<p>You have a very diverse list of schools that you are considering with far more differences than similarities.</p>
<p>Having grown up in Ohio and lived in Dallas for 27 years now I can give you some perspective on SMU and Miami. </p>
<p>The Cox School of Business is good but it isn’t the Moore.</p>
<p>SMU is a rich kid’s party school with a HEAVY HEAVY Greek scene. You won’t see girls wandering around in sweats or shorts and t’s for morning classes. Polo, Burberry and Lacoste are the labels of choice and khakis are a wardrobe necessity.The prevalence of Prada, Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags is amazing if not overwhelming. The car of choice is either a BMW 3 series or an SUV,usually import, and there are a large number of Highland Park HS (where SMU is located) grads who attend SMU and see it as a continuation of high school …still “living in the bubble” as the Park Cities are often referred to. Socially the only school farther from South Carolina on your list would be Notre Dame.</p>
<p>I grew up in Ohio and had many close friends attend Miami. The campus is beautiful, rolling hills in southern rural Ohio, red brick Georgian architecture. It is the best of the state schools academically but also has a very strong Greek scene and its students look like a walking J Crew ad.</p>
<p>Do you have any of that kinda stuff to add about USC? It’s good to get both sides of the story, and this forum has focused almost exclusively on the positives so far.</p>
<p>I’ll try to answer both questions as best I can.</p>
<p>USC is in the south, and it is in the birthplace of the Confederacy…the Confederate flag flies on the lawn of the state capital…it flew over the capital until a few years ago. One thing that I have noticed at USC is that there is still a degree of racial self-segregation among the students, though from what I am told this goes on at alot of other places that are known to be far more liberal as well. USC is a very conservative place but at the same time, my very liberal (politically) daughter has never had a problem with it. She is opinionated and not afraid to state and/or defend her position and has told us many stories about her discussions with friends. They have learned that she will speak her mind and have come to respect her for it. On the other hand she has also let them know when she has problems with their sometimes narrow minded views.</p>
<p>The Greek scene at USC is stronger than at some midwestern schools but certainly not the end-all-be-all scene as it is at many other Southern schools like Ole Miss, UGA, Bama, etc. Many people still dress up for football games (gilrs in black dresses and pearls) but it’s not a mandatory thing and nowhere near as prevalent as at the aforementioned schools. Walking around campus in the morning you’ll see girls in sweats, shorts and tees etc (unlike SMU where they HAVE to be dressed to kill most of the time) and the overall atmosphere is much more relaxed. </p>
<p>Notre Dame is still a very conservative place, moreso than even USC. There are still strictly enforced intervisitation rules at dorms for example, and I believe no co-ed dorms which was one of the reasons one of my son’s best female friends turned them down a few years back. The student body has a certain machismo that comes from having the stong history as an all male campus…ND is the only school that I know of that has a tackle football intramural league. Many in the student body are former Catholic school athletes, not good enough to play there but who come to be a part of the history and tradition etc…their intramural sports program is one of, if not the most competitive in the nation. I don’t know this to still be a fact because I haven’t been there for a few years but at one time it could be a very intimidating place for a non-Catholic, non-athletic person. I would think that as the school’s academic reputation has grown this has probably diminished a bit.</p>
<p>There’s not much to do in South Bend and weekend trips to Chicago are the big diversion. Very good academics and the best alumni in the world, but a very different place that’s certainly not for everyone. Even if you aren’t a ND fan you will get chills when the football team takes the field to the ND fight song, it is quite an experience.</p>
<p>interesting eadad
we felt USC showed a remarkable diversity as far as an Afican American population (whether mixing or not mixing) as opposed to other campuses we looked at.We are used to a diverse population and some campuses were just so non populated by african American faces as to make us feel uncomfortable,so USC was refreshing.
It is on the conservative side for a liberal northerner but son also is outspoken and has no problems.He is mixing with Honors and non honors populations.
I thought the fraternity “scene” was more isolated than on other campuses, including midwestern ones,perhaps b/c of the physical seperation of the frat houses, and b/c the frat parties are “closed”.
I also thought the Confederate flag on the lawn of the Capitol was disconcerting.
We were exposed to many faculty and administrative members during our McNair weekend.Faculty comes from all over,we met many transplanted New Yorkers.</p>