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That same warm and welcoming at m o s p he re t he pin e a ppl e represents is characteristic of the College of Charleston. And you’ll find that it’s an integral part of your experience here from start to finish. This is your new world.
ince the days when sea captains used the pineapple to signify their safe return home, it has become the symbol of hospitality. In Charleston, it is everywhere – from iron gates to doorknockers and welcome mats.
— Readers of Condé Nast Traveler —
BEST OF ALL WORLDS This is a university where every opportunity you can imagine is available to you.
photo chris m. rogers
WE THINK BIG. LITERALLY. Jon Hakkila, professor of physics and astronomy, made history this past year when his international team of astrophysicists claimed to have discovered the largest structure in the universe. And their revelation may change the way we look at everything.
Faculty and alumni are valuable resources for our students.
THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS
• You’ll receive a first-rate liberal arts and sciences education, which businesses see as particularly relevant in the 21st century. • As an institution, we are responsive to the needs of the marketplace. Many of our programs are collaborative and crossdisciplinary. Examples: First-Year Experience courses that tie in with current, hotbutton issues, and majors such as public health, data science, computing in the arts and international studies. • You’ll study and work alongside accessible faculty who have strong, real-world connections with the business community, municipalities and school systems.
• Internships can help punch your ticket to the kind of job you want after graduation. Charleston has become something of a boomtown with rapid growth in the fields of media and digital technology, medicine and
bioscience, international business, and hospitality and tourism. So, you can find an internship fairly easily that will enhance your résumé and that might even lead to a job.
So, if you’re intellectually curious, adventurous, self-motivated, an innovative thinker and academically prepared, this is the place for you. Your College of Charleston experience will pay big dividends. » cofc.edu
C H A R L E S T O N
F U N
F A C T
712,220 – metro area population
BRAIN WAVES This is a place that will teach you to be adaptable throughout your life.
LIFE IS ONE BIG CLASSROOM. Here, the educational experience has no boundaries. For example, you can choose to make a final paper a business plan for your own venture. Our graduates also remain lifelong learners, whether they’re mapping the ocean floor to recover lost aircraft or designing their own fashion line.
Be mentored by a CEO and build incredible professional connections before you graduate.
ACADEMICS L E A RNI NG F I RSTHA ND Undergraduate research. It’s one of the most exciting, impactful things you can do in college. And if a science lab with microscopes and test tubes comes to mind when you think of research, think again. Education takes on a whole new dimension when it’s complemented by hands-on research in the field. Whether you decide to design your own research project with expertise and guidance from the faculty, or sign on to one that is underway, you might very well be published before you graduate, and will likely present your findings at regional and national conferences. You might even get grant funding that will support your work. In other words, at the College, you could be that archaeology major who travels to rural France to unearth centuries-old pictograms, or political science major who focuses on international terrorism at sea, or
business administration major who studies the feasibility of a carbon tax based on C02 measurements taken at the tailpipe of a car. Now, think of the boost these experiences will give to your postcollege career and you’ll appreciate the value of what the College of Charleston experience has to offer you.
“... huge university opportunities with a small college, personalized atmosphere.” — The Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges
ACADEMICS
GO GLOBAL We want you to leave. That’s right. We want you to study abroad. Every college says that, but at the College of Charleston we make it easy, with customized programs so you can study specific topics in the ideal setting. Picture it. You examining tropical ecology in Bali. Or exploring the business of soccer in the U.K. Or studying marketing in Iceland, or the latest in exercise science in New Zealand. At the College, you can study abroad for a week, a summer or a full semester. We’re one of the few U.S. universities with a semester-long program in Havana, Cuba, and one of the only colleges that offers a course on the natural history of the Galapagos Islands on site. Our professors teach 47 different study-abroad courses that can take you anywhere from China to Germany and from Barbados to Brazil. We also partner with universities around the world to offer affiliate and international exchange programs. The opportunities are boundless, so: À bientôt. Hasta luego. » international.cofc.edu
THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON IS A TOP PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER PRODUCER.
Italy. Morocco. India. The world is yours, so why not take advantage of it?
» These four alumni, part of the first class of the School of Business Investment Program, graduated with jobs at Fortune 500 companies. The entire class landed jobs before graduation.
250 + T E C H
STARTUPS IN CHARLESTON
HONORS COLLEGE | Be Your Best Self Take your College of Charleston experience to the next level. Each fall, approximately 200 freshmen enroll in the Honors College, a close-knit community of intellectually curious high achievers. Within five years of graduation, 85 percent of our Honors College alumni have attended or completed graduate and professional schools. These include Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Yale Law School, Emory University School of Law, The Graduate School of Duke University and UCLA Graduate Division. Unquestionably, the high school transcript is the most important part of the Honors College application. Though admission does not require a specific GPA, the majority of students accepted have earned A’s in most of their schoolwork. If you plan to go above and beyond while you’re here, you should definitely explore the Honors College. » honors.cofc.edu
ACADEMICS
TRANSFER STUDENTS We want you!
You bring with you a level of maturity, an intellectual passion and a breadth of experience that add to the fabric of our community. Your confidence in your ability to succeed academically, and dedication to completing college, actually challenge and motivate your peers.
Brett "The Jet" Gardner ‘05 New York Yankees outfielder
We have a lot to offer you as well. You and your academic advisor will discuss your interests, academic strengths and goals, and develop an academic plan that works for you. » advising.cofc.edu The Center for Student Learning is an excellent resource for academic support. There are writing, math and science labs, for example, and the professional staff and peer academic coaches are always on hand to help with time-management and study skills. » csl.cofc.edu The Career Center is an excellent resource for finding internships and jobs. The staff can also guide you through the processes of self-assessment and choosing a career, so that you wind up with a career that fits you. » careercenter.cofc.edu Clearly, getting through college is a team effort. We’re here to make it smooth sailing.
Arlinda Locklear ‘73 Supreme Court litigator
John Tisdale ’86 Sickle cell scientist
GO ON. DO GREAT THINGS. As a College of Charleston graduate, your career options should know no boundaries. You can graduate with a major in exercise science, marketing or psychology – and you can launch your own record company, tackle the problem of childhood obesity, or head to med school, law school or graduate school. Whatever you plan to do, you’ll leave the College with a firm grasp not only on your major, but also – and more importantly – on the wide, and changing, world around you. Our alumni include an outfielder for the New York Yankees, the first Native American woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, a scientist who made a breakthrough
“For me, the College of Charleston’s small class size, combined with the laid-back nature of the city and its residents, provided the perfect environment for fostering friendships that can last a lifetime.”
Carol Hannah Whitfield ‘07 Project Runway Finalist
» Matt Czuchry, actor
Josh Hall ’14 Educator
Nafees Bin Zafar ‘98 Scientific and Engineering Academy-Award winner
photo ric frazier
The Good Wife Gilmore Girls
C H A R L E S T O N
F U N
F A C T
treating sickle cell disease, a Project Runway contestant, an educator who completed the Call Me MISTER program and a two-time Oscar-winning computer animator. We could go on, but first, we’d like to see what you’ll do.
“Nine in 10 employers look for students to have one or two internships.” — U.S. News & World Report
65 CITY PARKS
in peninsular Charleston
DO YOUR THING Join a club, have an adventure, do community service – and be a fan!
IF YOU’RE REALLY INTO SOMETHING, you don’t mess around. You dive right in. Go for full immersion and squeeze everything you can out of an experience. If your passion is community service, or rock climbing, or the environment, you’ll find your niche. It’s all here.
A lot of your education will take place outside the classroom. So get involved!
CAMPUS LIFE CO U G A RS CO ME I N A L L SHA P E S, SI ZE S A ND P E RSO N ALIT IE S . They are interested in sports, health and fitness (sport clubs and intramurals). They like to plan events (CAB), enjoy keeping their fingers on the campus pulse (CisternYard Media) – and run things (SGA). Cougars come from everywhere and bring a variety of experiences and cultures to the campus. They represent big cities and small towns. The North, South, East and West, and points in between. Out of the 220+ clubs and organizations you have to pick from, it’ll be easy for you to find other students with common interests or learn about others (Black Student Union, Jewish Student Union, Asian Student Association).
220 + C L U B S
Campuswide events like Georgestock (which kicks off the fall semester) and Cougarpalooza really bring out the crowds. With all of this going on, you’ll be the best kind of busy.
» studentlife.cofc.edu A “post-college town brimming with youth, jobs …”
— USA Today
A N D O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
CAMPUS LIFE
SCHOLARSHIP, LEADERSHIP, SERVICE, FRIENDSHIP That’s the Greek way. Membership in a fraternity or sorority begins in college and lasts a lifetime. Some advantages: • You’ll have access to national and local scholarships and grants, incentives and awards, and study-skills workshops.
Our students are as good as they give, donating their time and energy regularly.
• Greeks are leaders. Each member of a sorority or fraternity is actively involved in teaching and encouraging others to use their leadership talents in their chapters and on campus. • Participation in community service builds character. Fraternities and sororities, individually and collectively, are involved in the community and participate in a variety of philanthropic activities. • The fact that members call each other “sister” and “brother” demonstrates the sense of family that the groups provide. And these bonds form the basis of lifelong friendships. Go Greek!
» greeks.cofc.edu
38,000 POUNDS
THE AMOUNT OF FOOD FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES COLLECTED FOR THE LOWCOUNTRY FOOD BANK
“Personal attention is the name of the game at the College of Charleston.” — The Princeton Review’s Guide to College Visits
AT YOUR SERVICE Your generation is characterized by the desire to volunteer and give to your community. It’s not surprising, then, that the idea of service is woven through the fabric of life at the College of Charleston. It can take the shape of a one-day event (MLK Day of Service), or ongoing and long-term programs (soup kitchens, literacy outreach programs, beach sweeps). • Service is integrated into the coursework in a range of disciplines. • The Center for Civic Engagement matches student, faculty and staff volunteers with community needs.
• Volunteer Corps members plan and participate in service projects throughout the Charleston community. • Dance Marathon raises money each year for the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital.
• Students who take part in the Alternative Break program spend college breaks traveling to national and international destinations to participate in community service. • Fraternities and sororities at the College donate their time to local groups such as Habitat for Humanity.
And the way the College of Charleston works, if you are passionate about a particular area of service or philanthropy for which there is no existing program, you can always create your own! » volunteer.cofc.edu
CAMPUS LIFE
BE A COUGARNATION FAN! You want sports entertainment? The College delivers in a big way. Are you ready to take your spot among 5,000 fans rallying around our basketball team in TD Arena? Done. Are you up for seeing our men’s and women’s soccer teams weave the ball through their opponents’ defenses? Done and done. There are 22 Division I sports teams ranging from baseball and basketball to sand volleyball and sailing. They all compete in the Colonial Athletic Association, and some of them regularly vie for national prominence. Sports are a strong tradition for CougarNation. Our men’s basketball team won a national championship, our sailing team has won five, and our alumni include a New York Yankee, a couple of NBA veterans and a two-time Olympian. Get ready to rock the joint!
» cofc.edu/athletics
“One of the best small public schools in the nation.” — PARADE magazine’s College A-list
Cougar pride plays out on the court, on the field and even on the water.
5X
NATIONAL SAILING CHAMPIONS
22
NCAA DIVISION I TEAMS
16
EQUESTRIAN INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
CAMPUS LIFE
“When I walked around campus, I just felt like I fit in. It was comfortable and everyone was so friendly.” — Lauren Miller Smith
“There could not be a better city to go to college in than Charleston.” — Ian Wheeler
“During my years in Charleston, I spent a lot of time going to the beach, and playing basketball and golf.” — Matt Hagan
“My friends from freshman year and I lived together for the next three years. I met other close friends through the hockey team.” — Michael Mirmanesh
“I really enjoyed fitness activities like yoga, rock climbing, hiking, swimming and slacklining.” —Tanya Hunt
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME. You’ll definitely want to live on campus – in the heart of downtown Charleston, convenient to class, friends, food, shopping, music, coffee shops, parks and more. Residence hall options include coed and single sex. Honors College students live together in Berry Hall. Along with your room or suite, you get free laundry, utilities, cable TV and high-speed Internet.
your classmates are your roommates, hall-mates or housemates. Options range from immersivelanguage houses to the Global Village (pre-law, sustainability, international studies) to Fine Arts and Communication (marketing, theatre, mass communication) to Innovation in Science and Technology (pre-med, computer science, natural science). Pick one that best suits your interests.
You might also want to consider one of our themebased Living and Learning Communities, where
No matter what you choose, the convenience of living on campus really can’t be beat.
» Even our residence halls are works of art. College Lodge provided street artist Shepard Fairey a perfect canvas in conjunction with his exhibition on campus.
C H A R L E S T O N
• You can monitor your laundry from your room. • The Block on Bull is a row of historic houses on Bull St. with themed living.
» reslife.cofc.edu » go.cofc.edu/llc
F U N
F A C T
“I find people that have a liberal arts background have a broader view of the world and will go farther in business.” — Michael Fromm CEO, Fromm Electric
3 BEACHES
each within a 25-minute drive of campus
CAMPUS LIFE
HOME COOKIN’ Our mantra? Nobody likes a hungry Cougar. Whether you need a light snack on your way to class or a workout, or you’ve worked up an appetite for the all-you-care-to-eat buffet, you’ll find plenty to satisfy you at any one of the College’s eight dining locations.
College life is busy, but don’t worry about meals. We’ve got you covered.
All freshmen living in residence halls have to select a meal plan. However, there are nine to pick from, giving you the flexibility to eat what you want, when you want. Vegetarian, omnivore, gluten-free or kosher – there’s something for everyone. And, with so many Charleston restaurants on the “best” lists of Southern Living, eater.com and Bon Appétit, you can expand your palate as well as your mind. • Dining Services offers nutritional information for Liberty St. and City Bistro under its “Eat Well” section. • Follow Dining Services @cofcdining for tips and occasional giveaways. (Free food!)
» charleston.campusdish.com
10,488
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
16 :1
STUDENT—FACULTY RATIO
» At the College, we’ll help you build your own app or develop your own startup, just like Will Jamieson – creator of selfie-enabling Front Flash.
GET CONNECTED The best way to keep up with what’s going on at the College is through social media and The College Today. From the social stream page, you can follow the College on Twitter and Facebook, and specific professors on Twitter. You’ll also find a range of blogs that covers almost every imaginable interest. And you should definitely check out Day in the Life. For several days each spring, different students take over the College Twitter account, tweet about their day and answer questions from new students. » social.cofc.edu The College Today is jam-packed with information about faculty projects such as testing the impact on fitness of new products and equipment for manufacturers, or Gonzo Journalism, Gardening, and the Name Brittany. The very popular I Want Your Job series features alumni who work in varied positions all over the world. Read through and you’ll find tips that might help you land your dream job. » today.cofc.edu
AVERAGE CLASS SIZE:
26
FAST COMPANY MAGAZINE DUBBED CHARLESTON “SILICON HARBOR.”
SEE YOURSELF HERE This is the 21st century. At the College, embracing innovation is a long-standing tradition.
FOUNDED IN 1770, the College of Charleston is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state, the 13th oldest in the nation, and the first municipal college in the country. Today, this stateassisted university is recognized for the exceptional experience it offers its 11,000+ undergraduate and graduate students.
ADMISSIONS
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S TAT E S A N D T E R R I TO R I E S
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CO U N T R I E S R E P R E S E N T E D
THIS IS WHAT THE TYPICAL STUDENT WHO WAS ACCEPTED FOR FALL 2014 LOOKED LIKE: THE MIDDLE 50 PERCENT SCORED BETWEEN • 1060 and 1210 (in-state), and 1110 and 1250 (out-of-state) on the SAT. • 23 and 27 (in-state), and 25 and 29 (out-of-state) on the ACT. • 6 and 8 (in-state), and 8 and 9 (out-of-state) on the ACT writing test.
GRADUATED BETWEEN the top 10 and 32 percent of their class.
MONEY MATTERS
» Take a selfie with Clyde the Cougar at the entrance to Cougar Mall.
Part of the college-preparation process involves sound financial planning. And it’s never too early – or too late – to explore your options. A great place to start is on the Federal Student Aid website (studentaid.ed.gov). On that site you can begin at the beginning (Where do I start?), get information on how to pay for college and who gets aid, and actually print checklists for academic and financial preparation.
W H E N Y O U ’ R E R E A D Y T O A P P LY, K E E P T H E S E D A T E S I N M I N D.
You’ll also find other helpful tools on the College’s financial aid website. These include: • a budget calculator that will help you estimate your expenses and financial resources. • the net price calculator. Enter the information and you’ll get a quick estimate of your financial aid eligibility and figure out your out-of-pocket costs. • a timeline of important dates that begin with October of your senior year of high school. We recommend that you do your homework so that you make the most of the many federal, state, local and institutional sources that can help you meet the expense of your college education. » finaid.cofc.edu
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MAJORS AND MINORS
70
STUDY ABROAD
+ PROGRAMS
fall semester application deadlines for: freshmen november 1: early notification february 1: regular notification transfer students: june 1
spring semester application deadlines for: freshmen: november 1 transfer students: december 1 »go.cofc.edu/applying
“One of the best educational values in the nation.”
— Forbes Magazine
MAJORS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
accounting African American studies anthropology archaeology art history arts management astronomy astrophysics athletic training biochemistry biology business administration chemistry Classics communication computer information systems computer science computing in the arts dance data science early childhood education economics elementary education English exercise science
• finance • foreign language education • French and Francophone studies • geology • German • historic preservation and community planning • history • hospitality and tourism management • international business • international studies • Jewish studies • Latin American and Caribbean studies • marine biology • marketing • mathematics • middle grades education • music • philosophy • physical education • physics HOME • political science
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
professional studies psychology public health religious studies secondary education cognate sociology Spanish special education studio art supply chain management theatre urban studies women’s and gender studies
SPECIAL PROGRAMS • health professions advising (examples: medicine, nursing, dentistry, physician assistant, veterinary medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy) • pre-law advising
CHARLESTON, S.C., IS THE OF TWITPIC AND AMAZON’S CREATESPACE
“Employers value leadership experience.” — U.S. News & World Report
MINORS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
African American studies African studies anthropology archaeology art history arts management Asian studies astronomy biology biomedical physics British studies business administration business language in French business language in Spanish chemistry Classics coaching communication comparative literature computational thinking computer information systems computer science creative writing crime, law and society dance
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
data science economics English environmental studies European studies film studies finance French French studies geography geology German German studies global logistics and transportation global trade Greek health historic preservation and community planning history hospitality and tourism management international studies Italian Italian studies Japanese studies
• Jewish studies • Latin • Latin American and Caribbean studies • leadership, change and social responsibility • linguistics • mathematics • meteorology • music • neuroscience • philosophy • physics • political science • pre-actuarial studies • psychology • real estate • religious studies • Russian studies • sociology • Spanish • studio art • theatre • women’s and gender studies
PARTING SHOT
J. Stewart Walker Sailing Complex at Patriots Point Athletics Complex
you’ll find that our way of thinking, like the opportunity here, is BOUNDLESS.