My son is extremely interested in Ole Miss. We are from CT. He’s taken a very rigorous schedule throughout high school. He has a 29 ACT & 1320 SAT. his GPA was brought down just a bit last year (AP English), but is still around a 3.3. He’s in all AP classes this year with the exception of his foreign language class. He’s a very easy going kid, plays lacrosse, and generally gets along with must people. I worry about having him so far from home & possibly not fitting in. While he’s experienced the south, He’s never lived there. Almost all of the schools he’s looking at are in the south.
We live in MD just outside DC, and our son liked Ole Miss fairly well when he visited. Temple is,his first choice because he prefers an urban campus. If your son likes the classic “college town” then Ole Miss may appeal to him. Our son is likely to end up there if he doesn’t get a big enough scholarship from Temple, since he’s guaranteed a huge scholarship.
Thanks. ND is his top choice. He’s also looking at Indiana
Glad to see some updated posts on Ole Miss site. We live in Ks ( Kansas City area) and our son did like Ole Miss when we visited in July. It seemed more of personal feel, especially the professors in mechanical engineering department. Even Though it’s 8 hrs away from home, he looks at it that it’s only about a 2 hour plane flight home. Cannot beat the OSS academic scholarships and Ole Miss is supposed to be very generous with their other competitive scholarships.
We also looked at Miss St and Alabama too. Both nice schools and generous academic scholarships, especially UA. I think UM and UA are more personable than MSU. My son is choosing between these 3. His first choice was Colorado School of Mines but just too expensive even after the $14,000 for ACT and GPA.
Our son is pretty laid back, plays football, track, and band. So I know he’ll fit in wherever he goes. I think it’s great that he’s not afraid to see what life is like outside of Kansas and decided not to go where all of his friends are going ( K-State).
My son is a sophomore from Ohio. He loves it in Oxford, will never come back north. He also is a lacrosse player and they have a good club team with a lot of East coast kids. He pledged a house last year also. My high school daughter has Ole Miss as her number one. Alabama is OK, but so spread out and a much bigger student population.
Thanks! We were looking at their lax roster yesterday. I was surprised at how many were from our area.
Lol. I would be very happy with a school 8 hours away. My son’s choices are all very far, although he did add Clemson back on the list yesterday which is somewhere in the neighborhood if 15 hrs or so
It sounds like your son is looking for a Southern college experience. His test scores make him above average for Ole Miss, but probably not in the top 10 percent. So in many ways he’s right where many people want to be, in that he’s smarter than average, but not so smart that he is out of place.
I always give the same advice, and that is that he should visit the campus. There’s more to life than football, but a football weekend in the Grove is something to see. Here’s a video:
I have a daughter who is a junior at Ole Miss (student athlete) and I also have about a million friends with kids at state…State is more “laid-back”…but don’t be fooled…there are plenty of affluent people at State…but it’s not as “in your face” as Ole Miss. My child ADORES Ole Miss and we are not the traditional Ole Miss peeps…saying all that to say that either would be great. However, Ole Miss does seem to attract more OOS students…and from what I can tell…everyone seems to get along great. My daughter has made close friends from all over…D.C., Cali, Australia, GA, FL, Chicago, NYC…and she is just a normal southern gal from MS/LA. So, from our experience and from what we know about the kids/families that support/attend State…my opinion is that Ole Miss is a little more progressive. Also, in very general terms, Ole Miss is more the place for doctors/attorneys while State is more engineers/computer science although that is not by any means the rule…
I don’t think the majority of the students at Ole Miss even blink at a student from a different state/region. It’s pretty common at Ole Miss because they are so affordable and do give great scholarships.
I also have a daughter who is a senior in high school and has outstanding GPA and 35 ACT…saying that to say that she has visited many schools and could attend pretty much anywhere with a nice offer, but in the end, she is down to TCU and Ole Miss. Even though Ole Miss would kind of be like not “going anywhere” (it’s 2.5 hours away and she’s been there a lot due to sister), we really have come to understand that it is a fantastic school, safe environment, and provides a great college experience. Ole Miss is also BEAUTIFUL! My family is not/was not brought up Ole Miss…never really knew much about it before they recruited the older girl, but they have certainly impressed from that time to now… Would highly recommend it to anyone from anywhere.
@parishlove is absolute correct on this. For the past several years a majority of the freshman class has been from out of state. A lot of very talented Texas kids from affluent areas are squeezed out of their college of choice by that state’s 10 percent rule. A lot comefrom Georgia, because that stat’s Hope Scholarship has made admission to UGA really tough (the 25-75 percentiles on ACT are 27-31 and the average ACT is 29).
In addition, there have always been a bunch of Ole Miss students from Memphis and the rest of Tennessee, southeast Missouri, and Louisiana. What’s different to day is that they are coming from all over. I will say that two or three of the very top fraternities or sororities recruit overwhelmingly from Mississippi and Memphis. The “local” alumni base helps keep these groups very strong. But it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out with all of the very smart and often wealthy OOS students that are pouring in.
I will share an interesting if mostly unrelated story. In the late 1930s an Italian by the name of John Farese from Boston attended the Ole Miss law school. According to the stories I’ve always heard, as graduation neared he lamented to one or more of his professors that he would never get a job in Boston because at that time few of them would hire an Italian. He was advised to find a Mississippi county without an attorney and hang out his shingle. He found such a rural county and became quite successful; In 1952 he and his wife became the first American couple to both serve in a state legislature at the same time. His progeny are now considered among the best criminal lawyers in the Southeast.
I only share this because it shows how attracting OOS students can benefit the state as a whole. I know a number of OOS students who have stayed in Mississippi or used their connections to great advantage… The family has this family history on their law firm website, and it’s worth reading. The link is below; I hope some of you will enjoy reading it. (And yes, if a student has a problem with the law, they are among the three or four firms one should call).
Thanks for the detailed post. He is anxiously awaiting his decision from TCU. He got SMU’s last week. I think TCU might have sent it on the scenic route from Ft Worth.
@2016NFAsr We, too, are looking at TCU. My daughter has been invited to interview for the Chancellor’s Scholarship at TCU in February. Meanwhile, Ole MIss, which is in-state for us, is looking extremely attractive for many reasons. I also have a daughter who is a student athlete at Ole Miss and is a junior. She has had a WONDERFUL experience and I wouldn’t call her a typical southern sorority girl by any means…although many of her friends are. From what I can tell, even if my senior daughter does get the Chancellor’s scholarship, we will pay more for her to attend TCU than we will at Ole Miss. Her automatic scholarships for GPA/ACT score already cover almost everything…but we are in state so that helps. It is going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out. She knows no one really, at TCU. Meanwhile, many friends are at or are going to Ole Miss. But she isn’t the kind of girl who would have any trouble taking off on a new adventure for college. We will see…we are still hoping for a substantial offer from Ole Miss in the competitive scholarship arena…
@parishlove Good luck with everything regarding Ole Miss. Your daughter sounds like she’d be a good candidate for the Honors College. If she hasn’t done so, make sure that she has gotten everything in for Honors and scholarships. Has she been in touch with her admissions counselor? That always helps in the scholarship selection process. Again, best of luck with everything, and I hope you all end up at Ole Miss!
Our son is almost certainly going to Ole Miss. The amount of money in his 529 is more than the cost for a NMSF, so he’s probably going to be able to do a semester or summer abroad due to the generous merit aid.
Unless mine gets into ND, he’s leaving toward Ole Miss.
South Bend is a rat hole city. I am an IU grad and the Domers think their school is much more than it is. The students and town of Oxford blow South Bend away.
Im glad to hear this. My Daughter wants to go to Ole Miss but so many people have told her that it is just too hard to adjust to the Southern girls and the Soroity life is very political. We live in California and go to a private school but we don’t have any experience with sororities and she doesn’t want to feel isolated.
All the CA kids I have met love the school. The southern girls and guys are more open and down to earth but can be clicky just like any school where they have grown up together in high school. That is a small percentage though. Have her go through rush, she will find a house she likes. Remember out of state kids are 50% now.