Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Limestone and Coker.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Limestone and Coker.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Limestone and Coker.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Limestone, Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Coker, and Winthrop University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Coker, Winthrop University, and Limestone.
Excellence
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Limestone and Coker.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Coker and Winthrop University.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
University Of South Carolina • Columbia, SC
Studying English (completion in 1991)
• 7/19/2011
"Pretty satisfied. I still think about what would have happened had I attended another university to which I had also been accepted. But USC was a great experience and I'm better for it."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Not sure that USC is the place to go for design per se. It's a good liberal arts school. Great atmosphere. Great people. Decent program. Really depends on what you're looking for. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Used to be better, I think. James Dickey was the poet in residence and he brought some prestige to the University. Since his death, I believe the literary reputation of the University has suffered. |
| Program Quality | 5 | Decent program. I was an English major. I did study some graphic design work in college, but the program didn't seem great. |
| Instruction | 5 | Some professors were excellent, but they were too few in number to bring the overall score above the range of "average." Most instructors were competent but not inspiring. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The workload didn't seem extreme. I studied a lot, of course, but I don't recall feeling stressed very often. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | With the exception of some art studio classes, it was all book learning. I did some painting and drawing and other "hands-on" stuff but that was not a big part of my academic experience, and it's not a big part of the university's curriculum. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Reasonably flexible. I took a few evening and weekend classes. It wasn't exactly the "A" team in terms of instructors for classes at these off hours, though. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The facilities were excellent. Access to professors was excellent as well. Never looked for a tutor. Met with an advisor a few times but it seemed perfunctory rather than truly beneficial. |
| Social Life | 10 | Great. In two sentences, it would be really great! No, really: the social experience of going to USC was fantastic. Lots of nice people. Tons of parties. Columbia is a great university/party town. Social experience was top notch. |
| Placement Services | 1 | There was virtually no job placement or career services offered- at least as far as I was aware. I had a full time job by my senior year of college, so maybe it was a case of not finding what I was not looking for, but I don't believe any of my friends saw the benefits of job placement. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The USC Alumni Association does reach out to grads periodically. I've never donated. They aren't too pushy or persistent, thankfully. |
University Of South Carolina • Columbia, SC
Studying Media Arts (completion in 2004)
• 10/14/2011
"The school provided me with many opportunities outside my field of study that I would not have been able to get in a smaller, more specialized school. This made up for any parts lacking in my major."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | If you want a very intensive and narrow program, USC is not the school for you. If you want to get a little more balance at a large state college, then this may be ideal. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The program is not advertised particularly well, nor does it have a large enrollment. There New Media department seems to be progressing, but it is an uphill battle. |
| Program Quality | 5 | USC's program was geared more toward journalism and more traditional majors, and not heavily invested in the field in which I studied. A more specialized institution would probably have paid off better. |
| Instruction | 6 | Instruction was more theoretical than practical. We focused more on the abstract art side of the field than the actual business oriented design principles. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The program was not particularly difficult. Standards did not seem to be incredibly high. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | This was actually well balanced, although not particularly advanced. Hands-on projects (film/audio production included) took up a good portion of time, but there was a decent foundation established for these by class studies. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | This was actually one of the motivating factors for my decision to go into this field. I was able to tailor my class schedule to meet my needs quite well. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | USC's media labs were open quite late, as befits a program of this nature. Photo lab was well staffed and equipped, computer labs were relatively up to date, and I never had a problem with overcrowding. |
| Social Life | 9 | USC was a great party school with a diverse student body, and as it was in the center of the second largest city in South Carolina, there was a lot to do in the area as well. There were lots of opportunities for a musician as well (I played in several bands at the time). |
| Placement Services | 4 | I was never contacted or approached by anyone with career services. I was never even aware of the existence of such a program during my studies. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | While never taking advantage of the network (I moved away pretty quickly), I have no doubt that I would have been able to get assistance from some of my instructors. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.