolina forum.

[Southmom]

800 square feet......Wow! I believe that most of the dorms at USC are approximately 175 square feet (Capstone and Columbia Hall are about 275 square feet). I think I must just be getting old - I have yet to see a dorm room at any of the colleges that we've visited that seem sufficiently large enough for two girls and all their associated "stuff".

[cincy gal]

Wow! Even 175 square feet sounds big. My D's double room freshman year (not SC) was 144 sq.ft. and most rooms in that building were 128 sq.ft. she and her roommate fit a lot in that room--didn't unbunk the beds, put the bunk on risers and double stacked many things.

[Southmom]

Cincy Gal: My daughter is a pack rat. Scary to think about. I'm really stressing to her the need to not "over pack" since we just live a few hours away from the school. Sigh.

[PA Mom]

Southmom- My d is a sophomore at USC. I would highly recommend Capstone if she can get in as the rooms are pretty spacious. The closet space was great! Only minus is the fire drills - depending on what floor you are on they can be a pain.LOL
She knew a lot of girls in Patterson and they seemed to like it. I know that some of them had older sisters at SC (and friends) so they must have recommended Patterson to them.
Good luck to her where ever she ends up!

[Singersmom07]

There was a discussion on the dorms last spring on the U South Carolina forum.
freshman housing

[Loving & Learn'n]

One thing to consider also, if she has decided on a major & distance to her classes. Some are quite a distance. Is she wanting to depend on shuttle transportation?

I also lived in Capstone for a time & have always considered it one of the best (location & generally speaking), however, haven't been in it in a while.