Clemson University

Date: Aug 11 2010
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
First off, my time at Clemson wasn't completely negative. There are plenty of positives however for me the negatives outweighed them.

The campus is beautiful, clean and well maintained. Clemson is located in the middle of no where and there isn't much to do outside of school. The nearest city with live music & good shopping/restaurants is Greenville, an hour away. The town itself is a quaint little college town. There are several bars located "downtown" and are usually packed on weekends.

The students are a mixed bag. Socially the campus is very greek. If you plan on rushing you will find a home here. I tried the greek thing for a year and it just wasn't for me. Sure there's plenty of parties and you make a ton of friends but at the end of the day I just didn't feel at home. My 2nd year I chose to quit my frat, I don't speak to a single "friend" from that frat which wasn't my choice. If you don't rush parties are what you make of them. Joining a club sport will help a ton with that.

The girls are pretty, but most of the sorority ones wont give you the time of day unless you're in a frat. Clemson is not very diverse. It's white and a little black. If you want to live in a bubble you will fit right in. The dress code is polos and kackis. You will see everyone wearing clothing that looks something out of a J Crew catalog.

Professors are a mixed bag. Some are incredibly helpful and really go out of their way to teach the material. For some required classes there is only one professor teaching the course. If you don't like them you're stuck. I found that several of my classes were 200+ lecture halls. I had one class out of 20 or so where there was under 20 students in the class. It felt very impersonal and I recall several times having to wait 10+ minutes to speak with a professor. The advisors are worthless. They constantly shuffle around who your advisor is making it impossible to build a relationship with one of them.

In short, check out the campus for yourself. The school is expensive and scholarship isn't handed out. If you are out of state prepare to rack up some debt. If you are in state, visit and decide if it looks like a good environment for you. I felt Clemson was overrated, certainly not a top-60 school as they are now rated.