Themes
The students were asked about their discovery of, experiences with, and relationship with Clemson University. These questions brought several themes to the forfront about Clemson. Transcriptions of their interviews will be in the next section.
Programs
“When I was in junior or senior year in high school and we started looking at colleges we went to our college counselor a lot and he told me to look for two things. He said 1. Look for a major you want, because you’re going to deal with it for four years, and 2. Look at the retention rate, which is basically how long the students stay at a certain school before dropping out their first year and he told m to look for a retention rate of 80% or higher…I was trying to decide between Clemson or Cornell and Cornell rejected me so I went to Clemson! –laughs-” -Krystal Bockting on what she took note of when choosing colleges
A factor that is important for students to take note of about colleges is the strength of their programs. Krystal mentioned how her college advisor emphasized this when she began looking at colleges. An interesting argument was made between Krystal and Madison where Krystal was told that the liberals arts and humanities programs are not as good at Clemson due to something she heard from an arts major friend. Madison, however, came to Clemson with a history major and expressed no dissatisfactions with the program.
Safety
Krystal disliked large crowded cities, associating them with high crime rates ad rude people. She mentioned how they made her feel unsafe especially as a woman. However, she considers Clemson to be a much smaller sort of city, did not recall any safety concerns. In her experience, Clemson was marked as a safe environment for her.
Tuition
“Originally, before I changed majors, I was going to do biosystems engineering, which Clemson actually has a biosystems engineering program. The fun thing is no colleges in Georgia have that, so I was getting in-state tuition…basically if they don’t offer a major in your state, you can go take that major in another state and get in-state tuition. Some majors at least.“ -Matthew Hicks on how certain things can give you in-state tuition, a concern for many out-of-state students.
It is no surprise that a major concern for out-of-state students is the cost of tuition. Matthew brought up how he originally enrolled as a biosystems engineering major and, since it was not available in any Georgia schools near him, had the opportunity to have in-state tuition. He no longer has this privilege anymore since he changed majors about a year in, realizing he did not enjoy the amount of chemistry required. Krystal was very concerned about tuition since she came from a poorer background and remarked how it weight heavily on her conscious for her family. Madison brought up how she still has to pay out-of-state tuition even thought she was born in South Carolina, so this is an inconvenience, but it has not yet impacted her decision to stay.
Community
“People are really nice here. ‘Cause I remember my first week freshman year when I asked somebody for directions they were nice enough to walk me there and didn’t yell at me like a city person would. –laughs- And random people would just wave at you and say hi and since I raised in a city I was immediately suspicious of them ‘cause I thought they were trying to sell me something so I just walked away.“ -Krystal Bockting on something that stuck out to her at Clemson.
“In [the moment where a professor approached me about grad school because of my skills as a student and a writer], I’m thinking, this is where I’m meant to be, this is what I’m meant to do...and just having that verification from somebody that is so well respected—I mean he has his freaking a PhD from Harvard and he’s approaching me a bout grad school? I was like are you freaking joking me? That’s awesome! So making that connection with him has really made me feel like I belong here.” -Madison Butler on her academic connection with Clemson.
An aspect the three brought up was the overall atmosphere of the Clemson community. Krystal had admitted to being nervous attending Clemson and did not know anyone when she began school. However, she had a distinct memory of asking for directions from a Clemson student during her first year and being surprised with how helpful and polite they were.
As someone used to ruder people of big cities, she did not know how to react to this at first. Krystal also brought up how she made friends through her roommate, though in a less conventional way. Her roommate noticed she was shy around people and apparently pulled her out of their dorm and had her talk to the first people who seemed to have similar interests (she found someone with a geeky hoodie). Krystal ended up becoming close friends with this girl who invited her into her circle of friends from high school attending Clemson. This circle of friends helped her feel like she belonged.
On the other side of the spectrum, Matthew came to Clemson with other high school friends. Oddly enough, he noticed how they ended up drifting apart once enrolled and he jumped between several friend groups. He names Lever Lounge as the primary location of where he met the people he liked most of all. The community lounge helped him feel more comfortable in college and meet new people as well, so drifting from high school friends did not bother him too much. He is also in the fencing club and is very happy to be active and meet new people there as well as seeing his close friends every week.
In a slightly similar vein, Madison had friends who attended Clemson during her time at Converse but most of them had graduated once she began attending. She mentioned how her living situation being off campus has isolated her from the Clemson community, so it is fairly limited to the campus and town, and this has been a struggle. However, Madison claimed she could feel the sense of community in Clemson in the students and their public display of their pride through colors and attending college events like the football games. Madison noticed how she had not felt that in either of the other colleges she attended and felt like it was truly unique. Her history with the school helped her maintain her own sense of pride in the college as well. This distinct community that seems to welcome unfamiliar students is a great trait to have, but the idea of a Clemson bubble can be a draw back for anyone off campus.
Sports
"I picked Clemson because I love this community and I’m a huge football fan. And there’s just this overwhelming sense of pride in being a Clemson student and you can feel that on campus. You can feel that people feel pride here. And I didn’t experience that anywhere else...it might be because we have a kickass football team." -Madison Butler on football on campus
“[My family] liked the football more than I did.” -Krystal Bocktin on what her family noticed about Clemson
Something that is interesting is how students react to a key source of popularity, revenue, and community in the school: sports. Krystal mentioned how she was never interested in the sports happening at school. Of course the stadium was a dead giveaway for her about the importance of football to the school. Her family seemed to like it more than her as well, and anyone who knew what Clemson was in Virginia seemed to only know it for its sports. Matthew also said it did not matter much to him either and that he had not began attending Clemson because of it. Madison, however, had been attending Clemson games throughout her life and felt a sense of community with the school because of it. She mentioned how she was not yet familiar with the academics side of the college yet, but the sports made her a Tigers fan even when she attended Converse College in Spartanburg.
For Highschool Students
“I have always been a Clemson fan, I’ve always been a Tiger growing up and everything. My dream was to always go to Clemson but living in Tampa in high school deterred me from that because out-of-state tuition is so expensive..." -Madison Butler on out-of-state tuition
One of the final questions for them to consider was whether they would recommend going to an out-of-state college to high school students. Krystal, having mentioned how other people in her hometown attending in-state schools for the lower tuition, hesitated because of the financial aspect of the decision. She would highlight the importance of securing financial aid, which is supplied through SAT scores and GPA once attending, and commented on how it can only pay for at most two thirds of the tuition. Tuition aside, she recommended that students who are interested in engineering, agriculture, and science majors should consider Clemson, thinking of them as the strongest programs at the college.
Matthew agreed that the high school students should look into the major they are interested in before attending Clemson, seeing as his was both not available in his home state and how he was allowed in-state tuition because of that before changing majors. Regardless, he says he would recommend Clemson to other people because of the professors and classes.
Madison approached more from the social aspect: Her situation has led her to be more socially isolated from the Clemson community due to living at home which makes her situation different from most out-of-state students. Because of this, she says advises potential high school students to make the decision so long as they are mentally prepared to live more independently so long as it is affordable. She believes that it is something not everyone can do but that getting out of one’s comfort zone is an important skill to learn. These tips are important for any student considered going out of state and things like financial aid and tuition seem to weigh on the students even now. High school students should consider going out-of-state but the decision is a complicated one according to these answers.