<p>My S was admitted to U Alabama (in five days), loves the university and is seriously considering attending. I’m concerned about the cultural differences between NE students and Southern students, and whether NE students are treated differently by the student body. Is this a legitimate concern? Any input from NE students or parents would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Yankees go home!</p>
<p>LOL Just kidding!!!</p>
<p>Welcome!!</p>
<p>Bama students welcome students from EVERYWHERE. And Bama students ARE from everywhere…all 50 states! Including Alaska and Hawai’i</p>
<p>hopefully, some of our NE parents will chime in here!</p>
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<p>Understandable? Of course. Legitimate? Thankfully, no.</p>
<p>You’ll be hard pressed to find a campus more friendly and welcoming than UA. My son is a senior from Hawaii. He’s had the most phenomenal college experience, and uses the term “zero culture shock” to describe his adaptation to Bama.</p>
<p>Just come on down for an Honors College visit and watch that furrowed brow of yours turn into a non-stop grin within hours of your arrival. We too were in your place once upon a time. :)</p>
<p>Having lived in the northeast and in Texas, I can tell you that your son will be SO pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of southerners. I would be MUCH more concerned about a kid from Alabama attending school in Massachusetts! Now THAT would be a culture shock (I know, because it was hard for me to move north when I was 24).</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16847046-post26.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16847046-post26.html</a></p>
<p>No culture shock at all, unless you don’t like very friendly, happy folks 
Seriously, we are from the NE and the University of Alabama is a terrific place for students (and their parents).</p>
<p>If you read the threads posted you will see I had same questions. Fast forward, son is loving the school, doing very well academically and socially, and hasn’t a single regret.</p>
<p>The most likely issue is that your child will never want to leave after graduation.</p>
<p>Would agree with most however many of Alabama kids stack kind of in cliques. But the school is 51% out state so now reel issues.</p>
<p>My way-out-of-state son has plenty of friends who hail from Alabama. The first kid who befriended him is from Birmingham and they remain BFFs to this day. Additionally, his girlfriend is from Alabama. </p>
<p>No issues with Alabama cliques here.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the informative replies. I’ve been to Alabama twice - Birmingham and Montgomery - but no other member of my extended family has ever been anywhere near Alabama (except Florida). Thus, the reaction of my S’s family (but not me), is not positive. We all went to NE schools - U Penn, BC, BU and Trinity (CT). I don’t think they realize what a great school UA is. The good news is that my S will make his own decision and he really like the university.</p>
<p>Kudos to your son for being open-minded and being an independent thinker. It is certainly true that many in the NE do not even consider colleges in the South and that is a shame.</p>
<p>People in the northeast consider themselves open-minded, but I have found that the majority aren’t when it comes to Texas or the south. It’s their loss!</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with your overall point. There are many great colleges in the south that NE students don’t consider for cultural and travel reasons. My S is more open-minded. He has spent summers in Russia (his mother is Russian) and speaks fluent Russian. He does not want to go to a school in NE. He researched schools in the south on his own and decided UA was a great school.</p>
<p>Personally I’ve seen it as more of a financial thing, and I’m surprised to hear people saying kids from the NE don’t consider southern colleges. The schools near me in NC are chock full of kids from the NorthEast. While people in NC consider NC privates way too expensive (because the public schools are so good and relatively affordable) kids from states like MA (where I’m originally from) flock to Southern privates because they’re so much cheaper than privates in the NE, and states like MA are not known for strong public universities (they’d come to NC publics in higher numbers if they could, but there’s a cap on OOS students). On the other hand, kids from southern states don’t look at schools up North because they cost SO MUCH more than the strong public schools in southern states. When we visited schools in New England, we were seen as a real oddity. That said, there are significant cultural differences between northern and southern states, but a typical college campus is large enough that anyone can find a group they fit in with, even if the overall culture of the state is very different. I have to say the most difficult thing for D so far going to school in the North is realizing that they won’t be bringing TVs into classes so everyone can watch the ACC tournament - in NC that’s practically a religion!</p>
<p>Interesting points. While my son wants to get out of the south for grad school, he has not even looked at any schools in the Northeast. Like you pointed out, those are not only more expensive schools, but seem so unattainable, ie, academic reaches. Now, he has lots of friends who are at Jesuit colleges like Georgetown and Fordham, but they feel “safe” because they’re Jesuit schools. UVA is probably the most northeast and reach school our high school graduates attend.</p>
<p>That is such a spot-on description of ACC basketball tournament time in North Carolina! What I love about having kids at Alabama is that now I can yell Roll Tide during football season and Go Heels during basketball season (although they are kind of frustrating this season!).</p>
<p>Hearing from D today anticipating heavy snow, I think it’s also easier to convince kids to go from a cold climate to a warm than vice versa… My little southern flower is not quite ready for heavy snow!</p>