Son at Harvard, now his sis needs a school - Southern schools question

Parents Corner
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<p>Weird question............</p>

<p>My sophomore (high school) daughter is beginning to think of college.</p>

<p>For some reason she is initially zeroing in on schools like the University of Virginia, Duke, etc. She thinks the culture of a southern school is better than New England schools - especially the large urban New England schools.</p>

<p>Her brother is a freshman at Harvard and since we live nearby she spends time hanging out at the Harvard dorms. Harvard is an intense place and not a whole lot of fun. I think it has her wanting a friendlier, maybe slower pace environment that is still academically strong.</p>

<p>I don't think the atmosphere at top southern schools would be that different than the Boston/Cambridge schools that she already knows. What do you think?</p>

<p>Also, has anyone heard anything good or bad about how urban/suburban New England kids fit in southern schools. Two of my son's high school classmates go to southern schools, both found them quite different in mostly positive ways.</p>

<p>Any opinions would be appreciated before we plan our summer southern school visits?
If anyone has questions for a Harvard parent I'll give them a try.</p>

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<p>OneDown, sorry, I can not answer your question about Southern colleges, but I have a suggestion. If your daughter is looking for a laid-back crowd, she might consider looking at SoCal schools (UCLA, USC, the Claremonts...)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply BunsenBurner but southern California is way too far away for an anxious parent like me!</p>

<p>Yes, you are probably correct though about the laid-back atmosphere.</p>

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<p>She might be interested in taking a look at Vanderbilt. Beautiful southern campus, very friendly atmosphere. Not everyone there is a die-hard partier, but it is an active campus, always something to do. We have been very happy with the academics, which is of paramount importance to all of us, son as well as parents.</p>

<p>My son was born in New England but we moved to the midwest when he was in elementary school, so his perspective doesn't really count as New Englandish. However, one of his suite mates is from Boston and is very happy at Vanderbilt.</p>

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<p>A couple of points:</p>

<p>Many of the schools in the upper part of the South (e.g., University of Virginia) have LOTS of out-of-staters from New York and New Jersey. That's not exactly your kind of Northerner, but it's still Northern.</p>

<p>If your daughter wants a combination of friendliness and good academics, she might want to consider the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It's well known for having both. But it's tough to get in from out of state.</p>

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<p>Dear midmo & Marian - thanks for the info.</p>

<p>I will put Vanderbilt on the list of schools to research and, if I'm not mistaken, one of my son's friends goes to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (near the Atlantic) and likes it. I assume that is smaller version of UNC at Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>My d, from New England, really liked University of Richmond (buto, as opposed to your d, that was as far south as she'd look).</p>

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<p>Another ggod academic school to look at is Emory which has a good number of east coast students but a more relaxed atmosphere.</p>

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<p>I've lived in central Illinois, Chicago, California, Pennsylvania, and have been living in North Carolina for 3 1/2 years now.....although I'm in an area with a lot of transplants (Charlotte) due to the banking industry, I can honestly say that the people here are genuinely more friendly as a whole than any other place I've lived. UNC-CH is a great school, but pretty tough to get into OOS. Your S will be able to have grits and sweet tea at every meal if he comes to these parts!! (But we all DO have running water these days :) )</p>

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<p>Hi OneDown,
My niece, an excellent student from NY, is a freshman at Vanderbilt. She loves it!</p>

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<p>I'd add Wake Forest to the list, I have a friend whose son is there (upstate NYer) and loves it! Smaller than some of the other schools mentioned here though...</p>

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<p>Slightly off-topic, but I assume you're keeping an eye on this hs sophomore who is "hanging out at the Harvard dorms"? My S is also a college frosh, and I'm kind of happy he's 4 hours away, since I don't want my 15 year old daughter (who looks older) having an excuse to hang around college dorms!</p>

<p>You've got time, but perhaps you could schedule a vacation to look at a few southern schools. I live in New England, but my parents live in the deep South with most of our relatives. There is a difference between Mass and VA, but the differences get bigger the further south you go (until FL, of course). My d's best friend's older brother was really excited to go to Clemson, until football season ended and he realized he was a fish out of water in a REALLY southern culture. He ended up transferring to Providence. But UVA is probably a bit more cosmopolitan. I also echo U of Richmond, a beautiful school.</p>

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<p>UVA is southern but I <em>wouldn't</em> call it laid back. It has a very different feel from many northern colleges-- very, very preppy with a significant fraternity and sorority presence. Lots of out-of-staters (it's hard to get in as an out-of-state) but not much of that crunchy feel that is a little more common up north. </p>

<p>I would encourage you to plan some visits. My daughter went on her first college visits at the end of freshman year of high school. It was a very valuable experience. When college application time came, she really had a clearer idea of what she wanted.</p>

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<p>Washington and Lee
Wake
Richmond</p>

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<p>Rice U.
[quote]
Harvard is an intense place and not a whole lot of fun. I think it has her wanting a friendlier, maybe slower pace environment that is still academically strong.

[/quote]
to a T! Friendly, laidback, casual, academically strong, inclusive - great architecture,music conservatory, engineering, science, humanities, lanuages, social sciences etc.etc. will be about 3500 undergrads in a few years, great faculty to student ratio (1:5) I could go on - but it really is a gem. (Just have to get past the preconceptions about Houston and Texans)</p>

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<p>And maybe a LAC like Davidson. Friend's son, child of hippie northerner, really liked it. The academics are outstanding. Merit money, too, unlike most northern LAC's.</p>

<p>And maybe cast an eye on Brown. A little south of Harvard, haha. Not as intense.</p>

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<p>Duke? Brown?</p>

<p>I think those are 2 laid back places.</p>

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<p>Don't know about this! My D is having a blast at H, ready to graduate in June.</p>

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<p>We are from the northeast. Recently I was in Richmond with a day to spare, and visited University of Richmond. It's a lovely campus and far more laid back than Harvard. I have a 10th grader, and I was concerned that as a northerner, he might feel out of place. When I saw a map of where the students come from, I was surprised to learn that there are far more students from the northeast than from the south! </p>

<p>My son is interested in Duke, so this summer we will travel down to see it plus University of Richmond, Wake Forest, Davidson and Washington & Lee. My son has no interest in large state universities, but if your daughter has an interest, I hear that University of NC, Chapel Hill is great and has a beautiful campus. I have seen University of Virginia, and it really is beautiful. The other one to consider is William & Mary.</p>

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<p>Really good question. We live in Athens GA (UGA) and have a son at College of Charleston and another at small college in NC. Have had several nieces and nephews at Clemson, Alabama, Emory, etc. Most everyone around here stays and goes to UGA or Georgia Tech. Depending on the rigor of academics your choices are many. My daughter is planning on going to school in NE and while we were traveling met 2 kids that are from Boston that attend Emory. They love it....great academics, in the middle of Atlanta. A little snobby. UNC Chapel Hill is like heaven with the most gorgeous campus. Vanderbilt is a great school....recommended by anyone in this area. Hard to get in so guaranteed a great education. Davidson is smaller, good school but they study so much the school does their laundry for them. Wake Forest is in a beautiful area, bur fairly conservative school. UVA is awesome and much less Southern. My son was recruited by UVA for golf but academically would have not stayed eligible.</p>

<p>Does she want the true Southern atmosphere? The one where Football and tailgating are king. Truly if you can visit any school in the SE on a home football game you will understand. It is ridiculous, but fun. The RVs roll into town on Wednesday night...and that is the adults. Does she want big city (Atlanta) or mid size or more rural? And the sorority/fraternity/athletics SE conference schools are all somewhat similar. Conservative, mostly white, mostly Southern, guys like to fish, hunt, golf and drink. Except for Georgia Tech that is an engineering school. They actually have to study.</p>

<p>My understanding is that North Carolina has the "better schools" academically (in the South). If my daughter wasn't so set on doing theater in the Northeast, we would visit. College of Charleston is a great school, has a lot of kids from up north. They have expanded, built new buildings and academics are increasingly harder than any state school around here. Charleston has a med school and a law school and a fabulous city to visit. Not real large either so kids don't feel so lost.</p>

<p>If she can get in anywhere (top SAT's and GPA) I would visit:
UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Emory, Wake Forest, Washington and Lee, College of Charleston (has a beach), Davidson, and for comparisons sake, UGA . If you come in the summer, remember that is our worst weather lately...hot and dry. </p>

<p>If you have any further questions, ask. We have lived here 23 years and my husband has several degrees from different colleges so we aren't bound to one. But we do love Charleston. And our son is very happy there.</p>