<p>Don't want to detract from th Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh question. </p>
<p>But Alaska..just take a good look at the demographics of each school. And think about your own personal space and style..how much is too much friendly for you, and how much very assertive and to the point makes you feel blue or uncomfortable.
Every school class is going to enjoy having a member from Alaska. You are already ahead of the game. I noticed that the Boston kids have different slang words entirely for instance than what you hear in Virginia.</p>
<p>If there is geographic economic and racial diversity, you can make it anywhere because so many freshman will be starting out at Square One together. Some campuses have predominantly Yankee brusque cultures or Southern mores. But each campus has its own vibe. My S is at Duke, and has met incredibly interesting and friendly students with great characters but it is common for people to pass by each other with zero eye contact and to sit on buses without any chatting as if you are in NYC instead of the pine barrens of NC. It is a spirited student body but not touchy feely. Look at the demographics and there just is a very strong presence of cultures that don't "make nice" all day there. Friendship however is abundantly offered, just in a different style. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a place where faculty and students will greet and speak, waitresses will call you honey, and it can be said that they are not always sincere and will be disingenious rather than be blunt or rude, but I grew accustomed to a certain amount of speaking in passing there. Yes, Nashville is more Southern..but it is more landlocked Middle America Middle Tennessee and is also well connected to states just north and west of them as well as to Alabama to their South. Lots of people from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky have business in Nashville while Memphis is another world apart bonded to life on the Mississippi. There are entire novels on this subject. See A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor who also taught at UVa.<br>
UVa is a wonderful warm place with quite a lot of beauty but only a couple hours from Beltway life.
Look at Vandy demographics. They are eagerly admitting kids from other regions and it is still a school dominated by more Southern students.<br>
I am a military brat who landed at Furman and I have to say that I struggled with the lack of Yankees on campus and missed people who were a bit more direct and aggressive...even though everybody practically killed me with kindness and warmth and the teachers were thrilled to get kids from not Southern backgrounds. Several true Yanks returned North to finish school even though they had some fond memories of South Carolina. I am glad I stuck it out. I still talk to Furman grads almost every day and they all enjoyed having a friend not from Atlanta.
When you talk South, you need to keep in mind if you eyeball the Southern institutions Emory Wake Davidson Chapel Hill and such..that the New South means transient people who are now more accustomed to moving and to accomodating newcomers themselves. I feel very comfortable in Atlanta Charlotte and Raleigh Richmond as well as in DC or Boston. Lots of kids from big New South boom towns in Florida and Atlanta are in Southern colleges and they have not grown up in insular ways.<br>
One thing I like about the more Southern campuses is the Speaking Tradition which is actually an expectation in some schools and simply the style at others. Washington and Lee students always greet people they pass..and you will see this attitude at many other fine Southern schools. If that gives you the willies re Personal space..perhaps a school that is more moderate would be found elsewhere in Virginia or in the Middle Atlantic states for you.<br>
landscape has already heavily influenced your life...so how do you want to tweek that aspect of life for the next four years for yourself?
Are you ready for it to be dark at 5pm a lot of the year in New England after those Alaska winters? do you long to call a city home for a while? I noticed the architecture at Middlebury, Bowdoin and Dartmouth Colgate is geared to beating the winter blues--impressive. Inside space is attractive and the kids are more Yankee blunt but the schools are very supportive. But if you go further south, you will live with more sunlight and be into the landscape year round. It affects people as you know. But there is warmth in the culture of Sweden as much as there is warmth in Italy. Ok, maybe not really as effusive..but a different kind of warmth and feeling which is also influenced by weather but just as deep.<br>
The cold wind will knock you over in Chicago in the winters, but the cultural life of the city makes up for it all.<br>
Since you are coming from so far away, I think if I were you, I would choose a school that had a supportive cohesive campus that would give you a sort of family of faculty and friends right away rather than attending a school that takes a great deal of time and effort to get established in socially. Some very supportive and warm campuses are in the NE... Colby, Bowdoin, Dartmouth were very lively and friendly..just some friendly warm schools we visited. Read the little uncensored guides that cost something like six bucks each..they practically publish the entire text on their Ebay listings BTW, read studentsreview, and pepper alum and students a bit about how the school functions in terms of warmth and cohesion and support.<br>
You will no doubt be meeting and greeting next year somewhere at this time..what kind of friendly vibe to you emit? Because in the end, you gotta run your own race and just bring yourself to the game. The students are there also to meet YOU. The adcoms that choose you want you there because you have something to offer. Good luck and happy hunting and thinking..there is still much time.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is a great town-small town friendliness and lots of distinctive neighborhoods.CMU and Pitt adjoin each other in the Oakland section.CMU's campus is small and blah,though the intellectual life is intense.Not your typical college ambience (ie-Bucknell),very unique.</p>
<p>I have heard that Pittsburgh is a far more midwestern town (in feel) than an east coast one. I have never lived there, but visitors seem to confirm that.</p>
<p>I "went east" for college (well and south) and found the experience to be eye-opening and broadening. I find it fascinating how the pace of life, and people's interactions, vary according to where you are. Go for it!</p>
<p>I live in NYC and Ive lived here all my life and I suppose some of the things they say about East Coasters (esp. NYers) are true but of course they are all generalizations.</p>
<p>Theres so many diff. people in NYC its really impossible to make any generalizations.. well maybe you could but haha</p>
<p>Haven't had the pleasure of DC, UCLAri, but like you I love NY & have always gotten along beautifully with residents of all East Coast States in person, whether they're visiting here or I'm visiting there.</p>
<p>Well...I never said I always got along with the residents of NY. I did get tired of being called a West Coast F***OT on more than one occasion...</p>
<p>Wow thanks so much for all the insightful messages. For some crazy reason I have not been getting e-mails whenever someone responds so I just sort of thought that this thread fell by the wayside. I am glad to know that there are so many helpful people out there.
The comment on how students in Alaska never want to go to the University of Alaska system is especially true!! In fact up until just a few years ago almost everyone would leave the state and the UA system hardly had any students. They were calling it the great "brain drain." Of course now everyone that graduates in the top 10% is now given a massive scholarship (nearly full ride) so that has sort of fixed the problem.
I never even thought about how dark winters must be in the East. I know in most parts of Alaska that from the end of October until about the first part of April that it does not get light until about ten in the morning and it is dark again by four in the afternoon. This is something that I hate as almost everyone here ends up with some type of seasonal stress disorder. Is it that bad in the East?
Thanks again for all of the help.</p>
<p>You know what big city kicks New Yorks a$$? Chicago. Big city happenings and atmosphere, but no rude attitude. Btw, for all of you who aren't from Chicago and assume that it is a breeding ground for crime, I got news for you: Al Capone is dead and so is the city's crime rate. I've been all over the city at all hours and never witnessed anything but traffic violations. I feel safer in downtown Chicago at night than in some Kansas or southern farmland, where any banjo-playing hic can have his way with you and there won't be any police for miles. Lol. Srry bout my rant but Chicago has a great atmosphere for ppl who love urban settings and you should check out schools there.</p>
<p>Everytime people ask if New York City is like what they heard it was like I have to say yes and no. I think that there are a lot of ways that New York is like the stereotypes, and other things that outsiders just get wrong. For example, manners. Theres a peculiar etiquette in NYC that everyone understands. I am always on the subway, I love the subway, and I love saving my money (haha). Every so often there'll be a huge tour group visiting from elsewhere who has only known about NYC from movies and stereotypes. When coming onto a crowded subway they'll say "Just push, everyone does it" and they'll be loud, jostle, and just be generally rude. A New Yorker would never do this without someone putting him/her back into their place. We don't push eachother without repurcussions (and trust me, there are repurcussions) and we don't speak so loudly on the subway that no one else can hear themselves think (it's so annoying!) Then again, we don't really hold the doors for eachother all the time and if someone is walking slowly on the street in front of you you are perfectly entitled to brush by quickly. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's a lot more complex than just saying "Northerners are rude and Southerners aren't" But generally, I do think that in the North East people don't have time to be sweet to eachother's faces and then wait till they leave to speak ill of them. Unlike a stereotypical southerner, a stereotypical northerner will tell you like it is and keep moving. </p>
<p>Long story short, life is about new experiences and discovering new places. Go for it.</p>
<p>I agree with the view that there is more hustle and bustle on the East Coast (near and in the cities). I like to relax as much as the next person, but when you have somewhere to be, you have somewhere to be. If you're walking slowly, you will get bumped, or at least past by quickly and maybe get an angry glare. If you're driving slowly, please get in the right lane. When there's 10 other people behind you in line at a store, you don't have time to strike up a conversation with Joe who lives down the street who you haven't seen in a week and catch up on life. People don't randomly strike up conversations with other people. And... if you ride the metro in DC, do not stand on the left side of the escalators, that's for people who want to walk or run up it, thanks. =)</p>
<p>Where I go to school it's a little more laid back. People hold doors for each other and things like that.</p>
<p>goBears, Chicago, like any city, has good parts and bad parts.</p>
<p>My son really liked a couple schools in New England last year and did his best with his applications. I would look at their webcams daily..most colleges actually have them! It was pretty bleak by 5pm and days were indeed short. Where I live in Virginia, some boys wear shots all year even wtih polartecs and days are longer and brighter. However, the two colleges he looked at seriously in NE also had a great espirit de corps thing going and he kind of liked the cozy factor and intimacy factor. We did realize that the student centers and gyms really need to be up to date and that buildings need to attract windows and light to mentally make it all bearable.</p>
<p>An earlier post grouped Virginia with NYC and Boston (I believe basically with the Northeast schools) in terms of pace, style, people, etc. but..... I have to heartily disagree. As a lifelong Bostonian, I find Virginia to be a culture shock - it may not be Georgia but it is definitely southern in nature. In fact, I am petrified my son is going to adopt the lifestyle and mannerisms of a Virginian (smile) which is just an awful thing to say since everyone is so consistently pleasant in Virginia! My suspicious Boston mind believes that most of the niceness is manners and style, and not always sincerity. Pace - yikes! Everything is much too slow - it could drive a Bostonian crazy! I am not sure I could ever adapt to this culture - LOL. More importantly, Virginia is a very conservative state, very different from most NE states, and I am quite aware of that difference when I am in Virginia. Anyway, I would not recommend someone looking for a Northeast style school to look to Virginia even though Virginia has some wonderful schools. Also, frats are a big thing in Virginia which is not typical for the NE schools.</p>
<p>[add a couple o years in PA {I don't want you to think that I'm 13}]I lived for most of my life (11ish years) in NJ, about 2 years in TX, and now in PA since last June. We Mid-Atlantic people are definetly way more up front and won't sugarcoat things with fake manners. Of course this is a generalization, but I find that even though Southerners are nicer up front, you could never tell if they were full of bs or sincere. I feel that when Northerners are your friends, you feel pretty secure about that, especially as they're honest. And, I never had a Northerner tell my sister and I that we will go to hell for not being Christian.</p>
<p>Rileydog: the pace at UVa is one of the glorious things about the place..Charlottesville is a pretty beautiful spot in lovely Albemarle County and it does sort of affect the attitudes of the kids. Many of them though are escapees from Beltway Tension lifestyles. Although I can't argue that Virginia is not more conservative, don't forget that a third of UVa was raised on the Beltway and that their folks are likely not from Virginia nor have they always lived in Virginia. Ditto for many kids from the Norfolk area--military and its civilian supporters make up a lot of the economy--I am a military brat and UVa is pretty comfy for a person from "all over." Then we allow 30% more OOS students in. So it is a pretty diverse university for a state institution. Redstapler is right that frats are big there..my S recently visited Rugby Road from another college and was pretty stunned. Re conservative. We did just elect a Democratic Governor personally opposed to the death penalty. His opponent went a tad to far using Hitler in his TV ads. But nothing restrains Pat Robinson or Jerry Falwell. When I channel surf, sometimes I accidentally land on one of their talking heads shows and it is pretty unnerving let me tell you that PR has the hour right after the Today show here.<br>
Our family chose to spend Spring Break in Boston Rileydog. Where were the dogwoods and azaleas? It was freezing up there and we never saw the sunshine! However, your city is stupendous and we loved the museums and the Symphony and food.</p>
<p>As far as Virginia goes, there's Northern Virginia, and then there's the rest of Virginia. Northern Virginians grow up with the hustle and bustle of Washington DC, and the second worst traffic in the country, only to LA. Northern VA also votes Democrat. The rest of VA is more conservative, but keep in mind that 1/3 of most VA public schools are filled with kids from Northern Virginia, and a significant chunk of the out of states are from the Northeast.</p>
<p>I live in Texas! Man, I'm afraid to apply to schools in the northeast now...it seems like an inferno! Maybe I'm accustomed to everyone being super nice to you. People are saying that even though that Southerners are nice, but aren't sincere. I beg to differ! Also, even if they aren't sincere, isn't it better that someone is nice, compared to not nice? I'm seriously doubting the Northeast now...</p>
<p>Seriously, people in the east aren't that bad. Just make sure your longest finger is always ready to be displayed, espescially when you are driving!</p>
<p>I think edad got it right:
"The epicenter is NYC. Life is at a rapid pace. People tend to think fast, act fast and are assertive."</p>
<p>I'm a New Yorker (as in the city, NY state is quite different), but I've lived in MA in a suburb outside Boston since middle school. NY is my favorite of the two cities. I also have relatives in Chicago and Atlanta. </p>
<p>What I've found is that the East coast moves faster. We're always in a rush and are at least a little stressed out, but I love that life. I don't think NYers are rude. Many would disagree with me, but I really feel that we're just honest. Sometimes too much honesty (or bluntness) can be bad, but I prefer it to the behind your back business that goes on in Georgia. </p>
<p>Of course, these are just generalizations. The typical NYer is assertive (if not aggressive), well-spoken, and a tad argumentative. That's not to say, however, that there aren't plenty of shy people. The great thing about NY is that it has everything- Broadway, the Naked Cowboy (NYers will know what I'm talking about), Wall Street, the Village... Chicago is a bit like NY on a mild sedative. Atlanta's pretty different. Boston's pretty cool too, but it's just not NY.</p>
<p>I think that a person in a rural area of NY state has more in common with a person in a rural area of the West than they would with someone in NYC. If you're comfortable in rural areas, you'll be comfortable in any rural area. If you like big cities, you'll be fine in any big city.</p>