They liked it. Charleston as a whole is fairly conservative, but the college (like colleges everywhere ) is more liberal than the surrounding community. One of my friends is a lesbian, she had no hassles (this was around 1980). CoC has one of the top collegiate sailing teams in the country. I've sailed a few regattas there, and the waterfront facilities are first rate. Your granddaughter might want to check that out. Most collegiate sailing teams will teach beginners.
Charleston as a city is a lot of fun, plenty of nightlife, etc. Beaches aren't too far away. And a half days drive gets you in the mountains for hiking, camping, etc. Take her for a visit there.

The University of South Florida St Petersbirg Campus also has a top Marine Biology program, as does Eckerd College also in St Petersburg. Your granddaughter may want to look at them too. St Petersburg is a great place to live.

College. She does sail (around Martha's Vineyard) but is not a big enthusiast of sailing. Her prep school, Tabor, which is on Cape Cod, is a BIG school for sailing, crew and marine sciences. She just decided against sailing for her sport and chose ice hockey (of all things!). But she is still dedicated to Marine Biology as a major and possibly photography as a minor.

The College actually looks a little preppy to me, but I may be getting a wrong impression.

I'll tell my daughter about the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus...

Chas. is a conservative city, no doubt, but C of C is a semi-liberal bubble in the middle of the city. It's more laid back than the rest of the city with regards to attitudes and the like. My friends that went there were pot smoking hippies, and they were quite comfy there. *shrug* I will tell you there is quite a large greek contingent there, however, one does not have to go greek to be comfortable on campus.

Overall, I think it's a nice place to go if you want to go for MB. I just took my niece on a tour of that campus a couple of months ago, she's probably going to go there, and she's very left-leaning. The professors there are pretty liberal overall, so there's that.