Hi I’m new here, going to be a HS senior this upcoming 2016-17 school year. In my research into colleges, the University of Kentucky has emerged as a possibility for me. They have some programs that interest me, and I fit the requirements for an academic scholarship there, which makes it all the more appealing. I am wondering about the campus and students… Mainly how “southern” does it feel? Like, do a lot of people there have a southern accent / drawl? I know Lexington is horse country USA. Does this show on campus at UK? What I’m asking is hard to put in words, but hopefully someone can help. And of course a campus visit would be helpful for me, I know. Maybe I’ll try to do that in the relatively near future. Thanks.
I kind of know what you mean. I have toured there and other schools. People do dress somewhat southern but the people there were the nicest I have ever met on a college tour. Don’t think that answers your question but that’s what I took away from it.
My D describes it as “mildly Southern.” There is an accent in her opinion for some of the people, as she is from the Chicagoland area. It is not a Southern drawl, though. There are some differences from here that she notices. Many of the females are into horses. People wear rain boots, which was something she was not used to.
The non-student cafeteria workers will say some things like, “here are your grits baby girl.” She has never tried them there. She says that some of the people from small towns in Southern Illinois sound the same to her, and that is definitely not “the South.”
lol. I asked the same question. :))
Horses and rain boots? Sounds like my daughter’s dream place. And we are not from the south. 
We toured U of KY about a month ago. Not sure what you are meaning by “Southern” but I’m pretty sure you will be able to understand people. This school is probably 5th on the list of potentials for my daughter. The campus is very nice and has some of the best dorm rooms I’ve seen. There is construction going on for a new Student Center that I think is to be completed in 2018. I thought the school was fairly compact for it’s size. Didn’t quite have the green space as some of the other schools that we visited. I don’t think being horse country shows much on campus but it does all around Lexington. The turn off for my daughter is she is wanting to Major in Education and the building that houses the School of Education is actually across the street from the main campus. If not for that, this school might be a bit higher on the list. Campus had a pretty good vibe to it and there are some nice restaraunts and bars right on the edge of campus. Our tour guides were very nice and knowledgeable. The library didn’t seem quite as nice as some of the other schools we toured but it will get the job done. Lexingtion is a pretty nice city as well so should have plenty of things to do when not in class or studying. They do have a virtual tour on their website and it pretty much represents what we saw in person.
To us in Chicagoland, UK and Lexington feels like the Midwest, but with a twang, much like downstate Illinois. We found the people on campus to be some of the friendliest and most polite of the bunch of schools we’ve visited.
Our impression was “people are happy here”. We liked the casual dress of the students. Running shorts & t-shirt. Yoga pants & UK sweatshirt.
Lexington has a lot of familiar markers which make it seem more like home to us & less like a foreign land. Target, Whole Foods, Five Below, the Apple Store in Fayette Mall plus the usual familiar mall stores, Orange Theory, Trader Joe’s, Plato’s Closet, Chipotle, Starbuck’s and…TRAFFIC JAMS (just like home!). There are some funky ethnic restaurants to explore, like you’d expect in any large college town.
The bus system, free with your student ID, will take them where they want to go. There are bike rentals as well.
It is true that buildings take up most of the footprint on the main campus and there is still considerable construction going on. There’s a large green space in front of the library. The campus opens up considerably to the west, past the hospital and football stadium where the UK Arboretum is located (100 acres with a 2 mile trail).
UK is sinking a lot of money into updating the school and that’s very exciting. We walked by a construction site that will house graduate and professional students, and it’s impressive.
Last year, UK received its single largest gift, $23m from a UK alum. This gift establishes the Lewis Honors College (expansion of the previous UK Honors Program). Construction has already begun.
We think UK is up and coming and is a school with a lot of opportunities. There is still big merit money being offered for next year’s incoming class.
Kentucky is a border state. Not really the South. Louisville is a nice town, and the surrounding area is lovely – especially north into horse country.
@dcolosi not sure what other schools you have seen but I thought the library was really cool and different.
@almostdonewithhs other schools we’ve looked at include Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Georgia and some others. I liked KY and the Library stands out on campus but from what we saw on the tour, we didn’t like it as much as some of the other schools. Not a big difference, really just some minor things but it seemed like a nice library overall. We just liked some of the other school’s set ups a little better.
I did feel that the Library really stands out as a building on the campus from the outside, just wasn’t quite as impressed once inside. Some of the other schools that we toured we saw some of the other libraries on campus not just the main one.
@dcolosi oh ok. I’ve only seen Ohio state but I agree with what you said about Kentucky.
I must not be library-sensitive. Library tours are a blur.
For D16, she was startled to see some homeless men in the library at U of Iowa, which sparked some interesting discussions about private vs. public schools and “whose library is it anyways”. We Googled the topic, which prompted even more good discussions.
My daughter is an avid reader and volunteers at our local library and has for years so she is probably a bit more aware of the library. I never would have thought much about it but I have paid more attention during our tours and visits. I also find it interesting how many schools have multiple libraries on their campus. My school only had one so when schools were talking about the multiple libraries on campus I was a bit surprised.
Lexington is pretty cool. Not a small town, but not gigantic. 295-300,000 population. Virtually everyone we’ve talked to at UK was friendly and helpful. The dorms are mostly very new and nice. It’s a little on the southern side, but not overwhelmingly so. My daughter loves it.
OOS UK student here! It definitely has more southern charm than home… People are polite here, really into the “southern hospitality” which is nice. Not many strong Southern accents here, but you do see the occasional weirdo wearing a winter coat when it’s 65 degrees outside.
I live in Lexington. I also went to UKY for a semester and ran the other way. This uni is very lacking in staff and education. It took 6 months for them to locate my transcript and to get an answer from admin is another pain in the ass. The people are nice. Horrible drivers, and horrible hygiene. I had some girls in my class wearing shorts and when they walked by it was pee-land smelling. The school is hard core Wildcats and parking is a nightmare especially on game days.
I live in Lexington and attended UK finishing up 20 years ago. My son is enrolling this Fall on a significant scholarship. I judged a speech tournament on campus Saturday and I was amazed at the amount of investment that has been put into the school’s facilities. Missed out on that.
Anyway, the people on campus will be skewed pretty Southern and you will have some folks from Appalachia with THICK mountain accents. Central KY certainly has a Southern drawl but a lot of folks shift in and out of it when in a professional/social setting. I wouldn’t let that be a big downside. People will be well-dressed when necessary but it is a very casual campus.
Side note: @zua001 comments are just offensive and tinged with sour grapes. College student hygiene is pretty variable at any college. I’m not sure why anyone would post that anecdote and we Southerners tend to have better manners than that.
Interesting stuff. I have decided to stay closer to home, looking at options in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. I should mention I’m still getting emails from UK, apparently tomorrow 3/15 is the absolute final deadline to apply after they extended it for me about six times now. Might be a good school, but I’ll pass.