Associate vice president for enrollment management at the University of South Carolina Scott Verzyl joins us this month to answer not five -- but seven -- questions about the Palmetto state's flagship school.

Founded in 1801 in the state capitol of Columbia, the story of USC is also a lesson in United States history. The school survived a name change, a fire and an earthquake and was spared in the path of Sherman's March because it operated as a hospital. The University closed briefly in 1861, however, in the aftermath of the Civil War. When it reopened in 1866, it would become the only southern state university to admit African-Americans during Reconstruction. It continued to ride the tide of post-Reconstruction southern politics, though, briefly closing and reopening as an all-white agricultural college. It weathered the Great Depression. Then progress solidified during World War II, when it hosted naval training programs. Returning GI's and later the baby boomers created enormous growth and the university made research a priority, creating a number of new programs and schools.

Some students have a hard time ruling out prospective colleges. You may have fallen in love with multiple campuses or be afraid you will miss something by taking a school off your list. Try this exercise to arrive at a manageable list of schools that meets your priorities:

Identify one college on your list— let’s call it College A— where you are fairly sure you can be admitted and would be excited to go. Then compare that school to every other college on your list, one at a time, and ask yourself, “Would I rather go to this college or College A?”

If your list is too large, in any case where the answer to that question is “College A,” then the other school can come off your list. After all, why would you have any colleges on your list where you like College A better?

If your list is too small, you can use this method to expand your list. If you need more choices, use College A as a benchmark and find more colleges with the same characteristics.

Just be careful to use the most specific, objective, measurable criteria available to determine that you are admissible at the school that fulfills the role of College A. A public university with more transparent admission criteria may be a safer choice for your College A, but some private colleges can fit this role as well, as long as you have up-to-date information and it is a solid on your list.

Today’s guest post is by educational psychologist and consultant Jane McClure. We are thrilled to have her expertise here on the site and happy to announce that she will be contributing monthly. Look for future posts on the challenges faced by students with Asperger’s syndrome as they consider college, communications techniques for students and parents and a series on the transition from high school to college. Join her here to learn about how to handle a student’s second thoughts on starting college – what McClure calls “Collegiate Buyer’s Remorse.”

It happens almost every year, usually during the months of October and November: calls from two or three students who fear they have chosen the wrong college.  Sometimes, they are calling just to see if I agree with them.  Other times, they are convinced that they have made a bad decision and want to know when they should apply to transfer. 

Today's column is from independent counselor Eric Dobler. Read on to learn what students need to know about themselves as they start thinking about colleges.

 “What are you thinking about majoring in and why?”

This is a question I love asking students.  It appears to be a very simple question on the surface, but can get at something much deeper. While some students are very undecided and have no idea what they want to do (which is okay – really, it is), most are able to talk about one or more ideas they have. They want to major in engineering or nursing. They want to be a teacher or go into business. They have a feeling for something but they’re not entirely sure why.

And regardless of whether they have an idea or not, the table has been set to explore what I call their VIPS – Values, Interests, Personality-Style and Skills. These are the attributes students need to explore and understand better in order to have a successful college admission experience. Yet most students lack an awareness of their VIPS. This is never clearer than in conversation with current college freshmen who say, “I’m not happy.” When I start asking questions to get to the root of the matter, the same themes pop up:

They don’t know what really matters to them.

They haven’t thought about how their skills and abilities match with their major.

They don’t understand what careers or skills a particular major will afford them.