College of Charleston Top Questions

Fortunately, the stereotype is changing so we're at least preppy rich kids that love to go to the beach and party, but also take classes very seriously.

somewhat

While that sorority girl stereotype does comprise a substantial proportion of the female population, it's certainly not everyone. There are all kinds of interesting people here. Party school or not, I've managed to stay out of it all. So it is possible to come here and NOT become a drunk like all your friends from high school. There are too many other fun things to do in Charleston!

While most of us do know how to have a good time, the implication that we are not dedicated workers is not true. Most people keep a good balance between their social and acedmic lives. I maintain a GPA of at least 3.6 for both of my majors, hold a part-time job, and still go out to have fun on the weekends. As for all of us living off of daddy's credit card, some people might be that way, but my friends and I all hold jobs for our spending money. This is not to say that everyone is a responsible with their acedimcs or finances, but as with any other school, you have both types of people.

About some people, but certainly not all

I found the school to be a lot more liberal (and gay)than I anticipated and lacking that southern charm I was looking for. Don't be fooled, this is no college town. This is the historic and tourist prone city of Charleston. There is no campus community and the school is major lacking in school spirit and sport enthuiasm

To an extent, just like everywhere else.

There are no more partyers than any other school; the stereotype arises because Charleston is such a good place to party :-) Academics are rigorous.

Absolutely, we know how to throw down Charleston style, but there are many great places and ways to escape it if you are in the mood for a quiet night as well.

absolutely. well, maybe not the stuck-up part, but there is definitely an obvious division based upon race. not to say that people of different races don't hang out but ... cofc is basically a school of white girls with tans who have blonde hair and go the gym to work out. of the guys that are on campus, most of the white guys are "preppy" and you hardly ever see people who aren't caucasian when walking down calhoun street. i think minorities make up 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} (if that) of the 11,000 kids that go to the school ... more or less. the best way to work this campus is to get involved, especially with sororities and frats. network. make your own name on campus.

Yes and no. We do party it up Charleston style.. but most of us are good academically, as well. Not all of the girls are like that either. There are a lot of us who bum it to class everyday... but get dressed up later around 10 at night! :)

pretty much

Definitely a beach school, majority of people of from the south, if not mainly south carolina. Greek life is big, but not overpowering though.

No! CofC has a lot of diversity, we even have SPECTRA which is a live-in summer program for incoming freshman minority students. Maybe it is a party school, but what school isn't? And although we have a thriving Greek program, not all girls and guys are members of that (and not all members are ditzy or jerks or whatever)--in fact, I personally only know maybe 3 people in the Greek system. There are a lot of surfers, but we live at the beach and they're nice to look at so who cares.

To some extent. All of these stereotypes can be found at the school but in no way do they represent the majority ideas, opinions, and styles of the C of C students. It a very diverse college.

For some, but you can love the school without partying or with; it all depends on what you want to do or who you hang out with.

Not really, though the student body is overwhelmingly white. There are not a lot of minorities on campus. Everyone is really nice, though. CofC just doesn't seem to attract many minority students.

yes and no; the entire Charleston environment is very relaxed, slow, and laid back...however, we tend to have a wide variety of individuals on our campus from the most southern conservative to extremely liberal students and professors

yes and yes and yes

Let's face it, every school is a "party school" in the south. Cofc just happens to be located in the middle of a busy city, so its gets associated with all that goes on in Charleston. The truth of the matter is that some do party a lot, maybe even every day, but they wont last long. Cofc is challenging and during the week, most of us are really busy with school, other activities, even jobs. The weekends, however, are a whole nother story, but thats only normal. People who think cofc is a party school don't know what they're talking about. (parents and highschoolers)..no offense.

well, obviously not the girl to guy one.. and not all of the students are party kids, but we ALL like to relax and have fun, and if you're that into parties, you won't have a problem finding one.

correct on both accounts

It is not only a beach-bum school. Yes, a lot of people take advantage of the beach but there are niches for anyone else not wanting to go to a party or drink. If you do, there's also availability for that. Girls are a little more high-maitenence here and Oh yeah, there are like 0 guys here.

for the most part yes

there are certainly some students that fit these stereotypes, but there are a lot other types of people

about 15-20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} fit into this category. The rest are just laid back, fun loving people who are extremely friendly and nice

There is always some truth in stereotypes. Charleston is a laid back beach town so of course there will be lots of laid back hippie types but there are always ALL other types of students represented as well..it's a very cool town.

The students definitely like to party, but there is are many different types of people at the College to offer a lot of variety on the campus.

Not really, you have to have a good transcript to get in, but it really depends on the professors whether or not you have to work that hard to do well.

Pretty much

Yes

all are true to a small degree.

Yes

As to the party aspect, I would say every college you attend is a party school. You can find the parties anywhere you go, it just depends on what you're looking for in a college experience. I would say it obviously does have those students who were raised in the deep south and have southern traditions with the Confederate Flad and whatnot, but in general, I think the majority of the people I have met here are from the North, out of state, or just plain normal people with no tendencies to be racist or homophobic or anything that goes along with the southern stereotype. As to diversity and girls, those are facts. Since I have been here it is a lot more diverse and the girl to guy ratio has decreased, but there are less minorities and males in general.

Yes, for the most part. The thing about stereotypes is that they come from somewhere right? So there must be some truth to them, but it's like the game you used to play in grade school, where someone would say something and then go "pass it along" - eventually the message gets garbled and maybe you can figure the original out

There definitely is always something to do in Charleston, but I would not say we are a huge party school. As for the beach bums image...how could you stay away from such a beautiful beach?! I do go quite a bit, whenever I have time.

Not entirely. Grnated that most students do come from a nice background, th College of Charleston does not discriminate or seperate people on their financial differences. Every college (no matter where you are) has their fair share of parties, so to say that because the Colllege of Charleston is a party school based on location is VERY incorrect!

It does feel like C of C is an all girls' school sometimes. 60:40 ratio I'd say. The Citadel and MUSC close by helps even out the ratio for single girls looking for guys, though. Walking down the street, it seems like most girls look the same. Also, diversity does seem limited especially ethnically, socioeconomically, religiously and sometimes segregated, but there ARE plenty of different, interesting people. There's a large population of liberal hippie activists. We have a pretty big international student population. The HC has a good bit of diversity that I feel represents the campus as a whole: nerds, partying beach-goers, liberals, conservatives...there is a niche for everyone and I've really only met very friendly, fun people so far. The beach is so close, only 20-30 minutes away, so people frequently go out there after class on beautiful days (which are frequent). Drinking is a big facet of the school; it's a college town with kids living off campus in apartments and houses that have parties every weekend and some weeknights. But you can find plenty of people who are low-key social drinkers or abstain from drinking completely.

of course not, there is always a mixture of people around and C of C is challenging, not just an easy, do your homework, get an A, kind of school

The stereotype about the students being laid back is definitely true. There are many different groups of people, but they are all laid back and willing to come together if necessary.

For the most part, yes. Birds of a feather, i suppose.

-People think that CofC is a joke school. I will not say that the school should be invited to the Ivy League, but I will say that people have the liberty to choose their paths at CofC. If someone wants to be challenged they can choose a challenging course load. The same holds true for slackers. Slackers can choose a 12 credit semester and party to their heart's desire. People have the freedom to choose what they want to do at CofC. -People think that CofC students are southern, fratty, conservative people. This is not the case at all. I'd say that the campus is divided 50:50, southerners to northerners/westerners. As such, the student body is far more diverse than people assume. -People think that CofC students are party animals that don't do any work. On the contrary...CofC students are amazing in that they are party animals that get their work done. I have gone out for a long night of drinking, and gone to the library after getting 4 hours of sleep and worked on a paper. Whenever I did this I would see someone who I was drinking with at the bar...they were doing their work hungover just like me. -People think that CofC girls are gorgeous. They are right. The girls are knockouts and they are plentiful.

pretty acurate

Some of it it's true. Specially the dress up part. Guys wear patterned shorts, khakis, dressy shoes. Girls try their best to fit into the "southernbelle" stereotype.

the summers and weekends can be more laid back because you can study on the beach or take the afternoon off. however, cofc is equally stressful as any other college would be depending on your course load. Charleston has plenty of opportunity for distraction, and several kids i know dropped out (i don't know what the usual drop out rate is). Although it is quite possible to get wasted 5-7 times a weeks it is still and academic school. the population is ridiculously good looking!

Actually CofC is one of the most affordable 4 yr colleges in the nation, so no not all students are rich and snobby. In the atmosphere down there though, there does seem to be a division in appearances. You have those who are rich and dress so, or those who deperately want to be rich and dress like the rich ones do. Then you have the vast difference in the dorm kids who are lucky if they are even able to find a clean pair of pants to put on before coming to class, otherwise they all only wear thier pajamas, don't take showers, and some don't wear shoes. THere is a middle ground in between the two, but they are the minority (where I reside). You're able to dress, but don't care if you have the absolute newest fashion on the campus. Mostly it's the two extremes of people trying to "express" themselves on the very liberal campus!!! CofC does have a large range of classes to take, but the biggest problem I found was that many of them were never available. I knew before I signed up for CofC that I wanted to be a Political Science major, so I partially based my decision on the classes they offered for that major; however, once I got there they rarely made available even half of the classes I was interested in prior to joining thier college. They basically stick with the core classes like every other college, and once in a while will hit the special topic ones, but even those tend to go with popularity, so ultimately don't trust that you'll be able to take a class that they list they offer on the web site, because if it's not mainstream enough, they probably won't get around to teaching it. I did the 2x2 transfer program starting off in the community college and finishing at CofC and it surprised me when I first got there how much they talk down community colleges, but to be honest I thought I got a lot better of a core education at Tech, than I did at CofC, and it's much more affordable. The teachers at Tech seem to care about the students, whereas the teachers at CofC care about writing their own thesis for free on the college's money, thus have to teach a class to get the funding. Also the teachers along with the CofC board are way too concerned about national rankings and the prestige in a name for their college instead of staying in touch with the students and actually just being there for their education. I think they are a good school, but they have definitely lost sight of direction in whom they are operating for, and need to come back to the students' needs instead of what will boost their rankings higher.

there are a lot of girls and there is a lot of drinking - but you can get away from both of those if you want to. beach bums, i think, is a positive thing. and yes, it's accurate.

Can be applied to some, but for the most part you can find any kind of person here.

Somewhat. The campus can seem a little wasp-ish, but the campus gets more diverse every year.

Some of these stereotypes are, but not all... there are so many different kinds of people you can pretty much find someone of every stereotype here