<p>Someone posted recently that his/her child decided against Rhodes (in Memphis) in part because of a "license plate check" that turned up cars from mostly surrounding states. (Even though I don't think this is a very reliable method of determining where students are from--I imagine the kids from California might well fly in--it is true that at Rhodes a good portion of students are from the south.) The poster said he/she feared "discrimination" (I think this is a direct quote, but perhaps I am remembering wrong). </p>
<p>Anyway, my question is, does anyone who has kids who have crossed the Mason-Dixon line (either way) for college think that there is a good reason to fear discrimination? We live in the south (what some consider the "deep" or "real" south) and son is considering some northern colleges. I have to admit that I have wondered what kinds of reactions he might encounter, but I have not feared real discrimination. But perhaps I am being naive. And Rhodes is also on his list, and I would like to think that if he ends up there he would encounter kids from many different backgrounds. Are many northern parents and their kids avoiding southern colleges because those schools are in the south?</p>
<p>I haven't sent a child across the Mason Dixon line to school but I am northerner working at a university in the south so, based on observation of my students, Northerners can happily go to school south of the M-D line. We have many kids from the northeast, mid-west, and the west, and as far as I know, they fit right in and are very happy despite the fact the majority of our students are from our state and the the surrounding states. I have no reason to think that southern kids can't go north just as happily.</p>
<p>Michagn resident here with a son at Duke. Now, some would argue that Duke is not a southern school, what with the strong representation from NY and NJ :)</p>
<p>Massachusetts family here. We sent our oldest to UGA and she loved it. We felt that she was a good ambassador to represent liberal Massachusetts. She is a real sweetheart and made many good friends down in Athens. In fact, she loved it so much, she decided to live down there after graduation.</p>
<p>NY daughters to W & M (Virginia, but no appreciable Southern feel, imo) and Vanderbilt (Tennessee). No discrimination there either way that my d has experienced - she's aware of certain cultural differences, but she appreciates them. No one's made her feel unwelcome - quite the contrary.</p>
<p>My daughter went to school in the South and graduated last year. It had not beenher first choice school but, ultimately, it could not have been a better choice. Academically and socially it was everything she had hoped for; there probably are regional cultural differences, but these were not negatives in her experience. Probably a lot depends on school and child and expectations. But a good school is a good school no matter where it is--and a license plate does not tell you much about a person (both my northern-born-and-raised children have cars with southern license plates).</p>
<p>I hesitate posting because I really don't want this to be a referendum on Rhodes...and I avoided the other thread for that reason.</p>
<p>My D attends Rhodes. Her best friend at school is from Cleveland. Her sorority sisters are from Maine, Pennysylvania and other points North. She is friends with girls from Long Island, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and California. I don't have exact numbers but after Tennessee a lot of kids are from Texas, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama - all sort of southern but very little in common with one another. </p>
<p>Many "national" schools are far more "in-state" (the California and New York schools come to mind). </p>
<p>Rather than concentrate on whether or not kids are from the south, she concentrated on finding a school where the vast majority of kids were from out of state. D wanted no part of a school where kids went home often (as she knew she couldn't). Rhodes was 77% OOS at the time she entered (I think this latest class is 73% OOS). No one goes home. I was told at a LAC we looked at in Indiana that "no one will be here on Mother's Day". She didn't bother to go the scholarship weekend.</p>
<p>The parking lot thing is a really bad metric, IMO. My D didn't have a car first year and I doubt the kids from back east and the west coast bring their vehicles. What would they do with them over breaks? Had my D attended school in California or New York she wouldn't have taken her car either. ;)</p>
<p>I know a couple of kids who have gone south to school from Maine and enjoyed it, and a couple who had issues. One decided to transfer out after a year, the other took a semester off and is going back this fall. Even the ones who stayed experienced a certain degree of culture shock, mostly around race issues--I know it annoys people to hear this, but hey, it's the truth with these particular kids--but they were able to deal with it.</p>
<p>My D went from southeastern PA to U. South Carolina for her freshman year. I don't think that there was any discrimination against Northerners, but it was a different culture from what she was used to. Cultures differ from region to region in the US, and this is something to consider in looking at schools.
The HS guidance office told us that most of the students who ended up transferring went from our HS to schools in the deep south (S. Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, etc).</p>
<p>Y'all just crack me up...what do you think we do to "yankees" here? Tie them up and force-feed them possum and grits? Wash it down with sweet tea? For heaven's sake, this is 2008...aren't we thought to be a bit more progressive than this?? </p>
<p>Many of us in GA (and the southeast) do keep our kids close to home for school, as we have a huge incentive to do so: our schools are very reasonable and the students earn HOPE scholarship (tuition and fees) for graduating w/ a 3.0. It's difficult to walk away from that. I sat by a dad at UGA orientation last year who would be paying nearly 3 times as much as I would for school! On the other hand, my second son chose a school in NY...where the primary winter hobby of the locals is watching the southerners learn to walk in snow! </p>
<p>Y'all come on down and visit...no one here will ask you to shovel the sidewalk in January! You'll get used to the humidity, too! = )</p>
<p>My S is an entering Freshman at Rhodes next month. We are from So Cal. I do not think we have the same perception as others on this thread. My son has now interacted with a number of other students and has not at all found this to be the case. I am just not sure where the impression came. Curmudgeon is also quite right about UC's having a disproportionate number of Cal residents - - - - BTW he is leaving his car at home for at least the first semester so there will be one more non-southern license plate missing from the parking lot, so I guess Curmudgeon gets it right again!</p>
<p>I have made it my personal mission in life to convince West Point to serve sweet tea to the cadets! Wish me luck! We can't even find it in a restaurant near the school! My poor baby...</p>
<p>I think it has a lot to do with whether the student has ever "been anywhere else". I am in SoCal now but having lived in Oklahoma for 30 years (15 of those being a travel agent), I was amazed at how many young people had never traveled further than about a 100 mile radius of where they were born. Weather can definately have a factor if one has "never seen snow"!!!! I find S. Cal kids, especially Orange County, CA kids to be a little unreasonable with what the rest of the U.S. and the world is all about. I have heard of several cases of OC kids going away to school and lasting 1 semester, because their was no beach, it was too cold, or too hot, their were no mountains to snowboard within an hours drive, etc,etc,. So, with that said, I would ask what your s or d is looking for in a college experience and if they are willing to adjust to different weather conditions. I would also assess each kid and know if they are prone to home sickness, as traveling home more than a couple of times a year if you go to school far away is often not possible due to school schedules and cost factors of travel. It is amazing to me to see how many posts their are on CC for kids on the East Coast that want to come to the West and the other way around. North to South, etc., etc. There are kids that would die to come to SoCal to school and our kids can't wait to get out of here. So, find out what it is they are looking for, expecting and research, research, research. Good luck to all. My s is one of those who is not even applying to any SoCal schools. Go figure!!!</p>
<p>Many of the posts on this thread tell of success of northerners going south; some of the schools located in the south have a high proportion of students from outside the region (e.g., Duke, Emory) and so the school culture is not so much a regional one. For a southerner going north, the schools that draw nationally may similarly be an easier adjustment; a school that only draws regionally will probably have more of the students of the type britbrat1961 mentions who have never "been anywhere else" and may have more anti-southern regional biases to overcome. Also, consider if the climate will matter to him; trying to think about how well he can adjust to long and cold winters needs to be part of his decision process. Especially if he is interested in larger schools, substantial walks among buildings may be necessary in what can be pretty brutal weather conditions.</p>
<p>Weather can be an issue, especially for southern kids going north. But most adjust and many embrace it.</p>
<p>When I was at Northwestern a friend's son from Phoenix was considering it for college. They stayed with me when they did their campus visit. Having lived in Phoenix myself, I knew it could be a huge adjustment getting used to the cold, blustery, right-on-the lake Evanston winters. I talked to the son about it. He told me he hated the heat and was looking forward to winter. I didn't think he understood what winter really meant.</p>
<p>Anyway, he came to Northwestern. And loved it. Loved the winters. And 15 or so years later he's still living in Chicago!</p>
<p>Another Northeastern boy at a southern school..New York to U South CArolina.S will be a junior this year. A more conservative atmosphere than other campuses but a kid with an open mind who embraces all choices can adapt.Faculty are from all over.The new college president is a New Yorker.
S's three best friends are all native S carolinians.For some kids he meets, he is the first "yankee" they've ever had contact with, the first New Yorker and for many the first Jew (or at least..half jew).But no problems, he loves it there.Has come to crave biscuits and gravy,grits and pulled pork. Has not developed the sweet tea habit.
Has taken up shag dancing .Loves SEC football.There are certain satorial habits on campus he doesnt understand..like "croakies",plaid bermuda shorts, bowties,etc. But I guess every college has its own clothes fetishes!!</p>
<p>Croakies keep your sunglasses in place. I told my W&L student that croakies reminded me of the eyeglass cords that the little old lady librarians always had when I was growing up.</p>
<p>We are military but have been assigned only once in the South. We live in Northern VA which unfortunately is not southern at all. My kid loves the southern charm of W&L and the town of Lexington despite her Northern upbringing.</p>