Class of '07 Schools to look at

[Billfred]

I'm more than halfway done with my education at the University of South Carolina. Why'd I pick USC*?

1) Money. As a South Carolina resident with decent high school grades, I qualified for the LIFE Scholarship ($5,000/year), and also succeeded in getting the University Scholars scholarship ($1,500/year). If you're eligible for work-study, there's opportunities out the wazoo around; if not, you find ways to cover your late-night Beezer's sandwiches.

2) Majors. Much as everyone around here thinks that I'm an engineering major, I'm not. I started as elementary education, then realized that wasn't for me. Ultimately, I had it down to either business or engineering as the new major, and it became rather obvious by that point (midway through my second semester) that most of my freshman year would have been for naught in the latter college, so business it was. (Not that the Moore School of Business is a bad choice, mind you.)

3) Geography. I admit it, I wanted to stay close to home. Home is about twenty or thirty minutes by car, which makes it easy when my building closes for breaks. (Not all of them close, mind you, Preston does.) Much as everyone bemoans parking around here, I've found that just about everything can be reached by foot or shuttle bus. By a combination of the two, I can reach three bookstores, the student pharmacy, more dining options than I can shake a stick at (including the aforementioned student favorite Beezer's, which stays open until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning), a grocery store, the state capitol, and a FIRST regional. You can't get that just anywhere, y'know.

4) Robots. Back as a wee little freshman, I had a desire to keep with FIRST. Luckily, there are five active FRC teams (1293, 1336, 1398, 1618, 1959) within twenty or thirty minutes (depending on traffic) of campus by car, an FRC regional you can walk to, an FLL state tournament one block further, and an FVC Championship Tournament an hour away. And you won't be the only one--aside from a mess of 1293ers I know, I've also crossed paths with folks from 11, 342, 343, 1102, and 1539. (The concept of a FIRST alumni group has been tossed around; I suppose I ought to look at the SG web site for that.)

Now, is USC the best spot for everybody? Probably not, especially if you've got to wear lots of orange. But they haven't scared me off yet.

*Yes, I said USC. USC, then known as South Carolina College, was founded in 1801, beating That Other USC by a good 79 years.