@cafe9999 did not mention that student’s race/ethnicity/religion, but issues around those aspects seem to be a (not always stated) concern in some posts of this thread. Whether such issues can be a significant problem at Clemson is another story altogether.
It is the case that many of the large automatic-for-stats scholarships are at schools in Alabama or Mississippi – perhaps because their locations are less marketable to out-of-state students than locations in other states.
It also appears that historically black universities have similar marketing problems (hence their presence on the large automatic-for-stats scholarship list), but are much less likely to be recommended on these forums for merit scholarship seeking students who are not known to be black.
The latest list of large automatic-for-stats scholarships (though some schools may have changed them since then):
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20798968/#Comment_20798968
6 in Mississippi (3 HB)
5 in Alabama (2 HB)
3 in Louisiana
3 in Texas (1 HB)
1 in Florida (1 HB)
1 in Michigan
1 in Tennessee
1 in Utah
(1 in DC (1 HB), but no longer lists the big scholarships on its web site)
Being a native “Yankee” who moved to the South long ago, I find several of the statements in your post to be either dated or inaccurate to begin with. I rarely get any “Yes sir-ing” when at stores etcetera. It’s also rare in my area to hear any local news anchors or reporters speaking with southern drawls, if that’s what you were referring to re: local TV news.
The Carolina Panthers of the NFL are immensely popular where I’m at. ACC basketball is king and we do strongly support our high school sports, but professional football/basketball/baseball all have a very large following. There are many big rivalries in college sports outside the South, with fans that are just as zealous: Michigan-Ohio State, USC-UCLA etcetera. Grits aren’t nearly as popular as they once were, and there isn’t that much of a difference in consumption of fried food compared with other parts of the country.
Plenty of people here go to Myrtle Beach, SC in October and November when it’s considerably cooler than summer, and thoroughly enjoy being outside in the mild temperatures. It’s common to see golfers on the links in their jackets and sweaters when temperatures are well below 70. We don’t get much snow, but when we do there are plenty of kids outside playing in it. Sightseeing, hiking, picnicking and other outdoor activities are enormously popular in the milder temperatures of the Blue Ridge Mountains - as well as snow skiing in the winter.
There are two 24/7 grocery stores and a 24/7 CVS within 5 minutes of my house. Most gas stations located in areas where there are enough late night/early morning customers to warrant staying open 24 hours, do so. Those that don’t have enough customers at those times typically close at perhaps midnight. Many of the gas stations that close early are foreign owned, so it has nothing to do with being “Southern”.
I drive on a major city beltway every day to and from work, three lanes going each way. I typically set the cruise control at 77, and I still get passed many times both day and night. I can’t remember the last time I saw somebody traveling only 45 mph out there, even the real old folks. The small percentage of Southerners who can’t handle freeway speeds usually have enough sense to stay off them and take alternate routes with slower speed limits.
Having lived in the South for many years, I have yet to meet one Southerner who didn’t know what adoption is. My area is plenty blended - at my church we have members from China, Korea, Philippines, Burma, Mexico, Central America, South America. Also numerous Blacks, Hispanics and Asians of American birth.
No, I didn’t mean TV announcers with a southern accent. I meant the types of stories they report. “A man delivering milk reported a dead body in the front yard of of a home in the 2800 block of High Street this morning.” Like a dead body just appeared and no one noticed it until the morning. And then you never heard anything more about it. New day, new dead body. “A 19 year old was killed in the back of the Clark Street Bible Church parking lot while playing craps.” Like this was 1930. Shooting craps? Very little news about state matters, local politics, nothing about national issues unless you watched the national news.
And would it have killed them to give the score of the Red Sox game? Never did. NASCAR, the Florida baseball team, all kinds of fishing stories, but no Red Sox unless they played the Rays, and then you had a 50/50 chance. of hearing it if they finished before bedtime. No hope at all of an NFL game that wasn’t the Jaguars. Some Sundays, that was the ONLY game aired. One game, that’s it. Two of the networks (I think it was ABC/CBS) shared the same local news teams and local broadcast.
I don’t know why people were so surprised I had a Chinese daughter who was adopted, but they sure seemed to think it strange. Strange enough to comment on it. Constantly.
I agree with Cafe9999 that it is a good question to ask - how will I fit in, how will it be different?
I didn’t live the boondocks, I lived in Jacksonville, and found it as I described. Closed down at night, very segregated, very indifferent to crime. There were two capital murders at the courthouse at the same time, and those weren’t the only ones that year. I didn’t like the acceptance of crime and the acceptance of separate but equal in all other parts of life.
And the fact that there were signs that said “Don’t drive into standing water. There can be snakes.” when it rained and there was flooding. There really are a lot of critters in the south.
I didn’t dislike living there, it was just very different.
@twoinanddone What state? There are so many Jacksonvilles.
Re #24
Since Rays MLB team and the Jaguars NFL team were mentioned in #23, the likely Jacksonville is the one in Florida.
I think this illustrates the idea that there are many Souths. Jacksonville isn’t Tallahassee isn’t Tampa isn’t the Keys, Atlanta isn’t Savannah isn’t Tybee Island isn’t Athens, etc. My best guess is that there’s a sharp rural/urban difference, just like in the rest of the country, then add whether there’s a university in town and percentage of non-white people.
Kind of like New York City, Plattsburgh, West Chester, Albany, Troy, would all be different - and yet taken together wouldn’t be confused for the above group of cities. I don’t think it’s easy to define and I do think all people’s experiences are likely to be good examples, to be put together, as contradictory as they may seem.
My big surprise in the South was a religious, Jewish family celebrating Sukkot, who nevertheless went to church on Sundays because that’s where the social life took place, where kids had afterschool activities, friends, etc.
Something else, to be taken as just one more data point: someone (from the South) told me that a state is “definitely in the South” if a percentage of the population is still litigating the Civil War in their heads.
Friendliness and down to earth qualities are shared with the Midwest.
The differences in anecdotal experiences between #16/#23 versus #22 indicate that, like other large regions, “the South” is not monolithic, and that Jacksonville (#16/#23) is significantly different from whatever place #22 describes in the aspects mentioned.
someone mentioned liquor laws… but really NJ has some of the oddest laws; and a move to SC might mean that he/she can now buy beer and wine in the same store. He/she may however have to learn to pump their own gas as NJ is one of the few places left in the US that ban self-serve gas stations. Go with an open mind… you’ll find your people… and you’ll probably find many others who will be great too.
@jenjen182 I am from NC and would say I am much more conservative than liberal. I worked in WS with many WFU grads and would describe most of them, certainly not all, the same as your sister did…
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My comments are dated, but long ago I attended Tulane in NOLA after growing up in the metro NYC area.
I have to say, while I loved the college (professors etc), did not adjust to life in NOLA at all.
I definitely felt like a fish out of water there, and while I think I could have gotten used to it, I transferred to a northern school after freshman year. Decided by Thanksgiving of freshman year that I had picked the wrong place to spend my college years. Change of culture was exciting but ultimately the racism, and race based crime drove me away.
Not saying NOLA = other southern cities, but culture can be very different when you move and you at least have to consider if you can and want to adapt. Personally the things that bothered me most I DID NOT WANT TO ADAPT,
was not a problem that I could not adapt. But that’s me. One can also be enriched by the positive differences and try to impact and influence in other areas, but I was not ready to have that attitude at 18.
As a southerner I have no idea how to feel about this thread. Insulted, amused, surprised? I can tell you this - if one of you told me that your child was coming to school in my area- I would welcome them with open arms. No matter their race, sexual preference, religion or if they were adopted. (Yes I know what adopted is)
Regarding the Midwest in comparison to the South, it is interesting that the South often gets the most flak for racism and segregation, but many of the most highly segregated cities and metro areas in the US are in the Midwest (Chicago being commonly cited as “the most segregated city”). Somehow, the Midwest escapes similar criticism compared to the South. Same with some places in other regions (e.g. Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC).
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I am not sure we can lump racism and segregation together. While segregation is mainly a socio-economic issue, racism is a human trait. Traits cannot be unlearned, at least easily.
DS (we are in NE) has friends who are at Alabama and very happy. If you are staying down south, best to break into society by marrying in, having children, attending church…
^ I think it depends where you are…
The same can be said for parts of NYS ( as mentioned)… Manhattan versus Westchester versus Potsdam …
^@twogirls Oh certainly. Boston can also be like that perhaps more so than NYC with the Brahmin.
Just got back from Nashville.
No question it is wayyyyy more integrated racially than the San Francisco Bay Area.
People just seem to live their lives and not make a big deal of it.
Hear, hear! The infamous 1960’s race riots occurred in the northeast, upper midwest and California :
Los Angeles (Watts) , Rochester, Harlem, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Omaha, Newark, Plainfield, Detroit, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Chicago, Washington D.C., Baltimore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_riots#1960s
Also don’t forget the 1974 riots in Boston, sparked by the enforcement of court-ordered desegregation of Boston’s heavily segregated school system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_busing_desegregation
@Defensor That “desegregation” or screwing around with working class kids in Boston was a mess. Let’s take the two worst schools in Boston and jumble them regardless of what any parent wants. They were not segregated by law but by the neighborhood they choose to live in and no one seemed to want the change but it is easy to mess around with working class neighborhoods and their children to make a political point. Private schools remained untouched. What do the wealthy and privileged care.