My daughter was accepted to Alabama and she is from Orange County California. We’ve “heard” that kids from outside the South are treated nice but they are never really fully accepted. Is there any truth to this, or is this a fallacy?
Also, can freshmen get into the home football games, or is there more demand than supply?
Thanks in advance.
Greg
Anaheim Hills, CA.
OOS are fully accepted by their peers.
As for home games, freshmen can get tickets under either package A or package B (roughly half of home games).
I’m a sophomore from the Pasadena area. I was initially sceptical about how I would feel in such a different culture, but the city of Tuscaloosa and the University are very diverse in terms of where people are from. There are actually many students from California and most peoples’ reaction to my hometown is “oh, cool!” before we just move on to talking about something else, haha. It’s definitely not something to worry about as long as your daughter is open minded. I have had to learn to be more accepting and respectful of religion and politics outside of the liberal bubble I was raised in.
If you have any more questions about my experience coming to Alabama from California, feel free to message me. I absolutely love it here and choosing UA was best decision of my life so far. It’s a school on the rise with lots to offer in terms of social life and academic programs.
Who told you that? Were they talking about southern schools in general or Alabama specifically?
If they’re talking about bama, then they don’t know what the heck they’re talking about. (BTW…I’m from Placential and Anaheim Hills (I lived near Canyon High School for 15 years before moving to Alabama).
There are 1000 Calif kids at Alabama. Over half the school is from elsewhere. And many of the instate kids are either from another state (like my kids were) or their parents were. Bama students don’t have a Us vs Them attitude because so many of the students are Them. lol
Have you visited Alabama? If not, you should
Thank you, Nerdyparent, springy, and Mom. We had heard it was southern schools in general but it sounds like my daughter has nothing to worry about. I feel better now. We are planning a campus visit in February. And Springy179, if she attends, which seems likely, I may indeed ask how you transported your stuff to Tuscaloosa.
Thank you again everyone.
There is a group of OC moms that get together often for lunch and happy hour, also to watch football games.
I am FB friends with most of them and it looks like they have a great time.
My DD has friends from every state at UA. With OOS being close to 60%, most are from other places. No, your daughter has nothing to worry about.
All of DS’s friends are from OOS at this point. I will add most of them are in engineering. I think I read somewhere that almost 70% of engineering students are from OOS.
Your daughter won’t have any problems just because she is OOS.
Ok folks, this is starting to sound like, “Don’t worry, those awful Alabama residents won’t be allowed to breath anywhere near our precious darlings.” Please, don’t fall victim to stereotypes about the South and about Alabama. There plenty of quality people who were born in and grew up in Alabama…or who at least got here as quickly as they could! Leave your prejudices behind and you will expand your world as well as ours.
DS and I are native to Sacramento, CA. In August 2012 we drove him to campus, with a bike and a car load of stuff. He has thrived at Bama and is scheduled to graduate May 2016. His friends in CA, who are in public universities, are not graduating in 4 years because they can’t get into required classes… DS has established a Nerd Herd of like-minded friends at Bama. Your daughter can find “her people” too if she takes advantage of some of what Bama offers.
Being retired, and no longer needing to commute to jobs, DH & I moved to TN July 2014. We love living in SEC country and the people seem to be genuinely kind, practicing the “Love thy Neighbor” philosophy of being in the Bible Belt. Things seem to operate at a slower pace with more politeness like “Yes Mam” or “No, Mam”. It’s not perfect but then no place is. Even the “Happiest Place On Earth” in Orange County, CA isn’t perfect.
Good Luck to y’all and hopefully you’ll be wearing lots of crimson and yelling “Roll Tide” soon!
“Ok folks, this is starting to sound like, “Don’t worry, those awful Alabama residents won’t be allowed to breath anywhere near our precious darlings.” Please, don’t fall victim to stereotypes about the South and about Alabama. There plenty of quality people who were born in and grew up in Alabama…or who at least got here as quickly as they could! Leave your prejudices behind and you will expand your world as well as ours.”
I wouldn’t look at it this way at all. And I would consider your comment somewhat rude. There are a LOT of circumstances an OOS student is going to face a Alabama kid isn’t going to have to deal with. My kid is very far from home. He won’t have friends or family nearby. He won’t be going home for that 2 day fall break, or weekends where the local/southern kids go home. Doesn’t have a local Dr, or dentist, or anything that is familiar to him. Won’t have us coming to campus to take him out to dinner or go to a game or be able to get there quickly if hospitalized.
He has 3 OOS roommates & it wasn’t because I think there is anything wrong w/ a kid from AL or I think my son is too good for them, but simply because they will all be living the same life he is and he won’t be alone during all those times mentioned above. They have formed a great bond because they are all pretty much in the same boat.
In time, this will change. He will get adjusted, make new friends from all over, but walking on that campus first day of school, I wanted him to have kids sharing the same experiences. And that is what I think of whenever someone asks a question like this.
@laralei, but that’s not what the OP was asking. He was asking if “kids from outside the South are treated nice but … never really fully accepted.”
My son (born in CA and raised in the Northeast) has lots of friends from Alabama and adjacent states, along with several from states further afield. He’s never not felt accepted at UA, with the exception of some of the very old fraternities, which he couldn’t care less about anyway.
There are always going to be issues for kids coming from further away in terms of adjustments and all the issues involved in settling into a different culture and traveling great distances. I know of kids from CA who did have a hard time adjusting, but it wasn’t because they didn’t feel welcome. BTW, they’re all doing fine now.
ETA: In my experience, Alabama families are extremely gracious when it comes to helping OOS families. And Alabama students very often invite OOS kids home for Thanksgiving and other holidays.
Love this @sactonative!
" @laralei, but that’s not what the OP was asking. He was asking if "kids from outside the South are treated nice but … never really fully accepted. "
@LucieTheLakie I was specifically responding to Southlanders post that this thread was somehow denigrating residents of AL just because we started posting about the OOS numbers. I posted why the numbers were important to us, and I think that would apply to any OOS student considering UA.
Many times with a regional school the kids come in with relationships already formed and it can sometimes be hard to break into that. There were quite a few posts on FB page about kids struggling with this exact scenario and feeling like outsiders. I think many of them got past it, but any OOS parent is going to worry about this, and understandably.
There have also been a lot of local families helping out when a parent isn’t nearby and that has been a blessing for many families. The “parent” community at UA is very extensive and very helpful. My friends aren’t seeing this w/ their kids’ colleges. This is a great resource and any parents here who will have freshman students should join the FB page as well.
While I understand the desire for OOS students to make friends with other similarly-situated OOS students (all facing similar OOS issues), it’s also good for OOS students to make friends with instate students, because instate students can also “come to the rescue” when needed. Their families may invite your child to their homes when your child can’t go home, or their families may “get there first,” if your child needs medical attention.
And as I posted up thread @mom2collegekids, I expect that too happen, but also posted why we wanted to know the OOS numbers and it had nothing to do w/ thinking AL students or families were not good enough for my kid.
Everyone has an opinion but it is the “experiences” that often count. It is best to allow your student to pick the roommates they feel comfortable with, not those that necessarily come from the same geographic area. If your student has been bold enough to apply to an OOS school, they are generally looking to begin an adventure and spread their wings. they are looking for those new “experiences”.
Will things feel a bit different from their home town? Probably. Will the students be different than those they have gone to school with in their home town? Probably. But isn’t that the point of university life? Your students are becoming independent adults and learning about the wider world. This is good, this is what makes a global citizen. If your student has not had the opportunity to travel or meet culturally diverse individuals, this first step will give them the confidence to strike out on their own one day.
I wouldn’t worry about whether a student will be treated well or accepted. If your student can respect individuals and their opinions/beliefs, they will be respected as well. Each student will bring various viewpoints and each student can learn from this wealth of diversity if they are open minded.