1. The most frequent student complaint: without a doubt, the food. It truly is terrible, with very little options, and this is coming from a person who thinks just about anything tastes good. The only decent place is a bagel shop, but if you're watching your calorie or sugar intake, forget it!
2. The best thing about the school: the location. Charleston is clean, gorgeous, convenient, endlessly fun, quaint, picturesque- the list goes on. It's not the safest city in the world, but just be smart about when and with whom you travel the streets and you'll be fine. Also, you're a ten minute ride from the beach and movie theater and a ten minute walk from almost ANYTHING else you can think of. I had friends at other colleges calling me saying, "I'm out of shampoo! This is awful! The nearest store is a 20 mintue ride and I can't find a ride...." I would just be like, "Really? I just get mine at the CVS down the block from my dorm." It's great. You truly never feel stranded. And since it's a city, there's always a cab around the corner you can call if you really need a ride.
3. What I would change: I would change a lot of things about CofC, but most preferably, the male-female ratio. It's getting close to the point where the school is {4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}70 female, and that can definitely make anyone feel a little off.
4. The best spot to spend time on campus: definitely the cistern. It's the gorgeous centerpiece of the campus, an elevated grassy area overlooked by an old building with columns and enclosed by iron gates. Amazing place to study. Once in a while, it's fun to do the coffee-house thing too, and go study at a Starbucks table with your coffee before a test. There are 2 of them basically on campus, they are about 3 yards away from each other- haha.
5. School pride: there is a lot of it, but if you're not in a frat or sorority, word of the latest pep rally or game or whatever might not even reach you. I only know there's a lot of it because my roommate was in a sorority and I tagged along to events sometimes.
6. CofC administration: It's a mixed bag, and you either hit the jackpot- i'm talking strike absolute gold- or end up with a class taught by your average stereotypical college prof- a boring middle aged guy in suspenders rambling on about nothing and comprising your grade of a midterm exam and a final, with nothing else. I have had both, but I would give the faculty a high rating overall. I have met some amazingly brilliant and challenging professors at CofC who made me much smarter in one semester!
7. College town or not: I would say not, only because the bars in the city are pretty tough to get into without a fake ID. Or even if you have one (which I don't, so I'm not sure) they can be strict. Other than that, it's a great and fun little city.