<p>Well now we wait. Should be about a month before we hear. We really enjoyed our interview and tour last April and my son and I spent about an hour at my fraternity chapter on campus which sealed the deal. Being out of state, our admissions officer told us she was going to also look for additional scholarships for us. When she asked my son what he wanted to major in and he said he wasn't sure, she asked him what he liked to do and what his favorite subjects were.</p>
<p>Instead of just suggesting undecided, she actually put together a sample of classes that included business with a music production, concert promotion minor. She relayed her experiences at Ole Miss with what he might like to do. Of all 5 schools we toured, UM was the only won that took the time to get to know my son instead of giving canned answers.</p>
<p>We liked the diversity of the school and the school spirit of the kids that were walking to class that day. The best way to get an insider's scoop is to pull a few kids aside in the book store or union or fraternity house and ask them candidly if they were happy there. That was invaluable.</p>
<p>UpperArlington, Congrats on your sons acceptance. My son is waiting to hear from Ole Miss among others. He was accepted to Alabama yesterday so I’m pretty confident Ole Miss will come back positive quite soon. What was your impression of the fraternity you visited and of the process for OOS students (specifically those from the North) getting bids? After a lot of research the Greek system/process remains my only hesitation with the SEC schools. While I was greek and my son has every intention of pledging I don’t want the ability to get into the “right” fraternity to be any roadblock to enjoying the college experience.</p>
<p>I was a Phi Psi at Indiana U. in the 80’s. The only houses that are going to be hard to get in are Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu and SAE. They lean heavily toward Memphis and Deep South kids. That’s just how it is and always will be. So all the other houses are wide open. The Phi Psis had kids from all over-St Louis Texas, California, Ill, Ohio etc. The surprising thing is only about 40-50 guys live in as the houses aren’t as big as IU’s. Since the school is 45% out of state the Greeks welcome guys from all over. Sigma Nu is Eli Mannings house and the rumor is he pays the liability premiums on the house as it is the only one with a pool. I contacted the Phi Psi house advisor directly and he put me in touch with the rush chairman and president. You can pledge in the fall but you can’t move in until sophomore year. I have met northern guys here in Ohio that were Kappa Sigs and Sig Eps also. Your son should be fine. I liked Ole miss better than BAMA due to the size and the more welcoming atmosphere of the administration and kids. A few kids from our high school have applied to BAMA also.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to Ole Miss. We are going to Bama for a visit next week. After some research there is a significant cost difference between the two schools. Did your son choose between Roanoke and Ole Miss yet?</p>
<p>Just about a definite at Ole Miss. The broader course of study-Media/Communications school versus straight liberal arts and more going on in Oxford is also light years ahead. The facebook page for Ole miss has a ton of kids from out of state -CT, NY, CA, OH, IN, KY, TX FL, OR. Next I will contact the rush chairman at my house again to get him on the radar for this fall. BAMA’s a bigger campus vs. Oxford. Make sure he gets to visit Ole Miss also.</p>
<p>upperarlington: My older son is a recent graduate of Alabama – and he loved his experience there. He was the president of Sig Ep and also sat on its national board as a student director. Sig Ep has the Quest to Greece trip, which he won and spent 10 days in Greece a few years ago. Amazing experience. He keeps in contact with many of those young men whom he met on the trip. Ironically, it was my older son who suggested Ole Miss to his brother, should he decide that he wanted to look at another SEC school. He really liked the Ole Miss campus when he visited for a football game a couple years ago.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies and information. UA we already visited Ole Miss back in November and he loved every minute of it. His mind was made up until he got the acceptance letter from Alabama and then spoke to a student from his high school that is currently at Alabama. She, of course, sold him hard on the school and he wanted to visit. I’m all for comparison and options so we are going down this weekend. Frankly, I don’t think he can go wrong and feel he’d be happy at either one. We will see.</p>
<p>I have 2boys at Bama, and they love it! We have become huge fans of their sports and campus. So huge, now, that d ONLY wants to go there. Unfortunately, her gpa knocks her out of the scholarships her brothers got, and we don’t want to pay the oos ticket. She is looking at Ole Miss, where she does qualify for some scholarship $. UA is a lot bigger. We visited om and liked it, but she has already tasted the Bama kool aid. We’re going to visit Texas Tech in 2weeks. I am thinking she may choose om after that…no southern atmosphere there!</p>