<p>The “something more” for my son would be the Chinese Language Flagship Program. He speaks a little Mandarin and is determined to learn a lot more in college while he majors in a science or technical field. The Flagship program is the most in-depth I’ve read about at any school regardless of rank or quality. If it’s as good as the promotional materials make it sound, this alone could be enough to make it the place for my son. However, he would have to overcome a few things that are counter to what he says he wants: racial diversity, a relatively large town (or proximity to one), and a large student body (Ole Miss is on the small side of what he would prefer).</p>
<p>To answer an earlier question, we are lifelong Northerners who have lived in the South, but not long enough to feel completely at home there. And mom2collegekids is right! They acknowledge the dog first, then the owner. Kind of charming, if you ask me.</p>
<p>I don’t know pizzagirl, I enjoyed the environment of the colleges I visited in the northeast and the students were great, but I worry I may be a tad too open and wave at dogs. :-)</p>
<p>I would imagine the same things that would concern northeastern kids coming to the south - different accents, different religious backgrounds, different political views, different clothing styles, etc.</p>
<p>And as 2010emily said - with the big smile on my face, my laid back personality, and my ability to (as my boys say) “talk to and make friends with a tree” - I would probably feel very out of place!</p>
<p>Then - there’s the whole hugging and kissing everybody all the time thing! I don’t think that would go over so well!!! :)</p>
<p>As a lifelong Northeasterner coming to the Southeast for a relo, I thought all of this SEC talk was the Securities and Exchange Commission at first when we got here.haha! Now I get that if you want to participate you need to be able to talk fluently in Sports!</p>
<p>You’re right … as a Northerner, it makes perfect sense to me! It IS acceptable to say hi to someone walking a dog because a dog is an icebreaker, but otherwise, did I say I wanted to talk to you?! LOL.</p>
<p>I know absolutely nothing about Chinese language programs, so I’m asking out of ignorance, but Mississippi seems like an odd place to have such a program, when there is little Asian population there, it’s not a big trading area with the Far East, etc. Would there perhaps be more real-life experience in a school that actually had a significant number of Chinese students attending and/or was on the West Coast and potentially attracted more internationals?</p>
<p>^^^
That’s okay dke! When I went to work after college and was suddenly in among a bunch of people from the NE, I was really confused to hear everyone talking about having gone to “U-Conn.” I thought they were talking about “Yukon”…and I couldn’t figure out why all these folks had gone to school in Canada!!!</p>
<p>I don’t know about Ole Miss’s language program, but I know several people who strongly considered the school’s Croft Institute for International Studies. There were 3 families in particular (all of whom had spend many years living overseas) and they were quite impressed with it.</p>
<p>dke- I’m with you on that one! As corporate counsel in a southeast city, I STILL have to stop and think about whether the topic is the Securities and Exchange Commission or sports! I have become a huge SEC sports fan- and not so big on the govt agency these days…</p>
<p>Grcxx3: Not really relating to this thread, but when I came home from college and told Dad that I had an Econ Test, he asked what kind of contest is an e-contest (prior to 1985, so before e-mail, i-pod and e-everything else.)</p>
<p>MS: Good luck in your search. You are casting a wide net in hopes of really helping your son.</p>
<p>“Would there perhaps be more real-life experience in a school that actually had a significant number of Chinese students attending and/or was on the West Coast and potentially attracted more internationals?”</p>
<p>I’ve always been a little surprised about the number of internationals that you see at the SEC schools and wondered how they got there and why the south. Someone once explained to me that many internationals, particularly for grad school, choose the publics in the south because the out of state tuition tends to be much less than it would be in other parts of the country.</p>
<p>I also took a look at the Chinese Language Flagship Program info at Ole Miss just out of curiousity and found it impressive. I’d be curious to know how many kids enter the program each year and how many make it all the way through the program since you have to reach a certain level of proficiency before you’re allowed to enter the 5th year program in China.</p>
<p>Just a funny note on the differences between kids from the south and kids from the north…when DD was a high school junior, she and another girl were chosen to attend a leadership type event in Boston. I’m not sure why, but most of the kids at the event were from the NE; the two girls were the only ones from the South. Both girls are just generally happy, friendly kids and both have really big smiles, and smile alot. They came home laughing telling us how the kids from the NE asked them if everyone in the south smiled as much as they did, because people didn’t smile that much where they lived. One boy was from a rural area of Vermont and said he had never met anyone from the South before. Great learning experience all around.</p>
<p>It would seem that the lack of Chinese people in Oxford, Mississippi, is offset somewhat by two summers, a semester of study, and semester-long internship in China.</p>
<p>Thank you! The net is getting wider the closer we get to the reality of actually having to pick a school. I guess you could say I’m panicking. Safeties are big on my mind, and it’s hard to ignore the amount of money Southern schools are throwing at good students these days.</p>
<p>The funny thing is that the Chinese Flagship program sounds so worldly and mind-opening compared to what I’ve heard about the rest of Ole Miss and Oxford. It makes me very curious what a campus visit will be like. Is it wise to attend a school with one wonderful program that fits your needs completely, if the rest of the school isn’t a good fit? I really don’t know.</p>
<p>mantori.suzuki, the campus visit will give you a better feel for fit; just make sure you go when classes are in session so students will be on campus. The campus visits caused complete flip flops in my daughter’s choices. </p>
<p>There’s currently another thread talking about quality programs at lesser known schools and this may be the case with the Chinese Flagship program at Ole Miss. One suggestion would be ask for the names of current students in the program who would be willing to answer questions, perhaps via email, about their experiences both within the program and adjusting to campus life. </p>
<p>Good luck to your family with your search! I know how badly we as parents want our children to be happy.</p>
<p>I think that’s the crux of your question - the program does sound very good, but it feels out of context. Maybe it’s not. I don’t know. Just do keep in mind that your son will be doing more than studying – he’ll be socializing too, and is the very conservative Southern atmosphere one that he will feel comfortable in?</p>
<p>Please do not confuse “very conservative Southern atmosphere” with close-minded. Pizzagirl, I’m not saying that is what you are doing, just don’t want others to make that leap.</p>