<p>Hi,
I'm a senior in high school in the midst of college apps. I plan on going in as a journalism major and minor in something else (since most schools require Journalism majors to do a minor/double major.) Next week I will be visiting SMU (and hopefully TCU if there's time.) I've been researching both schools and, for the most part, I like what I see, especially SMU. The academics seem manageable but exciting, the campuses are gorgeous and so are Dallas/Ft. Worth, there's actually school spirit, there's internships within the area during the school year/summer, and there's tons of clubs/activities to be part of.</p>
<p>That said, I've been looking around on CC and CP and I'm a little concerned about the two schools' attitudes regarding northerners/East Coast students. I'm from Massachusetts and while I don't fit the typical liberal mold and have some conservative tendencies (especially considering that I live in Mass.), I'm pretty sure I would fall under the left-wing category at both schools. So far, I've seen these trends on the Internet:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SMU/TCU is only known in Texas/South. It's impossible to get a job anywhere else.</p></li>
<li><p>SMU/TCU are friendly...but they don't like people above the Mason-Dixon Line.</p></li>
<li><p>There really isn't much interaction between different racial and ethnic groups.</p></li>
<li><p>Not in Greek Life? No social life for you!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Can any current students, alumni, parents, etc. please tell me if these statements are very true, somewhat true, or completely blown out of proportion? Right now, I'm leaning toward applying EA for SMU. Of course, I know that there will be some people who think that way, but if most of the students feel this way, then that's a little bit concerning.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<ol>
<li> Well you will always find people in the south like that and visa versa for the north but I’d say that for the most part most people are over the war (over 150 years ago)</li>
</ol>
<p>My daughter attends SMU and she has friends from Florida, Texas, Illinois and Penn. She just loves being at SMU and never describes the campus to be polarized or non welcoming to any student based on where they are from. Yes she is in the greek system but many of her friends are not and they all just have a great time especially “boulevarding” before football games. </p>
<p>Not familiar with TCU but only hear great things about there too but SMU is very welcoming and up to you how involved socially you want to become in or out of the Greek system.</p>
<p>Good luck to you</p>
<ol>
<li>SMU/TCU is only known in Texas/South. It’s impossible to get a job anywhere else.</li>
</ol>
<p>As a very well respected/top ranked university, SMU is known by most people everywhere. We get a wide variety of responses from people who hear my child is going to school there such as “wow - that’s a great school” to comments from people who have no idea where or what SMU is (usually from people who are not well read/traveled) to people who make a very stupid comment with the stereotype about it only being for rich kids. Getting a degree from SMU is a plus! Companies know the good schools regardless of where their headquarters is located. Many national companies are located in Texas. I imagine there are SMU grads working in all 50 states. If you are concerned, visit the job placement office and ask.</p>
<ol>
<li>SMU/TCU are friendly…but they don’t like people above the Mason-Dixon Line.</li>
</ol>
<p>Never heard this one! SMU has students from all over the U.S. and the students are very friendly. Over half of the students are from somewhere other than Texas (Many from California, Florida, Chicago area, every other state, and several foreign countries). Students are the same everywhere - if you are friendly and nice to others, they will generally be friendly and nice to you regardless of where you are from, what you wear or drive, etc. Visit the campus and see for yourself. </p>
<ol>
<li>There really isn’t much interaction between different racial and ethnic groups.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>My student has made great friends from several different racial and ethnic groups. She interacts with them daily. How much interaction you will have will depend on how friendly you are and how you interact with others. Visit campus and ask the students.</p>
<ol>
<li>Not in Greek Life? No social life for you! </li>
</ol>
<p>Not true. While Greek Life is very strong there also are many students who are not involved in it. My student has made many friends who are not Greek. Greek Life is not for everyone but keep an open mind about it and try not to stereotype Greeks. It is just another option to meet people and get involved but there are other ways to do both. If you are interested give it some thought. If it isn’t for you, no one will care. Dallas and SMU are full of things to do so there is no shortage of social activities if you are looking for them. Again - visit campus and ask the students.</p>
<p>I think part of the issue is that the two schools are different beasts despite being only forty miles apart. </p>
<p>SMU is less than 45% Texas, with that other half coming from all over. I posted this the other day on another thread:
"Hi @MylesCK! </p>
<p>Just to give you an idea about numbers Connecticut is our #4 state among entering freshmen, and New York is #8. Texas is about 45%, and California alone makes up around 20% of the student body. I say this to show that while SMU is in Texas, people here are from all over the country. One of my favorite things about going here is that my friends are literally from everywhere!"</p>
<p>Plenty of NE kids here, so I wouldn’t worry in the slightest about the “north of the Mason-Dixon” thing. Really not a thing at all. </p>
<p>As a function of people being from everywhere, our graduates go all over the country after graduation. In fact the Economist ranked us #2 in the world for breadth of alumni network. Mustangs are everywhere, and our career center is very helpful if you want to go home after your four years here. I’ve chosen to stay in Dallas after I graduate in May, but that’s just because it’s become my home. Speaking anecdotally, but I have friends who have graduated and gotten jobs all over. I’m a senior now, and my friends and I have accepted offers in many of our hometowns (LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, New York, Boston, etc) as well as Dallas. </p>
<p>I think #3 and 4 will be adressed when you visit campus and see that it’s simply not the case.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much! This puts me at ease haha
I’m now more excited for my tip to Dallas tomorrow 
I’ll get see the tailgating at SMU Saturday after our tour so that’ll be really cool. Then my dad and I will head over to Ft. Worth to see TCU and eat dinner.
Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I will put in my two cents on this matter- Greek life is a HUGE deal here. If you are not a part of it, you’re life will greatly differ here from those who are, especially if you really want to be in it/all of your friends are in and you’re not. Anyone who says “oh its not a big deal!” are people who love being in it! And great for them! As someone whose seen both sides and chosen the non-Greek side, it has greatly affected my life at SMU. And it’s not the best. It IS hard to truly feel like you belong at social events. And it does consume a lot of your facebook feed a lot of the time.</p>
<p>Heres a question you have to ask yourself-- Will you care if you’re not a part of greek life? Will if make you upset? Will your feelings be hurt? </p>
<p>If the answer is yes, than good luck to you because recruitment at SMU is absolutely ridiculous. It’s horrible. And good luck to you in the process because there’s that much more pressure on you.
If the answer is no, and you wouldn’t care either way, then I’d say go for it. </p>
<p>I’m just giving my opinion because many people at SMU throw on one of their signature smiles and tell you all about how beautiful and perfect everything is all the time. It’s a gorgeous campus filled with gorgeous people. But you should know that it’s not always like that!</p>
<p>If you have any questions-- feel free to message me directly! I’d be happy to give you honest answers</p>
<p>I think it is fair to say that greek life is definitely one of the most visible sides of SMU. Walking around campus it is easy to pick out the people that belong to fraternities and sororities, which often makes it seem like a much larger percentage of the population when in reality it only makes up 38% of our student body. They key to being happy at SMU is taking advantage of the opportunity to get involved on campus. We have over 200 student organizations and that number is growing every day. You would be hard pressed to find any student not involved in at least one organization and most students are involved in 2 or 3 or even 4. Is greek life one way to get involved? Absolutely. But there are SOOO many other ways to get involved around campus that will facilitate you finding where you belong on campus. </p>
<p>As for recruitment, yes it is a challenging process, but that is not unique to SMU - it is simply the nature of the beast wherever you go. Also the fact that recruitment takes place second semester at SMU makes for much better circumstances for those interested in going through. I think that as long as people go into the process with the right attitude the process works out the way it is supposed to. More often than not negative experiences result from not keeping an open mind and putting undue importance on being “greek” rather than trying to find an organization that you fit in with.</p>