<p>Any experience or thoughts on the subject?</p>
<p>DS is a thoughtful, loyal, and sensitive kid who takes things at face value. Attending a safe, happy, friendly and helpful place is very important. </p>
<p>I have a feeling that a midwestern culture would be a good one for him.</p>
<p>Thx</p>
<p>What schools did you have in mind? </p>
<p>Weather might be his biggest obstacle. It’s cold here.</p>
<p>My DS is like your child although I would be hesitant to use the term “geek” with him. He goes to Ohio State and loves it. We are from So Cal. He finds Midwesterners very friendly and kind to him. He has made a ton of friends and is very active in college in lots of campus activities including being in a fraternity. It has been an experience different from his high school social life and very positive. He tells me he relates to the people from the midwest better. When he decided to go to school in Ohio we never thought of that issue but it has been a great result.</p>
<p>As far as weather it has not been a big issue for my DS. He still wears his shorts even in a blizzard and his friends have had to teach him how to drive and dress in the snow. He loves the change of seasons since he grew up five minutes from the beach here in So Cal. He says our weather will always been here for him when he returns but that it is “fun” finally seeing some weather. Of course last spring break his brothers had some fun with him when there was a tornado warning. </p>
<p>Another girl from our area who also goes to Ohio State has reported the same experience.</p>
<p>Good Luck and I hope your DS enjoys Ohio.</p>
<p>Thank you …!</p>
<p>DS was given a great scholarship to Miami and wanted to get another opinion about the cultural transition. </p>
<p>Geek is a badge of honor for my son … :-}</p>
<p>The culture isn’t that different. People say Midwesterners are friendly, helpful, direct, honest. (Some people call that “boring” 
)
Miami is SO beautiful in the fall. Your S will love to see the change of seasons in Oxford.</p>
<p>BTW, Miami is also known for its preppy/Greek culture, so there may be that to adjust to-- in addition to “Midwesterness.”</p>
<p>My D is at Oberlin and I have another friend’ with a kid at Ohio University. Both doing fine. If your kid likes to stay up late, then the time change shouldn’t bother you. Another plus: flying through O’Hare in the winter will teach your kid travel skills that will last a lifetime.</p>
<p>We do Southwest through PHNX or LV and we avoid Chicago at all costs. </p>
<p>Congrats to the scholarship to Miami. </p>
<p>There are a couple of things I have to do for the adjustment. I have to greet him at the airport with a California burrito. I also use the “click n-ship” priority mail function of the USPS and send him back a box of California fruit once a month-mangos etc. I must confess I don’t answer the question “are there are perishables inside” when asked. It now has gotten that I have to send my nieces those fruit boxes too and they are not even from So Cal!!</p>
<p>Great … Love the suggestions. We’ll see!</p>
<p>We do the reverse. There is a bakery near D’s school that is to die for. (I do believe Ohio has better baked goods than NoCal.) She knows she can’t come home without a box of whole wheat donuts.</p>
<p>Jeff Foxworthy’s take on Ohio.</p>
<p>If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May…
you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t
work there,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a
wrong number,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once,…you
may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you have switched from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back
again,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard
without flinching,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both
unlocked,… you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you carry jumpers in your car, and your wife knows how to use
them,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a
snowsuit,…you may live in Ohio. ( i’ve seen these kids come to my house for treats.)</p>
<p>If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph – you’re going 80 and
everybody is passing you,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with
snow,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road
construction,…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car,…you may
live in Ohio.</p>
<p>If you find 10 degrees “a little chilly”,… you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>Midwestdad- that is priceless!</p>
<p>I would add one of my own:</p>
<p>If you start wearing shorts as soon as the temperature is above 32 degrees…you may live in Ohio.</p>
<p>I am from the east, H is from the south. I have lived in the east, south, midwest, and now mountain. I have worked in the all the areas. D’s went to school in the west coast and midwest. I feel the easiest area to adjust coming from anywhere is the midwest. I chose my post grad training in the midwest because I thought they would be kind to me. It was a wise choice.</p>
<p>I grew up in the Midwest, then lived and raised my child in Berkeley. We had to move him back to the Midwest just before high school. It was still a huge culture shock for him and my East Coast/West Coast DH. </p>
<p>In CA, it never crossed my mind to ask about someone’s religion. Here in the Midwest, it will come up in casual conversation, as people will ask where you go to church. They are often social centers and a way to find common friends. If you are not Christian it can lead to more questions (including some rather rude ones).</p>
<p>Also, a liberal in CA is not the same as a liberal in the Midwest. There are significant differences in ideology that comes from living in a rural, homogeneous environment. DS has learned a lot coming of age here. </p>
<p>Finally, people are friendly, but that need not be mistaken for friends. True friends can be found in any part of the country and just because the guy next door lets you borrow his garden hose, it doesn’t mean that he likes or respects you and your values. </p>
<p>I do think living in a different area has great potential for growth, if only to help you figure out what you value in a place to live.</p>
<p>Ahh interesting Mizzbee.I had the religious questions in the south which were very uncomfortable. I did not have that in the midwest. i wonder if it made a difference what size city it was in the midwest. Both times we lived there it was St. Louis and Kansas City. I agree that liberal even in west coast is different than the east. I would think that in a college setting it would help if there was a diversity of students and from different areas to help with the cultural adjustment. MQD, when you said Miami did you mean the college in Ohio?</p>
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<p>This is NOT true. Highway Patrol are out in full force here. (As a matter of fact, my husband was pulled over last night.) Thought I better warn anyone who’s coming to visit schools.</p>
<p>We’re #2 on this list.</p>
<p>[Watch</a> Your Wallet When Driving Through These 10 States](<a href=“http://www.motorists.org/press/watch-your-wallet-in-these-10-states]Watch”>Watch Your Wallet When Driving Through These 10 States - National Motorists Association)</p>
<p>MQD, Miami of Ohio is definitely a college I would make a point of visiting a time or two, to be sure your child is a fit. Great school, beautiful campus, great alumni network, lots of stuff going on but we felt it had a very distinct personality when we visited. We stayed at night at the Miami Inn on campus. DD and I split up for about 1.5 hours and wandered about campus after the tour. I sat in hallways and coffee houses to watch/listen. Yup, even struck up conversations with totally random students walking across campus. Classmates of hers have attended and loved it. At the end, DD didn’t feel like she would fit at all on campus. Bottom line: It is important to visit any campus but especially Miami of Ohio. It has a feel all its own.</p>
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<p>As a corollary, a liberal in Berkeley is not the same as a liberal elsewhere in California. :)</p>
<p>Thx all. We plan to visit Miami of Ohio in April. MUO is a bit of a wild card considering the other schools he is considering. The other schools he was accepted into for gaming/interactive media are Rensselaer, Rochester (RIT) and UCSC. </p>
<p>DS is very impressed with the growing MUO program for its entrepreneurial approach and their SF Innovation Campus they started Spring 2012. We met the director in SF and found him to be quite open, interesting and certainly a thought leader on campus. He was another geek as well! The meeting was successful.</p>
<p>The “Midwest” is too large for generalizations. There is a tendency for some East- and West-Coast folks to view Midwesterners as less-sophisticated bumpkins. All the same amenities can be found here in the Midwest too, just depending where you look. Midwest rural towns may have few “city amenities”, but espresso machines are there too. “Big city life” is fairly consistent with any other large city on either coast. If you’re seeking a “liberal setting” then there are plenty of Midwest LACs that will provide the complete liberal LGBT-friendly environment. But Miami, given its preppy Greek mileu, is a less likely fit, and has been described by some as a “J. Crew” environment.</p>
<p>How about Oberlin? Grinnell? Kenyon? Beloit? Earlham?</p>