<p>I'm sorry. I'm really hungry and all I could get out of those last few posts is "penne a la vodka"
mmmmmmm. </p>
<p>ok, I'm going to go eat now.</p>
<p>From what i've notices, people on the west coast don't care if they leave, however people from other sides of the country freak out when they leave.</p>
<p>Maybe 30 years ago some of that was true. However today most midwest college towns have an excellent number of good restaurants, fresh locally baked bagels and artisan breads, their own music scenes, and access to excellent arts facilities both in the nearby large cities like Chicago and Minny and on their own campus or right next door in town.<br>
And the Asian food and fresh seafood in seattle is far better than you get in NY. It has not been living in polluted waters feeding off garbage.
One of the best deli's in the US is in Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>Imagine coming to Reed and Portland from say Alabama.</p>
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New England is a poor representation of "Easterners",lol...it's like CT or RI... In other words, these states are like the "Minnesotas" of the NE,lol... You want to experience the diversity and culture of the Northeast, you need to look at the more populated towns and cities in states like NY, NJ, Penn. and selected cities in other states... like Boston...if you live in CT, RI or NE, I'm sure you'll rip me but I've been to all those places and the vibe is 180 degrees different from NY/NJ ....
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<p>I think this is the key: cities are different than small towns. There are plenty of cities in the south that have bagels and liberal people. Some of the most liberal people I have encountered live in Austin, Texas. My relatives from small-town Florida think those of us in California are all hippies, but California has plenty of conservatives in the central valley areas. And, one of the biggest evangelical churches in the nation is in southern California. And, the larger cities in Florida have plenty of liberals - many of them transplants from the northeast.</p>
<p>As other posters have stated, going away to college is a growth experience, but some people like change and growth less than others. There's only so much people are willing to accept.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are exceptions to everything I said...I'm just talking form my own experiences over the last few years and BTW NY seafood is trucked/flown in from all over the country/world.. and locally caught seafood is caught way out in the Atlantic not in NY Harbor so it's not feeding on Garbage,lol...</p>
<p>I honestly don't see that much difference at all between the east coast and west coast. I know 4 people from my school at Stanford and they all love it. I've visited one of them there twice in the last 2 years and the whole area, students, etc. remind me so much of where I live--but with way better weather and palm trees.</p>
<p>DS1 applied to schools on both coasts and in between. Would not consider the South. All of my immediate family still lives down there (as did I for HS and college), but both my parents are orginally from the midwest, and I lived there for much of my childhood. My kids lament the lack of educational opportunities their southern cousins get and the way the dominant culture is so overtly religious (at least in the small cities where my family members live). They wanted diversity -- it's what they've always known -- some semblance of a Jewish community, and a major metro area. They are fearless travelers and comfortable jumping into new situations.</p>
<p>Well, culture wise it really depends from what environment you are transferring. An inner-city kid might have trouble adjusting to ANY college, because the environment is so different. A suburban kid wouldn't have much trouble at a Harvard or a Cal Berkeley but might die if he went to Northern Iowa. Many rural kids just couldn't function at a huge school like Ohio State or Texas.</p>
<p>It also has to do with their particular family background. A URM from a largely minority area might have a problem being one of the only minorities. A white kid from the suburbs would certainly feel awkward at a HBCU. A liberal kid might not fit in well at the University of Arkansas, and a die-hard Bush fan might do well to avoid Berkeley. Religion also has a lot to do with it. You won't find many evangelicals at Yeshiva or Naropa, nor many Muslims at Ave Maria. You probably won't get too many Catholics at Liberty.</p>
<p>It really depends on the individual background.</p>
<p>However, I think that weather shock is much greater. A southern/western kid might die in the plains with 20 degree winter. A northern kid might find it too be too warm in the South.</p>
<p>I personally, as a Texan, would think that it would be too cold in the Northeast for many Southerners (not that I consider myself a Southerner), and as the South is more rural, there might be a lot of culture shock in the northeast or West Coast. Yankees might find it to be a little warm in the South, but the school year isn't that bad (even where we have an 80 degree Christmas). The culture shock at most Southern state schools won't be too bad. However, if you were going out to the country, there could be some significant culture shock.</p>
<p>To simplify, going to the north is a greater shock.</p>
<p>It seems that many people from the northeast have little knowledge of what there is between the east coast and west coast. Some places, in all states, can be slow paced. Some cities in the midwest are not slow paced at all. There are great places to eat, bagels, cultural diversity, many ethnic and religious backgrounds, great shows, symphonies,good schools ...... there are many people around here that do not wear their religion on their sleeves. </p>
<p>Many years ago, I worked in an insurance company and the new guy in charge was sent to us from New York. He fully expected to see livestock when he got off the plane. He was pleasantly surprised to find outstanding restaurants, great music and art venues and a much lower cost of living than NY. He actually requested to turn a one year assignment into a permanent move. Meeting and marrying a local doctor helped that decision.</p>
<p>Bagels: the ultimate measure of societal advancement.</p>
<p>Just because a town has bagels doesn't mean they're GOOD bagels... ;)</p>
<p>Although I'm not sure about the weather thing, I totally agree with you, loneranger, about family background.
As a Northern Jewish girl from a very sexually, religiously, and ethnically (although not as racially as I would like) diverse town, I have been wary of schools in the South...not because I do not want to be with people unlike me, but because I am not sure to what level I could take misunderstandings. My mom, having grown up a European Jew in what was then a majority "All-American" (whatever that means) Christian town, cannot imagine why I would ever want to go to a school without a thriving Jewish population. She thinks I would be happier at Brandeis. I think I'd be happier at William and Mary, where, when I asked about religious diversity, the tour guide answered, "Oh yeah, lots of people are religious, just last week on Ash Wednesday I saw so many people with the ashes on their foreheads all day" (obviously not quite what I was looking for!) I'm aware that if I go there, I will be in a huge minority. That isn't the issue, though - the issue is whether the student body is accepting. If they are aware that I'm different and it's okay, and they're willing to learn, that's great! The issue is if the students are NOT interested, NOT willing to learn...at such a great school, only in the south could a student guide be so unaware of other religions, or that's how it seems to me. So while I'm considering attending, I can see how, religiously, it would be hard for a Northerner to come South.
However, I think politically it would be hard either way - across the country there are communities of people unwilling to listen to the other side's issues without calling them ridiculous and unreasonable. Hey, look at so many of our politicians!</p>
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As a Northern Jewish girl from a very sexually, religiously, and ethnically (although not as racially as I would like) diverse town.
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<p>sexually diverse, huh? =P</p>
<p>I am applying to West Coast, East Coast, and Midwest schools, but my two Midwest schools are UChicago and Carleton. Honestly, at this point, having been pampered all my life with people who have the same ultraliberal views I do, I do not think I would like the South very much. I could take it if I had to, but I don't have to, and so that's why I'm not applying to any schools there.</p>
<p>[edit:] Also, I am asian, and my ex-boyfriend lives in a predominantly white town. I went to his homecoming once, and I was one of two asians there. (and one of like ten non-white people) It was very uncomfortable, and I remember just wanting to go home and forget about it at the end. The environment you're raised in affects you a lot.</p>
<p>I'm from the deep south (and white!) and I'm mainly applying to schools in the northeast. Whenever I tell people the list of schools I'm applying to, they give me this funny look, then ask, "Well, what's wrong with LSU?"</p>
<p>I've got tons of pressure on me to stay down here. I've got family members lobbying on behalf of the south. My uncle tells me how people up north are cold (in both personality and climate :P), that they don't know how to have a good time. They tell me people up north still legitimately believe we have slaves down here (lol).</p>
<p>I've travelled enough to know that a lot of people in the south are ignorant about culture in the north, but I'm not going to say that the opinions of people down here haven't affected me. I'm sure they affect other students that have ventured up north, as well. </p>
<p>I know of tons of kids that have transferred back to Louisiana after tasting east coast and northeastern schools. And, I think that family pressures have played a large role in their transfer. People down here really have a strong bias against the north, and I'm sure there's bias against the south, as well.</p>
<p>momstl4:</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>All of us in the Midwest are NOT conservative, old-fashioned, evangelical farmers with cow manure on our boots and pieces of straw in our mouths. We're not all heterosexists with "Bush '04" signs. We actually have, you know, cities, indoor plumbing, and electricity. </p>
<p>God knows that a progressive, educated east-coaster would have such trouble with the backwards, reactionary illiterates of Oberlin or Macalester colleges, of course.</p>
<p>As an outspokenly liberal and pro-choice feminist who used to live in the East, I can understand an unwillingness to be immersed in an overwhelmingly conservative environment, especially one that is unfriendly towards one's sexual or religious orientations. However, the majority of colleges I can name in the Midwest, especially the top colleges, lean left anyways. Perhaps state schools in the Midwest and South tend towards the right in comparison to, say, UMass or the SUNY system, but isn't some degree of political diversity a virtue?</p>
<p>I avoided college in the East, despite being a native of New York, for a number of reasons. But there was one encounter that summed it up: I was at Oberlin College for a summer program in baroque music. One of the girls I met was from New York City and, as we ate lunch at a little cafe, she wrinkled her nose at the newspaper-dispenser outside the window. "God, I don't know how anyone lives out here," she said, poking at her hummus sandwich. "There's only three newspapers... On every corner in NYC, you can find a million! And it's so much more sophisticated. All the people here are just so quaint and simple."</p>
<p>Gag me with a spoon. I'd rather be "quaint" than pretentious. Now, I don't begrudge her the difficulty of adjusting to a small town from a huge city, but the accompanying values judgment was ridiculous. </p>
<p>I'm not saying that every east-coast university is rife with such an attitude, but I've found my lovely Minnesotan college to be quite free of such airs altogether.</p>
<p>Just a defense of the Midwest. :)</p>
<p>I just had to respond to Leshachikha with this...
"Everythin's up to date in Kansas City, They've gone about as fur as they can go... You can turn the radiator on whenever you want some heat...You can walk to privy in the rain and never wet your feet!" (I know that that's not all in the same verse but it's the thought of it)</p>
<p>I think most people go from NE to South instead of vice versa.</p>
<p>I live in the West Coast, Northern California specifically, and I have to say that East Coast trumps us with the diversity factor. I mean, we are very ethnically and religiously diverse here, but the majority of Californians are so comfortable that they dont ever bother to travel or explore other parts of the country. What I'm trying to say here is that we are not very "geographically" diverse. </p>
<p>To expand on this: we also have the "great" University of California system so most kids don't get to experience different culture when they graduate out of high school. It's kind of sad when I tell people that I'm going to school in New York, most people automatically assume NYC; to say "Upstate New York" confuses a lot of people.</p>
<p>It seems to me that a lot of east coasters travel outside of their state often, whether it's for college or for some small reasons. When it's for college, they bring back their culture from that area back to where they live, and their hometown becomes more "geographically diverse".</p>