Wondering if anyone can share their experiences as a northerner going to school in Clemson. My son is from NY and is wondering if there are any unexpected cultural hurdles that he may face.
@a_masters16 my son is from NJ and will be attending Clemson in September. He was accepted to the business school. Whatabout your son?
I don’t go to school at Clemson, but I am originally from NJ, and moved to an area near Clemson several years ago. I will say that there is a difference in the communities of South Carolina. It is more religious and that can be an adjustment. However, there are all sorts of different types of people to hang out with. The number of in-state students that were not born in South Carolina is pretty large. I know someone that went to Clemson from PA, and had a very positive experience. She said that she did not struggle culturally at all.
Thanks for the feedback!
@mweb136, my son was accepted into the Pre-Health studies program with an undeclared major. He is thinking med school, but who really knows. Has narrowed down his decision to Clemson and Maryland. Pros and cons for both, but I think his heart is in Clemson and he is just looking for reassurance that he is making the right decision.
My son is a second semester freshman, from Bucks County Pennsylvania, majoring in economics and political science. He initially had similar concerns. After being down there for a semester and a half he absolutely loves it. He has encountered no “anti northerner” sentiment. As a previous poster pointed out religion seems to play a more prominent role in everyday life down at Clemson, and my son is not particularly religious, but its not something that makes him uncomfortable at all. We’ve been down there several times and the one thing you will have to get used to is extreme politeness, which is wonderful. Very friendly and polite people virtually everywhere you go. The pace can be a little more “relaxed” that what we northerners are used to but it was a great change of pace. We grew up in NY prior to moving to Bucks County, PA.
To sum up, my son loves it. If you end up taking a trip down, make sure you visit the city of Greenville, SC (35 or so minutes from campus). Great city with wonderful people.
Hope this helps.
Yes, thank you for the response. This is very helpful! Appreciate the perspective.
yes- there will be some cultural differences… as a northerner, he should know that when you order tea
in the south, it will be cold and sweet.
I went to Texas, from NY, for grad school and loved it. I think it’s time for northerners to stop being afraid/intimidated by the south/southerners. Y’all are more alike than different.
Congrats on your son’s acceptance into Clemson. You should know that about 32% of undergrads are OOS, so it’s not as low as a lot of other public universities. I’d expect your son to meet lots of out of states, and I saw a map somewhere on Clemson’s website that most are actually from the northeast are. As others have posted, church and politeness is huge down here, more so in the SC bible belt (I-85 corridor). Good luck to your son on which ever university he decides on, as I’m such both are great places to attend.
FromNJ, I immediately noticed the lack of diversity on campus compared to NJ and other schools we visited.
Clemson is a solid school with a beautiful campus. Don’t worry about cultural differences unless you keep ordering a hoagie for lunch.
stop watching CNN + MSNBC
I hear that if you watch CNN and MSNBC you score higher than 30 on the ACT.
Which is almost as high as you’d score by thinking for yourself, and reading instead of watching TV.