I’m a 2016 hs graduate who is considering Ole Miss. One of my concerns is being an out of state student from the north. I What is it like for out of state students at Ole Miss? Are they treated differently?
Have you visited the campus yet? Our son visited a couple of weeks ago and liked it pretty well. Not necessarily his first choice, but he said he’d be happy going there. He grew up outside DC and is liberal politically. I’d say that if a generally conservative student body would bug you, it’s probably better to look elsewhere. I’m sure you would be able to find like minded people, but that’s not enough for everyone.
@2016ohiohsgrad Ole Miss now draws a substantial number of its students from out of state. In fact, for the last two years a majority of the freshman class has been from out of state. A lot of (sometimes quite talented) Mississippi students attend Jr. College for their first year or two and then transfer to Ole Miss, so the campus as a whole is still majority Mississippians. A few Greek houses are overwhelmingly made up of Mississippians and Mid-Southerners, but the rest get members from all over.
No question Ole Miss is a Southern school, and someone from Alabama or Texas is going to blend in more easily than someone from Ohio. But there are students from all over, and many of them fit in just fine. The best advice is what mstomper said. Visit. Some people immediately fall in love with the place and others don’t care for it. If you really like Ole Miss chances are Ole Miss will like you back.
My Ohio son blended in very well; pledged a house and never wanted to come home! Headed back in 3 weeks for sophomore year.
I know i’m relatively late to this, but I am in the exact same boat as you. Applying for Fall '16, and i’m from Pennsylvania. I visited this past July and most of the people I talked to seemed very welcoming.
My son is from California and we loved it there when we went for a campus visit and later for orientation. The Mississippi-based students were extremely friendly and polite, and were a big help to my son.