<p>Hi! I’m a liberal Midwesterner considering Alabama. While I like the idea of an adventurous college experience and the price is right, I’m hesitant wondering if I’ll fit in. I’m not the sorority type nor am I religious but I don’t consider myself judgmental and I tend to get along well with people. Is there anyone out there that has made this jump? Or anyone that can tell me about not being a part of greek life?</p>
<p>I’m sure you would be fine but Madison sounds like a better fit for you. Are you looking at Madison?</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
<p>Thanks for replying, yes, I am looking at Madison but the campus is 10 minutes from my house and I’m feeling like I want to try somewhere very new.</p>
<p>My kids were not in Greek life and have had many friends. I strongly suggest that if you don’t want to pledge that you:</p>
<p>live in an honors dorm
attend either Outdoor Action or Alabama Action </p>
<p>Since sorority rush takes place the same time as OA and AA, the girls in OA and AA are not pledging (with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions). </p>
<p>AA or OA are excellent opportunities to immediately make new friends. :)</p>
<p>Since the students at Bama are from all over, you’re going to find students with all kind of viewpoints, religions (or lack of religion), etc.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman from northern Illinois (closer to Wisconsin than to Chicago, and the relatives are all in Wisconsin). If she hadn’t chosen Alabama she would have gone to Madison. Not religious, not interested in Greek life. She seems to fit in just fine at UA, and her social life is not lacking in the least. She has expressed no regrets about her choice.</p>
<p>I second M2CK’s advice to live in the Honors dorms and do OA or AA. My D did OA and loved it. Many of her friends are the kids she met at OA.</p>
<p>We live 1:45 hrs north of Madison. My son has been accepted there and has visited twice and doesn’t care for it at all. It lacks a central campus feel and seems cold and impersonal. Kids generally seem to love it there though.</p>
<p>At huge universities you are going to find students with a variety of political beliefs, but I suspect that Madison has a more liberal bias than Alabama.</p>
<p>Rip: How can you say that, based on her one or two posts? Why do you think Madison would be a better fit? </p>
<p>WISCOgirl: Welcome to the UA forum. You sound like you want to stretch your boundaries and try a different college experience from the one you would have in your local area. UA may be just the place for you! Please read some of our great threads on what makes UA so unique and special. Tell us about yourself, Stats, junior, senior, finances ( can you afford OOS costs or are you aiming for a scholarship?) we can help give you information to make an informed decision. Have you ever been to the campus for a visit?</p>
<p>robotbldmom, for two reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>Madison is the “go-to” school for a lot of smart kids in Wisconsin.
2, The first thing she said about herself is that she is a liberal. That suggests that her political beliefs are very important to her. Madison is a very liberal school.</li>
</ol>
<p>Therefore, since she is from WI, she is probably smart, and she identifies strongly with liberal ideology, Madison seems like a natural fit.
.</p>
<p>In Fall 2011, 32 percent of the female population and 22 percent of the male population was greek. Twenty-nine percent of the entire student body was greek, totaling 7,221 members.</p>
<p>These stats were published in the Crimson White campus newspaper.</p>
<p>As you can see many students are not involved in Greek Life. There are plenty of organizations, currently over 500, that are registered on campus. You will find a social niche that will fit you. I know conservative and liberals alike on campus who get along well. Respect is the key to coexistence. There are liberal organizations as well as politically active organizations where you can get involved. Out of state percentages continue to rise each year with many students hailing from states such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut. I don’t think you will find too many non liberals in that group but the point is that the university is diverse and is becoming more so every year.</p>
<p>Rip: would you have WISCOgirl confined to one college based on perceptions?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>As of now, my eventual plan is to go to med school so I’m thinking of majoring in Chemistry. My activities include cross country, track, special olymipcs coaching, best buddies, downhill ski patrolling and cross country skiing (if I go to bama I’ll have to get my skiing in over breaks!). I plan on living in honors dorms and and Alabama will pay my tuition for my ACT score.
ACT: 32
GPA: 3.95
7 AP classes (5 this year)</p>
<p>I haven’t visited campus yet and I’m not sure I will get the chance.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s school in WI she was badgered (no pun intended) about how she voted. She is apolitical and said it was none of their business, but she was uncomfortable about the situation. For me, I think there is more balance at UA than a lot of big midwestern universities, and since my son is a conservative, I think UA is a better fit than Madison. However, most of his friends are left of him and they have no problem getting along.</p>
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<p>Awesome, W1SCOgirl. You’re already way ahead in the game of life. My son is liberal, not religious, and gets along well with people. He had no trouble finding like-minded souls at UA, beginning with Outdoor Action and continuing into the Week of Welcome (WOW), where you can learn about (and join) myriad clubs and organizations. Oh, did I mention he absolutely loves UA?</p>
<p>Assuming you’re interested in the Honors College, my best advice is to set up a visit through the Honors College and see for yourself what Bama’s like. I think it will knock your socks off. And if you want to speak personally to a liberal student attending UA, I’ll put you in touch with my son, who’ll give you the no-bs scoop on the school.</p>
<p>Welcome, Roll Tide, and best of luck with this journey.</p>
<p>PS-- I just saw your post above. UA is VERY generous with AP credits, which will create loads of creative academic opportunities for you.</p>
<p>From what I can tell, the chemistry department at UA is really strong. It’s funny you mention skiing since our friend’s daughter is a passionate cross-county skier and she is limiting her college choices to schools that have cross-country trails near campus.</p>
<p>Congrats on your academic achievement. I noticed that you did Special Olympics too. My daughter volunteered for Special Olympics too for 2 yrs and she really loved it. It’s a great organization.</p>
<p>W1SCOgirl, my far, far north IL son is currently in T-town where today it will be 59 degrees and he may wear a hoodie as he strolls the campus</p>
<p>Good look outside your window right now. Take a good look. Now imagine being at UW-Madison this time next year, where you will have a 10 - 15 minutes to class in this weather. Several times a day.</p>
<p>WISCOgirl, you might consider changing your name to WISEgirl, because you will indeed be wise if you graduate with a minimum of undergraduate debt, especially if you plan to on to med school.</p>
<p>Please arrange for a visit through the Honors College. Did I miss it? Are you a senior or a junior?</p>
<p>While not the same as an actual visit to campus, the Virtual Tour on UA’s website absolutely floored us when we were in the early investigative stages of looking at colleges.</p>
<p>It is certainly worth your time to look at that, and the info on the Honors Dorms…</p>
<p>UA has a spectacular campus, and the folks are equally as special.</p>
<p>WISCOgirl, you really have to visit UA. We are from Southeast WI (very consrvative suburban area) and DD2 was accepted to Madison. She really fell in love with UA when she visited - the kindness and friendliness of everyone she met just blew her away.
She took a 1 week camp at UA last summer to see if her first impression was true, and it really was. She was gently teased for her accent but that was about it. </p>
<p>FWIW, she is extremely open minded and has a very diverse set of friends. She is apolitical, but very heavily invested in helping others. She did not get any bad vibe from her two experiences at UA.</p>
<p>She has no intention of going to Madison - finds that kids from her HS stick together too much and don’t expand their horizons by making new friends or trying to live/think/learn outside the box. She wants to spread her wings, experience new ideas and people, and has several wonderful options for school. She feels she can’t do that at Madison.</p>
<p>Ironically, I just saw thiis:</p>
<p>[Tops</a> for conservatives: Alabama; D.C. is most liberal, Gallup says - Washington Times](<a href=“http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/1/tops-conservatives-alabama-dc-most-liberal-gallup-/]Tops”>Tops for conservatives: Alabama; D.C. is most liberal, Gallup says - Washington Times)</p>
<p>UA just moved up a couple of notches.</p>
<p>That is what got us. It is just so Old School, but in a contemporary fashion. UNIQUE, really.</p>
<p>That’s music to my ears.</p>
<p>As far as I know, the only thing that WI is number 1 in is binge drinking.</p>
<p>A former governor described Madison as “78 square miles surrounded by reality”, lol.</p>