<p>I am a parent of a Maryland student accepted at Furman for the fall. She is a little concerned about the school being so "southern" (with 75% of the students coming from the southeast) and whether she will feel out of place there. I would greatly appreciate any feedback from parents or students.</p>
<p>Hi there:
I am a Furman graduate who arrived with a high school diploma from Delaware and a few years of HS in Illinois after having moved often in the military life. I am not a Baptist and would have preferred a more diverse ethnic and also religiously diverse peer group but Furman divested itself of all Baptist money in the 80s (when Rice, Wake and others did the same), secured academic freedom, and Furman is seeking to enroll students from different corners of the US. The faculty is NOT conservative at all, but they are used to having kids who have very traditional values as students and they love to get students from new places. I get a little tired of saying I went to Furman and I am not a Baptist (sorry but Jerry Falwell lives close to my current home so I am defensive.) Greenville is a pretty cool city now and has moved out of the textile mill economy into one where German and French speakers live there building cars and tires.<br>
I have posted at Furman many times if you search my name's posts. Furman basically gave me an excellent and personal undergraduate education with lifelong access to mentors on the faculty and with a great circle of friends who ended up expanding their horizons quite a bit by moving into fine graduate schools and more diverse settings later. My friends are teaching at great colleges like Swarthmore, writing novels, working at great newspapers, and running churches, running businesses, and many are doctors and lawyers. Furman kids are a bit square and tend to feel that they are preparing to take responsible roles in the world and it is a values oriented education in a setting that is supportive but demanding. I truly see the impact of our Furman teachers in my friends' lives even decades later if they were Phi Beta Kappas who went to Harvard Med or if they were late bloomers. However, I had also lived in Atlanta as a kid and since much of Furman has Atlanta roots, I did have that connection and was comfortable with the southern manners and the accents and culture to an extent. Furman is a very southern school in terms of "speaking tradition" but many kids are from boomtowns like Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville and Nashville so it is not like they don't know transient families and haven't seen a lot of diversity. I live in Virginia now and have many friends in the beltway regions of the state and in the MD burbs, too. Furman is not going to have the cultural diversity that the northern Virginians are accustomed to from their great school districts. But Furman has an outstanding track record for graduate school placement and outcomes that cannot be denied. There is not a weed out mentality but only the work ethic kids will be able to do the work and make the grades. Furman has world class chemistry and many other stellar departments..clinical psychology for instance is well known for producing hard science educated students for PhD programs. The music scene is quite good. I am very excited about the new science buildings going up. I feel Furman delivers at least on par with Wake and Richmond and Rhodes, but the setting is different..foothills of the amazing NC mountains and ten minutes from town. Campus is breathtaking. I did a lot of volunteer work in Greenville with their Service Corps and got summer jobs that way. Foreign study is quite popular now. Greek scene has emerged since my day but I think the campus itself is still dry which is a bit odd as well.
If meaningful friendships with faculty members is something you are looking for, this is what Furman does best. good luck sorting it all out. If she chooses Furman, prepare for her to take a shine to Atlanta where many of her pals will be from.</p>
<p>What do you mean by "too southern"? I see that a lot on CC but never see anybody say a school is "too northern" lol. Is she worried that a lot of students will go home on the weekends? Or is she bothered by the Greek life (she'll find that at schools everywhere)? What exactly is the southern "lifestyle" that she thinks might make her uncomfortable? </p>
<p>We live in NC. Two of our best friends are Furman alums and their oldest D graduated from Furman a few years ago. She had a roommate from Kentucky her freshman year. They got along so well that they lived together all 4 years. Also during her years there she had a good friend from Texas, and a boyfriend from Ohio. It always seemed that I heard the Mom speak of her having friends from all over. Even though Furman was less than 2 hours from home, the D did not come home very often. This family loves Furman and can't say enough good things about it.</p>
<p>The only negative (if thats what you'd call it) I ever heard was the daughter sometimes refered to "living in the Furman bubble" which meant there wasn't much diversity, most students there were smart,conservative white kids from upper middle to pretty well off families.</p>
<p>During the spring of D's junior year we visited William & Mary one Saturday morning. The Admissions office was closed. While my D was walking the campus I waited in front of the building. A mother of another prospective was standing there also. I commented on the office being closed on a Saturday. No response. I asked if her child was enjoying the visit. She turned to me and said "Have we been introduced?"</p>
<p>Good grief! I live in Texas. Behavior like that is not northern or southern. It's just plain rude.</p>
<p>Yes, and that's exactly my point. The episode stood out because it was so, well, unusual. It would have been a travesty to use that one exchange to condemn an entire region!</p>
<p>Dian4005 - If your daughter is concerned that she'll be spending a lot of time with people who "aren't like her" then maybe her concerns about attending Furman are valid, not because she won't get a first class education there but because she may not give Furman the "benefit of the doubt" which is basic to learning. If, on the other hand, your daughter is interested in expanding her world view, Furman would be a terrific place to begin that process IMHO.</p>
<p>PS, my eldest D was tired of her HS friends and refused to consider colleges anywhere near our region, whereas D#2 loves her HS friends and refuses to leave our area for college. C'est la vie.</p>