Clemson University: College Tour Tips and Itinerary
Planning to take a tour of Clemson University in South Carolina with your child this summer? Learn what to expect from your time on campus and discover fun ways to make your day trip to Clemson, SC one to remember.
This summer my oldest daughter and I are hitting the road to visit college campuses throughout the south east.
While we live in Charlotte, NC, we are considering schools both in and out of state.
Since my daughter is excited to attend a university with a vibrant school spirit and hopes to participate in marching band, we had to add Clemson University to our list.
I’m sharing all my tips and tricks and a peek inside the tour to help you and your student navigate a college tour of your own. But don’t miss my general college tour tips here, too!
Getting There
Clemson University
To get to the Clemson campus, I suggest that you add the address for the visitor’s center to your GPS:
109 Daniel Dr.
Clemson, SC
If you’re starting from the south side of Charlotte, NC like we did, plan for about 2.5 – 3 hours in the car depending on traffic.
Register for Your Tour Before You Go
Clemson University offers virtual tours, like so many colleges and universities now do.
However, if you want to see campus in person, take part in an information session with an admissions officer, and get a guided tour with a student guide, you’ll want to register for a campus visit before you go.
Be sure to sign up with one of their open dates, you can find all the information you’ll need to register here.
Parking
Once you’ve registered as an official visitor, they will send you all the details you need once you arrive on campus.
During our visit, we were asked to download the Flowbird app to pay for metered parking on campus and around the city of Clemson.
They suggested finding a white-lined, numbered parking spot near the visitor’s center and paying for the metered parking. We found a spot up around back from the center towards the residential areas.
Our Itinerary
Our visit to Clemson was part of a big road trip that took us from Charlotte to Clemson to Atlanta to Auburn University and then home again.
We decided to schedule our tour for 1pm in the afternoon so that we could explore the area a little beforehand and then head to Atlanta afterwards.
Our schedule went as follows:
- Leave Home at 8am to Arrive Near 11am for Lunch
- Have Lunch in Downtown Clemson
- Campus Tour at 1:00 pm
- Visit the Bookstore After the Tour
- Take Pictures
- Drive Around Campus
- Head Out: We would have gotten home around 7pm but we headed down to Atlanta.
Information Session
Our registration recommended arriving at least 45 minutes ahead of your appointment time so you can find parking and have enough time to walk to the registration desk. This is excellent advice, be sure to leave a nice cushion of time.
We had the hardest time finding the visitor’s center because it is tucked back behind the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business. There’s visitor parking behind the business building and my phone map kept trying to lead us to that building instead.
I’m including this photo of the visitor’s center so you can spot it down the walkway behind the business building.
You’ll be assigned an information session with an admissions officer who will present the basic information you need for applying to Clemson University.
This is an excellent place to ask any general questions you have about the admissions process. The presentation lasted about 30 minutes.
Walking Tour
After the information session, you’ll be lead out of the conference room by your tour guide and offered some complimentary water. I strongly recommend grabbing a bottle or two because the tour is pretty hot.
We had the unfortunate experience of walking in 104ยฐF temps on a bright sunny afternoon and nearly melted! Check out my car’s temperature:
The walking tour lasted for about an hour and a half and our guide tried to stop in shady spots as much as possible.
During our visit, the walk was pretty gentle and easy but the campus does have some fairly steep hills. There were also some stairs so if that is a problem for you be sure to request an accessibility-friendly tour when you register.
See the steps in the photo below? This is the business college and was part of the tour:
We walked through the heart of the university past major landmarks on campus including:
- Sikes Hall
- Tillman Hall
- Bowman Field
- Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business
- Hendrix Student Center
- The Carillon Garden
- The Reflection Pond and North Green
- Robert Muldrow Cooper Library
- The Bookstore
Our guide pointed out the dormitories and dining facilities along the way.
If it is important for you to see the inside of these things, be sure to ask your tour guide about how to make that happen.
Where to Eat
If you plan to eat before or after your tour, there are several places to eat near the university.
During our college tours, I always tried to pick a restaurant on or very near to campus so my daughter could get a feel for the fun places she could eat during the weekends.
Charleston Sports Pub of Clemson
We chose to visit Charleston Sports Pub which was in the little downtown area of Clemson right next to campus.
If you find parking there, it would not be the worst spot to just leave your car for the duration of your visit. The visitor’s center is a little walk away.
The restaurant features traditional sports pub fair with plenty of hot and spicy appetizers, burgers, wings, ribs, tacos, salads and more.
We wanted to keep things a little on the lighter side since we knew we’d be walking in the intense heat so decided to split an order of “Bird Dog Fries” and a large salad among the three of us.
Bird dogs are a classic Clemson football game day food and they inspired the recipe which was more than enough to fill us up before the walk.
On-Campus Dining Halls
If you really want to get a feel for student life, our tour guide mentioned it was possible to eat in one of the student dining halls during your visit. We were there during the peak of summer and I don’t believe this was an option for us.
Be sure to ask them for more information if this is of interest to you!
5 Things to Do During Your Visit
The 2 hours of your information session and tour are just 1 part of your day at Clemson University. Be sure to plan for some extra time before or after your tour so you can experience more than the area offers your student.
1. Visit the Bookstore
If your teen is anything like my kiddo, a visit to the campus bookstore is a Must-Do. We purchased a t-shirt for her to enjoy wearing between now and her final decision, it will also possibly come in handy for our decision day announcement in the spring.
2. Check Out the Off-Campus Spirit Stores
If you don’t want to hit the bookstore, there are several adorable small boutiques in downtown Clemson that sell university spirit wear. We had a great time checking them out after our lunch at the pub.
3. Drive By Memorial Stadium
Football is a huge part of the Clemson culture. The stadium is right next to campus but if the weather is feeling a bit much you may want to drive past it.
4. Take a Student Photo
Once we bought my daughter’s Clemson tee, she changed into it so we could take an on-campus picture to potentially use in her announcement later next spring.
I’m saving all the campus pics in an album on my phone for easy grabbing when the time comes.
NOTE: This was my daughter’s idea, not my own. If you think your child would feel way too much pressure with this, skip it! They don’t need any more stress placed on their shoulders. For us, there was just a simple feeling of excitement and potential and hope surrounding that pic. We know she’s an awesome kid who will land some place that is the right fit. Maybe that will be Clemson University, maybe not.
5. Visit Greenville, SC
Clemson University offers an amazing small town college feel with the benefit of being so close to the major hub of Greenville, SC which offers plenty of opportunity for internships and work.
You could plan a visit around several nearby things like the Greenville Zoo, especially if you’re bringing younger siblings along for the tour.
My husband and I spent an anniversary weekend there one year. We stayed at Pettigru Place and here’s my list of the best places to eat for a romantic trip to Greenville.
Final Thoughts
My daughter and I had the best time during our visit to Clemson University together.
We both loved the size of campus and appreciated how pretty everything was landscaped and arranged. It is the kind of campus where you’d feel very safe walking around at all hours of the day.
Everyone we met on campus was warm and welcoming, our server at lunch was a recent graduate who absolutely gushed over her experience in the nursing school. (FUN TIP: Always ask your waitstaff if they’re students, they usually are and almost always have great advice.)
Clemson was already one of my daughter’s top picks for school, the tour only firmly cemented that choice and she’s eagerly awaiting her decision results!
More College Tours
Planning college tours with your child this year? Here are some more schools we’ve visited:
