College of Charleston Top Questions

Most kids seem to go to parties first semester and then people tend to hit the bars second semester (people seem to turn 21 second semester...) but there are always parties around that are a good time. The food is incredible. We just got a brand new cafeteria known by most as Liberty. Its a buffet style with tons of options; theres a grill for burgers, chicken, etc, a pasta station, a mongolian barbeque, some home cookin, a salad and sandwich section, and the desert area. The beaches are another great aspect. Folly is where most kids go to hangout and surf, but Sullivans Island is tight too with big tide pools that you can dive an flip into. We ride our bikes to Sullivans (about 30-45 minutes away) over the big bridge, but you need a car for Folly (10 minutes by car.) The dorms are really nice. I lived in Mcalister and loved it. You share your room with one other person, then ahve a common area to share with two others. You share a bathroom with only one kid and there is just a ton of living space. Not to mention you get a full sized fridge, microwave, and counters/sink. The most frequent student complaints are about going home. Guest speakers are awesome, tey also usually have food accompanying them so not only do you learn some interesting some times random stuff, but you also meet other like minded kids and eat some delectible treats. The kids I roomed with and lived down the hall from became my closest friends. If you are awake on a Tuesday at 2 am youre either hammered or studying.

Charleston in itself is a great city of partying. Sometimes too much partying. I'm not really much of a party goer myself, but that being said the environment is there and prevalent. Drinking is really common and smoking too. Both kinds of smoking. And Hooka. Plenty of great restaurants too.

Popular groups on campus include residence life, Cougar Activity Board, Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Intervarsity, and Student Government Association. I am involved in BCM and we do a lot of different things together. We have a small group study every Wednesday and often plan fun events to do throughout the week or weekend, like shagging. The only popular athletic events we really have are basketball and baseball. In the dorms, some people leave their doors open but I prefer to have mine closed because it can get loud. Sororities and fraternities seem important on campus but a lot of people personally believe that those members are just buying their friends. Usually CAB sponsors activities on Friday nights that are totally free including bowling, playing card games, movie nights and things like that that don't involve any drinking and supply free food. Off campus there are tons of clubs to go to and plenty of eating and shopping to do. Often, my friends and I like to go to starbucks or Kudu coffee to hang out for a while.

Basketball is most popular. Dorms lock automatically. Nobody goes to sports other than basketball. Only the people who take theater classes go to the plays for the most part (you're required). Lot's of drugs and drinking. Fraternity and sororitys are not a major part but the entire greek life bands together against the liberal arts group. Also there are a lot of surfers who enjoy surfing at Folly beach. the city environment provides for many social opportunities.

Theat in the dorms is rare, all the dorms are not open for public access, their is always an R.A or security officer checking people into the dorms. My freshman year, we left our dorm unlooked 24/7 and never had anyone steal out of our suite. I met my closest friends through living in the dorms freshman year and through greek life. CofC students know that you have to work hard to play hard, the library will be busy until 10pm then the students head out to King Street to the bars. If you are looking for something to do, there is always something going on no matter what day of the week it is. Carolina Cup is a yearly event in Camden, SC that students get excited for and take buses to the races. Greek life is not a huge part of CofC but the students who are involved are active in almost every other organizations on campus (they hold 85{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student positions on campus).

The most popular groups are the basketball team, sailing, CAB (Cougar Activities Board), and then perhaps the radio and newspaper clubs and SGA. Theater is also pretty popular and there are a lot of student plays. The dating scene is black and white, there are people that are in long term serious relationships, and then everyone else just hooks up. Most boys wouldn't ask a girl on a "date" but rather, invite her to a party. I met my closet friends from my dorm room and friends dorm rooms, also work. If I'm awake on 2am on a Tuesday and there had been no sports on, I am probably chatting with my roommate. Traditions are few, but Cougarpalooza at the end of the year was really fun.

Amazing nightlife, can't get any better. Over 50 bars to choose from at least.

Sports and athletic events are not very big/popular on campus. There is no football team so that limits the level of school pride and how far people are willing to go to support sports teams, etc. People with flexible schedules tend to party thursday to saturday. Greek life is not that important. There are plenty of things to do on the weekends that do not involve drinking. In fact, there are groups such as BCM that plan events that are fun without alcohol.

Most everyone lives in a dorm freshman year. College Lodge was a lot of fun for me. It's pretty run down, a little sketchy, but I made a lot of friends there pretty quickly. The basketball team is popular, and the best sports are probably sailing and equestrian. I met my closest friends through each other. You hang out with one person, and then you have 20 new friends. Most common weekend occurance? Happy hour, dinner, bars, a house party...? There are still a lot of things to do besides drinking... bowling, movies, just taking a walk around the city.

The one thing that is extremely popular on campus is Greek Life. It is an amazing experience being in a sorority. You learn about the many different types of people and you get to do amazing things. The dorms are pretty good at CofC. People make friends they still have now living in dorms and I would reccomend that if at all possible, everyone should live in the dorms at least once. We do live in the city so there are stricter rules about safety, etc., in the dorms but the community experience is amazing. I worked for Res Life for four years and I know they can be tough but the things they implement is for the greater good. Your RA's can become your friends or your enemies but they are still looking out for you, regardless. But, eventually, you should move off campus because once you experience life off campus it is an amazing thing. At 2 AM on a Tuesday night, you can find that many people are awake. My sophmore year, when I was an RA, I found that staying up all night studying, hanging out, making mischief was a prime thing to do at 2 AM. I love being awake then because people are truly people when you are hanging out in the hallway talking for hours!