College of Charleston Top Questions

I am in a sorority and while I love my sisters and being a Phi Mu, it isn't an integral part of my life. I think going Greek is a wonderful way to meet new people here, but you can't limit yourself to just those that are Greek. To have the best time here and broaden your horizons, you have to push your limits and make friends with people that you don't think you normally would be friends with. I have meet some of the best people during my three years at CofC so far. There are also ALOT of on campus organizations that you can get involved with to meet new people. I didn't live in a dorm my first year, which made me feel kind of cut off from the other Freshman students, but that is why I got involved in greek life. I met some great girls and it helped me overcome my shyness and reach out and meet new people! I'm kind of ashamed to say that I haven't yet been to any kind of athletic event here at CofC. We do have a pretty good basketball team, but I just never seem to make it to the games. I think that is one of the drawbacks of going to a smaller school. We don't have a football team, but I have alot of friends that go to University of South Carolina, so I go to the gamecocks games sometimes, which kind of makes up for our lack of a team. I don't party alot during the week and sometimes on the weekends. I live with two of my best friends and we like just having our close friends over and hanging out and drinking. There is always a party in Charleston and their not hard to find, but I prefer drinking with my close friends instead of people that I just met that night and probably won't see again. Not my thing, but alot of people do like that and it shows in the number of parties you pass on any given night of the week.

There's a club for just about everything.

There is always alot going on - which is great. alot of people have / or get IDs so they can go to the bars - when there isnt something going on - but its not crucial - being in a city is also nice - because on those early morning nights when you suddenly begin to hear your stomach rumble - places like pita pit or majestic are open till 3am thursday - saturday

The most popular groups on campus would have to be the greek life. Next would be either theater or religious groups. I'm involved with Lutheran Campus ministry.It's a great group that gives you that 'home away from home' feeling. We meet once a week at a local lutheran church and we always get a home cooked meal from one of the members from the church. In my dorm, students did not leave the door open. In other dorms though, yes they do leave their doors open. Athletic events are pretty popular. at home basketball games we usually have a full house. Theater is really active too. We have a great theater program. The dating scene: you're either dating someone from home, or you have a boyfriend/girlfriend that you have been dating for an extended amount of time and you came to college together, or you're just floating around and doing the casual thing. I met my closest friends by being assigned the same room assignments and by involving myself in the campus ministries. If i'm awake on a Tuesday at 2am, i'm probably studying or procrastinating. or sometimes, i'm just goofing off with my roommates and hanging out. The traditions and events that happen every year is move in day, then we have our holiday dinners and lunches. Before thanksgiving break, we had a thanksgiving dinner. And for christmas, we had a Christmas dinner. People party just about every weekend, I would say. sororities and fraternities are very important. If you're not in one, it's ok though. Last weekend was when I moved out, but the weekend before that I had a movie night with my suitemates and then came back to my home town and saw a concert. On Saturday nights, you can go shagging on the beach, go out to dinner, go to a movie, go see a play sponsored by the college, hang out in your dorms, or walk around aimelessly in charleston. Mainly go to the beach off campus, that seems to be everyone's favorite hang out.

There are plenty of activities on campus. One of my favorite groups is Americans for Informed Democracy; it is a group that raises issues such as Darfur and HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. and tries to raise awareness and funds to support certain NGOs. It really is important to stay in a dorm your first year, because that is where you will meet some of your best friends for life.

unlike most southern schools, the greek system is not dominate. there are 8 sororities and 8 fraternities, however if you aren't in one you will still have friends. i am in a sorority but i am friends with other sorority girls and girls who arent involved in greek life. baseball and basketball games are really fun to go to to hang out with friends. usually, people go out thursday, friday and saturday but you can find people out pretty much any night depending on their schedules because there is always so much going on.

I don't really know a lot about the social life at C of C. I live off-campus 25 miles away so it's hard to stay involved on campus. There is plenty to do on campus though. There is always a concert series or the drama department putting on a play of some sort. The students are incredibly talented. The only problem that I've seen at C of C is opportunistic crime. Things are stolen out of unattended bookbags a lot and there have been some armed robberies in the middle of the night. The College sends out a report of these crimes as they happen and we are constantly reminded to keep an eye on our belongings and not to go anywhere alone at night.

partying

I love the greek life on campus, they are pretty popular on campus. Plus greek kids tend to live in their own microcosm but it is generally pretty positive. The athletic teams tend to keep to themselves, and party with each other, for example, the baseball team and the softball team together. If you wanted to you could find a party every night, we are in a city, and there are numerous other colleges around. There isn't much school spirit on campus, I didn't go to a single basketball game let alone any other sporting event. There are many religious groups on campus that tend to be prevalent too, such as Baptist Campus Ministries, or Campus Outreach.

Greek life is obviously a big part of CofC. I chose not to partake just because I can't handle being distracted from my studies. But the Greek life is very involved with philanthropy at the college, so I do respect them. Students really do spend a lot of time with people in their dorm halls. Whenever I visited the all-male dorm, everyone had their doors open and were constantly hanging out in each other's rooms. It's hard to get bored because so many other people are spending time in the dorms hanging out or there's an abundance of students that live in the downtown houses close to campus. I don't think atheletic events are quite as big at CofC...it wasn't too often that everyone got together to go to an event.