I’m a hs senior from the Seattle area dying to go out of state. UW’s a great school but the area is not my preferred culture. I’m pretty sure I want to go down south, I visited Alabama, UTK, UGA, and U of South Carolina and just loved the overall feel of the South. I’ve gotten into several schools now (I decided not to apply to UGA) and I am SO torn on where to go. I’ve been accepted to the following:
Alabama
Ole Miss
Tennessee
South Carolina
LSU
Arizona
Utah
Waiting to hear back from Florida
I really want a school where the southern culture is evident, but I’m not opposed to there being other factors as well, such as lots of out of state students. My main boxes to check are big football culture and Greek life. I’m planning to major in business (but who knows if I’ll change my mind?) and money is not an issue. I’m sorry if that sounds stuck up but I don’t want that to be a deciding factor. Any advice on where I should go? I have yet to visit Ole Miss, LSU, Arizona, or Utah. Arizona and Utah would be more in case I decide I don’t want to go so far away. Thanks!
Alabama has the highest ranking business school plus everything else you are seeking.
Bama fits the description of what you want
Roll Tide
Alabama has the most OOS students, so it probably would be the best fit from what you’ve described. As mentioned, it has a very good B School.
When you visited, did you just take the campus tour or were you able to supplement by visiting the Bschool and speaking with any faculty?
If you applied by the scholarship deadline, it appears that you would have rec’d a substantial award from Alabama…did you?
Have you posted on the UA forum here? It’s very popular.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/
Not sure what the OP is asking, because the SEC schools on her target list are fairly similar when it comes to the “campus life” although USC and Tennessee stand out because of their urban locations, while the others offer the more stereotypical idyllic southern campus setting. Take my word for it, Knoxville is nothing but hills and UT abuts downtown Knoxville. USC is smack dab in the middle of downtown Columbia.
USC business school has a strong reputation, but my guess is that Alabama and UTK would prepare you just as well. You will likely find greater numbers of state residents at UTK than at Alabama and USC.
When I visited Alabama, I just did a campus tour. We were in a rush to drive over to Tennessee, so I was only on the campus for about 3 hours. I actually did not get any award from UA because my test scores were just barely below the requirements, although my GPA is definitely above the 3.5 required. Luckily my parents are covering all my school fees and they told me not to worry about the costs.
I really think that UW would offer everything you are looking for at (I would think) a way lower price tag. I would not dismiss that as an option so quickly. If you want to get out of the area, you should be able to do a semester/year abroad or at an exchange program with another US college.
The deadline for UW applications was back on December 1, but I do agree it would be cheaper and they have some great programs. My reasons for wanting to leave were mainly the culture, and the fact that SO many girls from my high school go there, and they all pledge the same 2 sororities. I also love the southern culture and the conservative, preppy vibe to it, and the constant rain here in Seattle is saddening. It’s the opposite of preppy and conservative in most of the Seattle area. No hate against hipsters and liberals, it’s just really not my scene. Since I have the option, I would prefer to go experience something very different. Also, the price tag is really not an issue. I’m sure my parents would like not to pay around $40k a year, but they certainly can (not to brag). They think it’s great I want to go out and do my own thing, since I’ve lived in the same Seattle suburb my whole life. I do appreciate your comment
Aw, we’ve had a sunny winter for Seattle! 
Don’t generalize Southern culture. I’m a Seattle transplant from the South, and Southern culture is just as diverse and varied as any other culture. It’s not all conservative and preppy - that is one subset of a subset of Southern culture. Any college campus is going to have it’s fair share of hipsters and liberals - and you might find that even more in larger cities like Knoxville and Columbia. You’ll note that Lafayette County (where Ole Miss and Oxford are located) is actually a “light-red” county bordered by some blue counties - the entire western part of MS went blue in the last election. South Carolina is actually a mixed blue/red state, and Richland County (where Columbia is located) is a blue county; it’s a relatively liberal city. And while Louisiana as a whole is pretty conservative, Baton Rouge and its county went blue in 2012.
Not to mention that rural, economically depressed areas of the South are anything but preppy. The idea of a conservative preppy South is partly fiction and partly wealthy Southerners almost exclusively. Oxford and Tuscaloosa are college towns, but a lot of the surrounding area of the rural south is not popped collars and mint juleps. (And tbh, I’ve met A LOT of preppy Seattleites. In fact, I know WAY more preppy Seattleites than I know preppy Southerners, and I went to high school and college in the South. Issaquah, Redmond, and Bellevue are pretty preppy if you ask me, and definitely more preppy than the working-class black Southern neighborhoods I grew up in.
With all that said, Alabama sounds the most like what you are looking for, followed by LSU and Ole Miss respectively. Keep in mind that LSU is in a medium-sized city, but I would say that Southern cities are different in culture from Northeastern and PNW cities. Ole Miss and Alabama are in small college towns, which might be fun and different from what you are used to. Also, Alabama is about 50% OOS students, and Ole Miss is about 40% OOS. LSU, however, only has about 18% of their students hailing from OOS.
Also, although the priority application date has passed, I do believe that Washington State has rolling admissions. I have only been in WA for a little while, but everything I’ve heard has indicated that Eastern Washington has a completely different culture from the western side of the state and the greater Seattle area. WSU is also in a small college town, only 8 miles from the University of Idaho, in a traditionally conservative region of the country (Eastern WA is pretty conservative, despite WA’s reputation as a liberal bastion), and seems to have a robust Greek system (26 fraternities and 14 sororities).
I would say uf if accepted. Huge Greek life, great academics and football
Thank you, juillet. I enjoyed your perspective. I guess I should say I meant more of the Greek life feel of preppy v. hipster rather than the state or surrounding area as a whole, so my bad for not making that clear. I certainly don’t think all of the South is Vineyard Vines and Lilly Pulitzer, but it seems to be more so than Seattle. Interesting that you’ve met preppy Seattlites. I go to a private college preparatory school with a lot of kids from generally well-off families and I find that so many of my peers are still very much the Birkenstocks-and-indie/alternative-music-type. But I guess everyone has different experiences The feel I got from the Greek system overall at say, USC was much preppier than what I’m used to. You’re right on Eastern Washington being different and generally more conservative. My parents would probably die (not really of course) if I applied to WSU because they’re both HARDCORE UW Husky fans and saying someone “Coug-ed it” around here is not exactly a compliment. I appreciate your feedback:)
UF has an extremely low acceptance rate for out of state students - if you did somehow get lucky, it would be insanity not to choose it over all the others in your list. Academically it is in a different league as a seriously challenging university besides offering you all the other things you are looking for. I assume you applied for the IA program at UF given that you wish to study business?
UF’s OOS acceptance rate is around 42 to 43%, while instate rates are 48 to 49%.
UF is more “Florida” than it is southern. Gainesville is very much a college town. It has a large Greek system, but it’s not nearly as dominate as, say UA.
Good Luck!
Only 3-4% of UF students are OOS so how can their acceptance rate for OOS be that high? That is unless virtually no one applies to UF from OOS?
If you get accepted to UF you should go there. I went to Law School there and loved every minute of it. I would jog around the on-campus lake every day–even in “Winter.” Go GATORS! By the way, you said money was not an issue. However, one great aspect of going there several decades ago was that after the first semester as an oos student they let me be an in-state student. This policy may have changed–but it is worth exploring.
I was thinking “UA” through your entire first post . . . and then I hit your 2nd post and the scholarship issue.
I “get” wanting to leave the area where you grew up - did the same thing myself. In my case I couldn’t wait to leave the south (LOL). That being said, OOS tuition back in the 80’s was much cheaper. My parents could afford it too. Looking back, though, I wish my parents had prepared me better when it comes to looking at the numbers (bless them for paying for my UG though) and the big picture.
If this were your own money, would you spend it this way? What if you went in-state somewhere and they gave you the difference? Not saying they would do that, but it helps to think about it that way.
I also “get” wanting to leave the PNW, though I loved it out there when we visited in the summer (“summer” being the key word). I’m a sunshine person myself.
If you insist on coming south, and paying OOS freight, then imho UF is your best bet - and you’d be fortunate to get in there. UF is a top public university, and probably your best shot at recouping some of the OOS tuition dollars. Don’t get me wrong - UA is in our son’s “top two” and we love it, but I can’t in good conscience say that I would be willing to pay OOS $$ for UA. If we weren’t in Florida I wouldn’t do it for UF either. But that’s us.
Good luck and I hope you can find the perfect place for you!
You should give WSU a close look. To say WSU and Pullman are different from the UW and the Puget Sound region is a tremendous understatement. Campus life at WSU is probably the closest approximation of SEC Greek life you will get in the Pacific Northwest. Note that I said “approximation.” If you insist on heading to Dixie, I think your best bets are Tennessee and South Carolina.
Yes it has changed since then (I assume a while ago). http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/residency/qualifying.html
Every SEC state school has the qualities you are looking for. For me personally (got into Bama and UF) UF was higher on my radar because a UF degree is more highly respected in more places.
@khanam The vast majority of applications are from in-state students, in addition, OOS accepted students have a fairly low yield rate.
In 2014, UF had 28,655 applications, 13,072 admits (45.6% admit rate), and 6,514 enrolled (49.8% Yield)
In-state students, 21,298 applications, 10,369 admitted and 5,855 enrolled (56.5% Yield rate).
OOS students: only 5,486 applications, 2,332 admitted, and 569 enrolled (24.4% Yield rate).
UF only had 1,377 international students apply, with only 59 enrolling. (while UF has a relatively small number of international undergrad students, it has a significant population of international grad students).