Out of stater considering going to carolina-HELP!! will i fit?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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<p>Got into Carolina!!!!!!-political science. I have lots of questions about if i will fit in or not. If i come off as arrogant or mean, please bear with me as i assure you i am not doing it intentionally, and apolligize in advance. Thanks!</p>

<p>I went to a extremely pretentious new england boarding school and played lacrosse and did rowing, so i am that "type." I am from a boston suburb. Asian Male. I LOVE southern culture from the food to the hospitality. I am totally the "yes mam, no sir" type. </p>

<p>here are my questions:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Is there a large prep school crowd there? (exeter, deerfield type) I want to meet new people, but i was hoping to also find my little home that im comfortable in</p></li>
<li><p>How is the diversity? Is it mostly public school NC kids from middle class? From boarding scshool, most of my friends were very very wealthy legacies </p></li>
<li><p>How is the dress style there? I absolutely LOVE the southern preppy scene, embroidered vineyard vines khakis, bow ties etc.....my wardrobe is all pastels (again sorry to be stereo typical but that was my environment....)</p></li>
<li><p>are there many "formals?" like southern balls or something? Id love to experience that type of party scene.....tux/tie and dresses for the ladies.</p></li>
<li><p>the size is what most concerns me.... will i be able to have my own group of friends? or is it just a chaotic sea of people??</p></li>
<li><p>how are out of state prep school kids looked upon? is there reverse snobbery? i know at some state schools people HATE prep school kids because they automatically assume they are snobby.</p></li>
<li><p>Can out of state kids get into decent frats? or are they all reserved for the varsity athletes basically? (i am not going to be playing lacrosse or rowing)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this post!! I truly appreciate any help /contribution you can give me :)</p>

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<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to Carolina. Before I answer all of your questions, I was going to ask you if you went to Phillip Exeter, LOL, after I saw the description of your school and your location… but you made a reference to it, so I’m guessing you did.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I am not too sure about the percentage of Northeastern prep school kids, but there is a fair share of students from private and preparatory schools (not sure about boarding) across the United States. I am from Florida and went to a top public school, but there were quite a few students from surrounding and well-known private schools in my area (Saint Andrews, Pine Crest, North Broward, Gulliver, University School of NSU, etc.) and a large percentage of students from private schools in N.C. (Cary Academy, Carolina Friends School, Providence Day School, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte Latin, etc.). Though since Carolina is a public-school, there is a large distribution of students when socio-economic status is taking into account. So you could easily find individuals who come from very privileged backgrounds to ones on financial aid who are from working and middle-class backgrounds. And sometimes it is hard to tell the golden boys and girls from the middle-class ones, stereotypes do not follow at Carolina or anywhere for that matter. </p></li>
<li><p>I think I pretty much covered this in the first responses. But as I stated, UNC is a top, public-school so it attracts students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Not to be biased or hate on Duke, because I definitely respect Duke a lot and want to go to Fuqua. Though, there is a lot more legacies from America’s wealthiest families located on that campus.</p></li>
<li><p>While I would like to say that the Southern fratty is the main choice of clothing, it is definitely not the only one. Though there are plenty of Sperry Top Siders, croakies, Vineyard Vines wearing fraternity and non-fraternity individuals. The dress is preppy, casual but you see plenty of casual,less ‘waspy’ wardrobes as well. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes!! If you want that kind of social scene, Carolina definitely has it. I was in a fraternity and we went to events such as ‘Carolina Cup’ (look it up), which is probably the most frattiest event. Walking from class and passed Fraternity Quad, you will see frat boys sitting on their benches, throwing footballs, grilling food, canuddling with girls in sun dresses in the spring time. A lot of fraternities go to many cool places for formals such as Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks, etc. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>5.You can definitely have one core group of friends or migrate between different crowds, it’s what you want. I actually liked having different groups of friends and acquaintances that I fluctuated among, in order to have the best social experience and learn the most in college. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Not really to be honest. I would have to say there are plenty of instate who are not to be stereotypical and/ or derogatory but your typical waspy, Southern gentleman who dress in pastels and blast their country music on their lawns outside of their fraternity houses. It’s not really like that at all in South, schools such as USC, UNC, UGA and others cater to that Southern and fratty culture. Though I could see how your point rings true at large publics in the Northeast like Delaware, Penn State, Maryland, etc… though they do not understand Southern culture, so you can’t really blame them.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, I think it all depends on your image and personality when it comes to fraternities. Definitely not just reserved for jocks and rowers… though I’ll be honest some of the better fraternities are a bit racists and prejudice. I’m Jewish and some of them do not bid Jews and I think you’re Asian, and there are a few that don’t bid Asians. But who wants to be in those strictly-white breaded fraternities. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I really hope all of these responses help. Sorry for the grammatical errors, I don’t typically care to double-check my spelling and use of punctuation/ flow when I write on a forum. I did that enough for academic papers.</p>

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<p>wow! thanks so much…much appreciated. </p>

<p>How is the social scene? is it mostly hookups? as a guy, i definitly wouldnt mind that but id still like the opportunity to maybe get a real GF for once ;D</p>

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<p>Since Carolina has way more girls than guys (60/40), it is definitely a large hookup scene. With that being said, if you want a relationship, you can definitely find one if you look in the right places and not in bars/ fraternity parties.</p>

<p>And given those statistics, there is a lot of cattiness between girls and girls are willing to do a lot to get noticed, it is quite sad sometimes.</p>

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<p>Ahh thanks for the additional infor bruins!!! Boston fan i presume? If parties are for finding hookups where do you recommend for actual relationships o.O?</p>

<p>Also, if anyone has any perspective/information about how a OOS prep school kid would fit into a HUGE school like carolina let me know!</p>

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<p>No problems. Actually, I moved to Boston after I graduated UNC, but this user name was created back in high school. The whole Bruins reference was when I wanted to go to UCLA and was obsessed with the BRUINS. </p>

<p>I suggest you find an actual relationship through classes, clubs, and dormitories. If you want a relationship, you want it to be with someone your compatible with, so that means someone who shares similar interests and values. Maybe join Asian Club? There is a pretty decent sized Asian population, though maybe you’re not looking for an Asian girl. In that case, take my other suggestions.</p>

<p>I have friends who went to OOS private/ prep school but in South Florida like Saint Andrews, Pine Crest, North Broward Preparatory School, etc., would you like me to find out for you how they felt/ were treated? Honestly, I think you’ll fit in fine. UNC has a very open-minded student body, so it shouldn’t be an issue (getting along with other students as well as your prep. school graduates).</p>

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<p>I feel like im the carolina…“type”. Im asian but im also a tri-varsity prep school ISL athlete with the “whitest” sports imaginable…crew etc. and all my friends from school are white. I am really freaking excited… i just need suggestions, ideas, etc!</p>

<p>again, thanks so much for the insight :D</p>

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<p>Considering the type of atmosphere you’re looking for, I’m surprised you applied to UNC. Why not UVa, Duke, Wake, W&L or Sewanee? They’re all academic peers of UNC and are more in-tune with what you are looking for.</p>

<p>Culturally, UNC is probably the most progressive university south of the Mason-Dixon Line (save New College of Florida). You’re more likely to run into hipsters, writers/artists, activists…cerebral types, than, say, Southern-Bells in sun-dresses or guys wearing bow-ties and loafers. These type of people do exist (and, yes, many of them are cerebral also :slight_smile: ), but they are the minority.</p>

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<p>Babytitain,</p>

<p>I do not now what university you go to. I’m not trying to be rude either, but UNC-Chapel is not too far behind than UVA. While you do speak of Carolina being this huge liberal and individualistic place, it is not some small liberal art college. In fact, a lot of my minority friends always felt that Carolina was overwhelmingly WHITE! Depending on your major, your classes could in deed full of all white people, especially the Kenan Flagler School of Business is heavily concentrated with Caucasians (many of whom are fraternity members). </p>

<p>I think you’ll fit right in and not have a problem, don’t listen to closely to BabyTitain. While hipsters and others exist, Carolina is a large school and they are definitely not the majority. That’s the beauty of Carolina, there is room for everyone in the student body and that’s what Carolina tries to build, a student body of all types of people.</p>

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<p>I think the thing is that Carolina is fairly segregated along social lines. If you hang out with hipsters, it might look as if everyone is a hipster. Hang out with fraternities, and it looks like everyone is in a fraternity.</p>

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<p>Would you say males and females from OOS fit in at UNC? Or is it an ole southern club? I heard horror stories about girls from California and Texas going through sorority rush at Clemson. I’m guessing UNC is a bit more progressive and sophisticated than Clemson though.</p>

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<p>Yes, it depends on more of the individual than the state one represents when it comes to rush and pledge for fraternities and sororities. As far as fitting in on campus goes, like I said before, Carolina is a large, public university that attracts a multitude of students from all different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. Anyone should be able to find their niche. Of course people stereotype UNC as being Southern and white, but it is far more than that. I think the person who spoke about segregation hit it right on target. People get consumed in their lives and their friends network that they forget how expansive the student body is.</p>

<p>Also I should mention that certain schools and major are more diverse than others. For example, Kenan Flagler does have a large percentage of your white Southern belles and Southern gentleman. In CAS, especially in social sciences, you will share classes with a diverse group of kids. That’s what I liked most about my major and the courses. Being in a classroom with people from all different backgrounds, everyone had something different to bring to the table and made learning more fun and challenging at times (because people’s views don’t match up and are challenged at the academic level).</p>

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<p>I think it is important to remember that North Carolina has seen a significant in-flux of OOS families (especially from the northeast). North Carolina has long been attractive to young couples and retirees looking for a lower cost of living. Additionally North Carolina has a number of aggressive, targeted, performance-based incentive programs that complement the state’s competitive cost structure and low business tax burden that serves to attract OOS businesses (and their associated employees) looking to relocate or expand. </p>

<p>This is not the “deep old south” environment you might think it is… many of the ISS students at UNC come from 1st generation North Carolina families.</p>

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<p>Just wanted to let you know North Carolina is a battleground state, not the “south” that you may be looking for. Anything from South Carolina and south is considered the “south”.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Absolute nonsense. Maryland and Northern Virginia are the border. Anything south of Northern Virginia is definitely ‘the south’.</p>

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<p>Okay instead of using this as a battleground and making a mockery of the OPs post, how about we stop arguing what is considered the South. If you want a whole counter argument, I live on the Southern tip of Florida and it might be geographically South but definitely not culturally South. </p>

<p>The point is, although UNC-Chapel Hill and other schools have these stereotypes and conjured images, it is a large public, research university and a fine one at that. It attracts a conglomeration of students, who come from all different backgrounds. The state of North Carolina is culturally diverse; you have your Southerners in rural areas and your relocated Yankees (Cary’s nickname has a lot to do with the amount of Northerners that have made it their permanent home in recent years) in Cary, Charlotte, parts of Raleigh-Durham and other more suburban and urban areas. </p>

<p>Wherever you go to school, unless it’s some small liberal arts college, you are going to have a whole lot of diversity (mainly large publics) because that is what a CLASS is. When admission officers are trying to build a class, they use a large list of criteria in order to attract and develop a class of different individuals. (Courtesy of SOCI427 at UNC-Chapel Hill). Maybe you should look into taking it so you can understand that all of your stereotypes and generalizations are not a valid representation of the UNC student body.</p>

<p>choatecolate, as far as I’m concerned, you could ‘fit into’ any mid-large size university, because there are going to be other students like you. It’s all about how you scout your friends. Personally, I think you would love UNC-Chapel Hill because it will give you the chance to befriend those who you are most comfortable with and grew up with, but will allow you to reach outside of your comfort zone and interact and learn about other types of people. You’d be able to do this at UVA too, basically any large public will suit you fine.</p>

<p>Unless you want to segregate yourself to hangout with only preparatory school kids, then you might want to focus on more prestigious (in the sense of cultural reputation) and aim for schools like Duke, Stanford, Brown, Columbia and Dartmouth.</p>

<p>It really all depends on how you want to circumnavigate your college experience.</p>

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<p>What is Kenan Flagler?</p>

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<p>KF is UNC’s business school. Well regarded.</p>