College of Charleston Top Questions

This is a biggie for me: Greek life seems to rule this school. To me, this is very unappealing. To be blunt and general, if you're not in a sorority or fraternity, you don't go out more than 2 or 3 times a month. The news of parties seems to travel among sororities and frats, and on top of that, the BEST parties are ones I was forced to miss out on just because I wasn't in a sorority. My roommate was in one and I was constantly having to watch her get ready for some huge all-night party while I did my homework. It was stressful not having the weekends to blow off steam. So be very careful about this if you decide to go to CofC, it could make or break your experience. Guest speakers are common in the English department. Other than that, I've never heard of any. But I've heard some truly amazing speeches and readings from authors and poets, things I was required to go to for an English class (but that I really enjoyed). There are usually some decent house parties on weekends, but you have to have connections to know about them. Off campus, there are plenty of AMAZING restaurants, stores, and whatever. Once in a while, the school will do some type of cookout or movie showing. The only problem with these is that nobody seems to interact with anybody new.

There are plenty of student run organizations and clubs including: sports, language, culture, religion, awareness...etc. I am on the college's Crew (Rowing) club. It is neither a varsity or intercollegiate program. We are made up of students interested in rowing, most of whom never rowed before college. We race colleges with similar programs all over the Southeast, and participate in national and international races in Boston and Philadelphia.

There are a lot of events around the college and the best part is that they don't revolve around sports. The college does a great job at offering events for the students. I was a little older than most, so I didn't hang out too much with other students. I can say that everyone is friendly and it seems most groups mix. The dating scene... hahaha not many relationships. Lots of flings. Fraternities aren't a big deal, people actually join for academic reasons instead of an excuse to bindge drink and sleep around. Yet the students here aren't innocent. They party hard, but as one. There aren't many clicks. I was a different student who grew up around here and already had friends outside the college. So on a Saturday night I would just hang out, or skateboard. I've been skateboarding my whole life so thats what I did when I wasn't working or studying.

No matter what anybody says, it is a party school with a laid-back atmosphere with lots of fun activities to do no matter what you are into.

Bars are great

Greek life is on campus but definetly not a huge deal. Sports are the same way. There are these groups but that is not how I feel the majority of people define themselves, even people who are apart of the groups. Many people just tend to be friends with the people they meet in dorms etc. their freshman year. There are many bars but also the marjoiryt of people live off campus after freshman year and therefore there are many house parties. Always a lot to do. Frat's and soroities don't really have parties at their houses but at members houses and date parties when they rent out bars and clubs. There is alot of drinking on campus but those who don't tend to meet and figure out what they want to do that doesn't involve dirnking. You can find a party any day of the week as long as you have people to go out with, and thursday night the majority of people will be out.

There are many club activities and fraternal organizations are popular with students. Many students seem to work full-time jobs.

There really are a lot of things to get involved in. Greek life is pretty big, but it doesn't dominate campus by any means. Getting involved in student organizations or even on-campus jobs really broadens your group of friends and gives you lots of opportunities to see new people and new places.

Lots of outside class activites going on both through College, but also through city of Chas. The dating scene is good for straight people, not as good for gays. My closet CofC friends come from studying abroad, and once I got into the classes of my major where there were people like me. On a Tuesday at 2am, I would be returning home from drinking if I were still awake, because bars close at 2AM. People party pretty often, especially Thur-Sat. Frat/Sor are important, but I feel like not as much as they are at other schools because you don't have to be in one to be "cool". Last weekend I worked, went to the beach, went out with friends. You could do pretty much whatever you wanted because Chas is a decent sized city, however you would need a car and honestly, everyone else will be drinking anyways so you will end up doing it. Off campus people shop, eat, beach, live, party...

I almost always left my room door open, since I trusted my roommates not to steal my stuff; but there were definitely some people that I met who I wouldn't leave alone with my valuables. It didn't really seem like sports were a big deal at the school. We don't have a football team, and the only basketball game that I even heard about the whole year was an impromptu match between the choir and theater department majors. Fraternities and Sororities seem to be pretty popular. As for me, I met most of my friends because they sat next to me in class or because they were involved in theater productions that I worked with.