Hi I just recently applied to U of Alabama and I was curious if there is a big population of northeast who attend the university. I am wondering because I’m am not sure if there would be much of a culture shock, I live in New York and recently there has been a surge in applicants towards the university at my school. I consider the university one of my top choices but I am not certain if I would be able to fit in if I’m out of state… is this the case?
You should visit if you can to see.
More than 50% of students are OOS
Definitely visit. We were just there and it was amazing, even on a Monday right after a big game weekend. Our tour had two different young women (who did not know each other) from Chicago.
My New Jersey born-and-raised husband loved it.
The only way to soak in the vibe, though, is to be there. IMHO.
65% of this Fall’s freshman class were from out of state! UA has become a true national university, and it has just started.
@roastthecorn I was just at the NY recruitment reception and judging by the attendance there, I would suspect that even more NY’ers will be heading South for college. You will not be alone. There is already a good size contingent of tri-stater’s already attending the university. Really, if you are open-minded and friendly, there will be next to no culture shock. However, I really would suggest a visit. You will not be disappointed!
Roll Tide!
The NYC chapter of the UA Alumni Association has over 5000 members.
My son is a senior from Long Island. The biggest culture shock is that the people are incredibly nice. A bit unnerving for a New Yorker, but you get used to it. Another big shock is the school spirit and passion for football. You just don’t find that in NY, a pro town where folks are largely indifferent to college sports. Down there, college football is a way of life.
roastthecorn: This URL from the UA website should be helpful: http://oira.ua.edu/d/webreports/enrollment2/Fall_2015/e10.html. Shows numbers of Fall 2015 students from the various states. Out of 32,000 undergrads: 497 from NY, 481 from NJ, 506 from PA, 452 from MD, etc. Go for a visit! Good luck in making your decision!
My daughter was raised in the Chicago area. It’s not the northeast, but I grew up in the northeast and frankly don’t see a whole lot of difference. She did not have any culture shock. She did notice when she visited that people in Tuscaloosa were very friendly and nice, and one of the first things she said when she decided on UA was that she was going to have to become nicer. The school has a geographically diverse student body, and my daughter has friends from all over. I’d recommend a visit, but I don’t think you’ll have any issues with culture shock.
Little to no shock.
Awesome thank you so much!
So happy to see this question as we were just discussing this. My son is really considering Alabama (although we haven’t visited yet), but he’s a Jew from NY (Westchester) & we were wondering if he’d be like a fish out of water
@LucieTheLakie you want to chime in about Jewish life at UA?
There is a tradition of The University of Alabama being welcoming to Jewish students. There has been an Bama Hillel since 1934.
Here is a link to their page:
http://hillel.ua.edu/faq/
Re Jewish life at UA, you can use the search engine to find lots of discussions about the subject.
Here are links to a couple comments I’ve made that may be helpful to @Codyjax:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18813900/#Comment_18813900
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18936985/#Comment_18936985
My Jew from Long Island fits right in
There are a few Jewish parents here on CC that hopefully will chime in, along with Chardo and LucietheLakie.
Bama has an active HIlliel and a new temple on campus. Who’d he be interested in participating in the Hillel?
Codyjax: Hope your family will visit…it’s quite a beautiful and impressive place! The UA employees and students that we meet on campus each time that we are there seem to consistently be warm, open, super friendly, polite, and welcoming! And as I’m sure you know by now, students come from all over the U.S. and beyond.
The only shock I felt when there, was that “boiled peanuts” is, apparently, a thing, and you can serve yourself up a (don’t even remember- bag? bowl? handful?) of them at the gas station nearest to campus. Oh, and the accent is hard not to fall in love with.
But otherwise, campus itself felt like many other campuses, north, south, east or west, though with perhaps a bit more sense of unity and school pride than I’ve seen at non-religious-affiliated northern campuses.