Five Ways to Make the Most of Your College Visit to Coastal Carolina

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Selecting the college you or your child will attend is a major life decision, and a short campus visit may be your only chance to gather all the information you need to make a wise choice. But that doesn't mean you can't have a good time while checking out your home for the next four years, especially when visiting Coastal Carolina University in nearby Conway.

Located off Highway 501 about 12 miles from the Myrtle Beach coast, CCU is a public, liberal arts institution that recently grew to more than 10,000 students. The vibrant campus offers more than 70 baccalaureate and 17 master's degree programs, housing, student groups and a Division I athletics program that recently announced it is joining the Sun Belt Conference.

This unique college experience gives future students and parents an opportunity to turn the task of a college visit into a mini-vacation. Take some time to check out the Coastal Carolina campus while also exploring the Grand Strand to make sure the Myrtle Beach area is where you or your student wants to go to school and spend the next four years of their life. To make the process both fun and informative, here's our list of five things to do to make the most of your college visit:

  1. Campus Tour: Schedule an official tour through the school's admission department (www.coastal.edu/admissions/visits.html) and go for a guided visit with an informative host student. Visitors can also book time with faculty heads to ask direct questions about fields of study, and an admission counselor will be available to fill in all the details. If time permits, try to take an unofficial tour to get a feel for the unscripted campus atmosphere. Ask “Joe Student” about the school.
     
  2. Game or Event: If the schedule permits, try to catch a ballgame by one of the Chanticleers' sports teams. The men's and women's basketball teams play in the new HTC Center, and the baseball and softball teams just moved into the new TD Bank diamonds. If not, CCU always has something going on around campus – concerts, lectures or student group activities. By the way, a Chanticleer (“Chant” for short) is the mightiest rooster in the barnyard, according to the works Chaucer.
     
  3. Housing: Where you decide to live is an important decision. On-campus housing is ideal for incoming freshmen, but the high demand prompts many students to live in off-campus apartments in Conway and nearby Carolina Forest. Some students opt to live in Myrtle Beach and make the 15- to 20-minute commute to campus. Shuttle buses make regular runs between CCU and Myrtle Beach.
     
  4. Myrtle Beach Tour: Yes, the school visit is a great opportunity to take in all the attractions, dining, shopping the Grand Strand has to offer, but it's also a chance to see if it's a city where your student wants to live. Because of Grand Strand's abundance of affordable housing during the school year, plus the availability of tourism-related jobs and the appeal of living near the beach, it’s no wonder many Coastal students choose to live, work, study and play in Myrtle Beach.
     
  5. Waites Island: CCU recently added its first doctorate program in marine biology, an internationally known field of study for the school. If this is your possible major, take a 15-mile ride up the coast to Waites Island, a barrier island that is home to a 1,100-acre tract used by the marine science program. It’s a beautiful trip no matter your major.

Whether you or your child decides to attend CCU or not, at least you are to have an enjoyable visit by staying at our luxurious Myrtle Beach resort, The Strand. And if you decide Coastal is the right school, you can look forward to many more visits for the next four years.