Coastal Carolina University

Date: Feb 23 2012
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
I have attended Coastal Carolina University as an in-state freshman for what is now closing in on a year now. I am in the process of transferring to another school, (Either the University of South Carolina or Clemson). There are numerous reasons why I have decided to leave that it may benefit you to know. One of the main reasons is the lack of a college atmosphere and the student body in general. I have met some great people while attending but the majority I have come into contact with I cannot fathom how they were accepted. The majority of the student body shows know real interest in their major, and treat it as if it were high school. The ideal that what you are majoring in should interest you and you should have some desire to learn about it (you don't have to obsess about it) is virtually dead here. It can really affect your thoughts on why you are here in the first place if you let it. The overwhelming majority of the students are out of state (I believe around 55%) and it shows. I cannot not say for certain because I do not know but much of the men and women (to be honest, really, boys and girls), are rude, self absorbed and overall just plain nasty. They are for the most part, with some acception; lazy, rude, very "cliquie" (as if it were high school) and completely unfit to attend a real university. To be social here, you have to put up with a lot of these people, but there are great students here that are just flat out awesome individuals, although they may be in the minority and like me, they will not be here for long. Parties here are frequently busted and are difficult for freshmen guys to get into if not associated with the fraternity or group that is hosting it. I am all for drinking and the occasional toke if you are into that, but it is taken into extreme excess here. There is no sense of responsibility among the students what-so-ever. Great girls here are hard to come by and I advise to be extremely cautious when sleeping with them! From what I have gather from my female friends, the guys are even worse than the girls.

Now the actual university I would say overall is underestimated. The faculty here are very eager to help (I am speaking only on the half of the science departments), and many opportunities are available if you just talk to your professors. Many of my friends and I have not been challenged at all in this first year. A lot of it is just reciting definitions (there is almost zero applied knowledge required to obtain a 4.0). I believe this would change if the university would raise the bar for acceptance. If you are not attending for one of the sciences I would recommend going somewhere else. I believe that none of the programs are bad here, but there are universities nearby that have slightly better programs. The administration here is all but useless. Anyone that is directly associated with the university as a whole is just as greedy as they can be. This may be true for just about every university but it is blatantly obvious here. Other than the professors, no one here cares whether you succeed. Just as long as they get their money. However, the marine science undergraduate program is one of the best and the opportunities that arise are countless, particularly because of the area the university is located in. Which brings me to a final point. DO NOT come here for the beach! The university is a long 9 miles of continuous traffic from Myrtle Beach and is wedged between two major highways. If you really want a university with a great beach life, try the College of Charleston.

My advice to any prospective students who are considering Coastal Carolina University is; if you are a semi-serious student who wants to attend an excellent university with opportunities to get ahead and an open social scene with a real college atmosphere where you can party and meet great, new people then you DEFINITELY want to attend another university.