Can a kid from a liberal California town be happy at Clemson?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Clemson University
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<p>My son is considering applying to Clemson because he wants to study engineering and with his stats and grades, he'd be a good candidate for significant merit money there.</p>

<p>I've been reading raves about the engineering program, but the Fiske guide stresses sports, greek life and says the campus has a strong southern baptist leaning. None of these fit my son's interests or temperament. He is a Jewish kid who was raised in by gay parents in a liberal California town. Aside from martial arts (he's going for his black belt), he has zero interest in sports.</p>

<p>I'd love to hear from folks from Clemson to see what diversity (of faith, of political leaning, etc) exists on campus.</p>

<p>And also from parents or students who took the plunge to go to a school where the leanings of the school were very different from what they were raised with. I think it might make an interesting thread.</p>

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<p>Hey! I’m a current sophomore at Clemson in civil engineering so I can give you my opinion from my point of view. A little bit about my background. I grew up in the Boston, MA area so I knew tons of Jewish kids and people of different religions/races, my high school had a very pathetic sports program, and there was a significant number of people in the Gay-Straight alliance at my school. Oh, and no surprise but everyone was a Democrat. Personally, I’m chinese, I’m a Christian and I love watching sports.</p>

<p>At Clemson, religion wise, I’d say that if you surveyed people, I would say that the vast majority of people would say that they are a Christian. However, for some people, they were raised in a Christian family so that’s why they label themselves as a Christian but don’t really act like it (personally something that bothers me is the hypocrisy from some people but I won’t delve into that haha). But for other people, they take their faith pretty seriously. I’m in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and I believe that it’s one of the largest organizations on campus. There are a significant number of people who aren’t religious though so I don’t believe that the predominantly baptist background of most people will bother you. Most people I know won’t force their faith down your throat except occasionally inviting you to church.</p>

<p>Diversity was definitely a concern for me coming to church. There are a lot of minority graduate students but on the undergraduate side, diversity is seriously lacking. It was a huge culture shock to come from a high school where minorities took up 30% of the school to come to a school where minorities were only 10% of the school. It’s very white here. It bothered me the first couple of weeks but now it doesn’t really bother me as I’ve made friends with whites, blacks etc… (but still, mostly whites). If diversity is something that is a must-have for you, Clemson would not be the school for you.</p>

<p>Politically, Clemson is very conservative. People here hate Obama and if you’re one of those people who are very involved politically and are a Democrat, you will find stiff resistance when you try to voice your political views. Just to give you a taste of how republican the campus is, we recently had Glenn Beck here and lots of people went to see him, and we also currently do not have a chapter of College Democrats on campus (just College Republicans). Personally, I’m an independent but I really don’t care too much about politics so it doesn’t exactly bother me but be warned that there is definitely a conservative feel among the students on campus.</p>

<p>As Clemson’s reputation has grown, Clemson has focused on taking more students that have been in the top 10% of their high school class (and this involves many out of state students). As a result, this has led to 2 groups of people who are growing on campus. A. People who don’t care about sports in general. B. People from out-of-state who would rather watch their in-state teams than care about Clemson sports. If you don’t really like sports, it’s ok but if you don’t go to the football games, you’ll be missing out at Clemson because that’s basically all that happens on Saturdays in the fall. </p>

<p>Well I got class right now so I can’t finish this but I’ll expand on sports and talk about greek life in my next post!</p>

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<p>My two cents on the religious aspect… My son, a junior, was raised in a New England/Christian home, but currently does not participate in any religious activities at Clemson. FCA is big on campus; however, there is no pressure to join (Son did attend one meeting to see what it is all about.) His friend, a practicing Jewish kid from a liberal New England state, just transferred to Clemson. I must admit I was a bit perplexed by this decision since the south is predominantly Christian/Baptist, but he LOVES the school and the environment. Apparently, no adjustment issues whatsoever (except for the heat!) I’ve found that while diversity is lacking at Clemson, everyone is so darn nice that you don’t ever feel unwelcome!</p>

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<p>Pierre0913, thanks for the first-hand report. I’m glad you’re happy at Clemson, but I can see it’s not the school for my son.</p>

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<p>^there’s a school for everybody out there, and not everybody is gonna be happy at Clemson. Best wishes finding a school for your son!</p>

<p>BTW: Correction above, it shouldn’t be “Diversity was definitely a concern for me coming to church” it should be “coming to Clemson” hahahaha (was probably still thinking about religion when I wrote that)</p>

<p>And I second what Tiger10 said, most people are very friendly and welcoming here.</p>

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<p>My son is a freshman at Clemson. He is an out of state (VA) student from a liberal-thinking family and a diverse high school. Although Clemson is not diverse, he hasn’t had hasn’t complained that the student body is closed-minded. In fact, the people have been very welcoming and he is extremely happy there. With all of that said, he is a huge sports fan and I know that the sports scene/school spirit was a huge draw for him. It sounds like your son is looking for other things in a school. Good luck with your search!</p>

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<p>I transferred to Clemson this fall and at the beginning I always wondered why there were so many “workshops” we had to attend about diversity. Not only that, but it was frustrating because I couldn’t even get to know the campus personally cause I was too busy doing stuff that was required and then classes started! (freshman had to do the same). Though, now I realize why they did those workshops. Diversity here isn’t just black or white, its also in-state or out of state, blonde or brunette, skinny or fat, christian or jewish, republican or democrat. I’m from Maryland, a very liberal state, though I am a republican, it didn’t seem to matter to the students here. The moment I said I was from Maryland, students from SC would just stop talkin to me. One even said I was a stupid yankee. Everyone here is stuck in the civil war still. My roommate also had a bad experience, she asked a group of girls in her class “why do they stop traffic for the churches??” and the group responds “its just the way it is down here!” (snobbin attitude) then they tried to pressure her to go to church, and since she denied, they have yet to talk to her. I’m also christian, but since im from a diverse area i am open to other opinions and ideas even when it comes to politics. three perfect words to describe the clemson students “rude, ignorant, and GREEK” is you arent apart of greek, you are nothing. the football games looks like students are at a horse race in dresses, sun hats, and boys in khakis and ties. there is nothing to do on the weekends. and the weekdays just consist of school. if you arent in greek, there is nothing to do. and the greek is very preppy and once again, thats going into the groups of republicans and christians. now i know why democrats say republicans are rude and ignorant because a lot of them are esp in the south. and it makes me upset cause though im a republican too, i am not like that at all! save your money and your sons time. im already in the process of transferrin again to UMD in the spring. and my roommate is also leavin too. if your son wants a diverse school and a good program, i would try UMD or UMBC in maryland. I’ve lived in MD my whole life and love it. there are alot more career opportunities there then there ever will be in clemson.</p>

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<p>To address the post above:</p>

<p>“Diversity here isn’t just black or white, its also in-state or out of state, blonde or brunette, skinny or fat, christian or jewish, republican or democrat. I’m from Maryland, a very liberal state, though I am a republican, it didn’t seem to matter to the students here. The moment I said I was from Maryland, students from SC would just stop talkin to me. One even said I was a stupid yankee. Everyone here is stuck in the civil war still.”</p>

<p>A: I don’t know think you’ve talked to enough people. There are definitely some people who dislike yankees and the influx of northerners at Clemson but I’ve made plenty of friends with people at South Carolina and in the South. I will agree with you though that diversity and tolerance needs work here at Clemson.</p>

<p>“My roommate also had a bad experience, she asked a group of girls in her class “why do they stop traffic for the churches??” and the group responds “its just the way it is down here!” (snobbin attitude) then they tried to pressure her to go to church, and since she denied, they have yet to talk to her. I’m also christian, but since im from a diverse area i am open to other opinions and ideas even when it comes to politics.”</p>

<p>A: I don’t think I would consider that a “snobbish attitude”, they are just stating the truth. People in the south love their way of life so this is why they act this way. I think you met a bad group of “Christians” here. Most people I know will invite you to church once in a while (for easter for example) but will not “pressure” you if you say no and I would by no means stop talking to you if you say no. However, I will say this is that people who are Christians do tend to sometimes have their own “cliques” on campus (as well as other groups) though I think that is a universal problem with every social group anywhere.</p>

<p>“three perfect words to describe the clemson students “rude, ignorant, and GREEK” is you arent apart of greek, you are nothing. the football games looks like students are at a horse race in dresses, sun hats, and boys in khakis and ties. there is nothing to do on the weekends. and the weekdays just consist of school. if you arent in greek, there is nothing to do. and the greek is very preppy and once again, thats going into the groups of republicans and christians.” </p>

<p>A: Again “rude, ignorant, and greek” is a generalization as I would like to believe that I am none of the above (and greek is definitely not one of them haha). I’ve met tons of people who are very friendly and accepting. I will agree with you that football games look like students are at a horse race. However, I will disagree with you that there is nothing to do on the weekends. You are just looking in the wrong places. Get plugged in with a campus organization, meet the people in the organization and befriend them and you’ll have friends to do something with whenever.</p>

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<p>again, if anybody has any questions about diversity issues at Clemson, definitely let me know (and feel free to send me a private message if you would rather not publicly voice them here).</p>

<p>I know it was definitely an issue I considered when making my college decision and you should make the college choice that is the best for you. (and sometimes Clemson is not the right choice).</p>

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<p>Pierre- would you say that there is a stigma against Californians among Southerners? I went to visit Clemson and at the start of the tour, the guide called out our names and the state and city we were from. When the guide said California, 3/4ths of the people in the room turned around and stared at me and I got a few dirty looks. It was pretty akward to say the least. </p>

<p>And what’s the deal with Southerners getting all dressed up for football games? I’ve watched a few Clemson and Auburn games this year and all of the guys are wearing white dress shirts, ties, and khakis. It’s a football game, not a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention; wear a t shirt. At the Florida games I’ve watched, the fans don’t get dressed up. Do you think it’s because Alabama and South Carolina are more of the deep South and Florida isn’t?</p>

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<p>I don’t think there’s a “stigma” against Californians, people were probably just staring at you because they don’t know many people from California. I know a couple of people here from California and if you wanna talk to them about it and what their experience has been so far, let me know and I’ll put you in contact with them. There are always a few people who aren’t happy that there are non-southerners at Clemson now but they are few and in the minority.</p>

<p>People don’t consider Florida as part of the South. I’ve even heard people from Florida referred to as Yankees haha. But yes it’s about 50/50 as far as dressing up. People in greek life and some others enjoy dressing up because that’s who they are and what they grew up with haha. Personally I don’t dress up for football games (not my thing) but you should be aware that half of students do dress up nice for games if it bothers you.</p>

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<p>SOC2015…
I think it’s all in your attitude.<br>
My California S went to visit, name and CA city called. Yes, many turned and looked…but I don’t recall any dirty looks—more of awe or curiosity. He actually rather liked it, especially when those cute little Southern Belles smiled his way! Now everyone on the tour knew him as the California kid and it opened up many conversations. The Belle’s (and the University’s) Southern hospitality won him over.</p>

<p>Dressing up at football games: Yes, many of the girls wear dresses to the games. Have you been in Death Valley (the stadium at Clemson, not the desert in CA)? It’s HOT! I wore a skirt two weeks ago, and still roasted. Many of the students I saw had tshirts, shorts and flip flops on. Yes, there were shirts and ties on some of the guys, my son included. Frat pledges. If that’s not your cup of tea, don’t pledge.</p>

<p>The South is not for everyone. Same goes for California. My S wanted to experience a different “culture” while still on Mom & Dad’s nickel. Many of his HS classmates felt the same…others chose to stay closer to home. </p>

<p>I guess it’s all about one’s priorities and how one chooses to view new or different opportunities…</p>