<p>when people say wake forest has a "southern feel" about it, what do they mean exactly?</p>
<p>Politically conservative; relatively low diversity and a greater tendency toward racial self-cloistering; a heightened religious emphasis; a heightened emphasis on class consciousness; a cultural norm of speaking, smiling, and acknowledging others on campus when passing; and a pervasively “preppy” style sense.</p>
<p>lol k if all that is true about wake forest, then i’m glad i didn’t apply there. haha.</p>
<p>Well, I agree with gadad with what a “southern feel” implies; however, I would hardly call Wake Forest “southern”.</p>
<p>The school is probably 50/50 on liberal/conservative spectrum. Religious emphasis is probably higher than average but the fastest growing religious identification at WFU is “No Preference/Agnostic/Atheist”. A quarter of my class is of a minority group. And, I believe also that my class is the least preppy (which is still relatively preppy), if you look at the number and % of kids planning to go Greek this year.</p>
<p>Wake is changing a lot and very quickly. </p>
<p>I would agree that most people smile and acknowledge each other on campus, but I find that a good thing.</p>
<p>I have to agree that Wake has a lot of religious Christians but that it’s in no way suffocating. They are drastically improving their diversity and don’t cater to the typical middle-class-white person who can pay the hefty tuition–through grants, loans, and scholarships, they promise to meet 100% of demonstrated aid for each student. This drastically increases potential for diversity for incoming classes.</p>
<p>but even if it’s not suffocating, i presume that someone like me, who is an atheist and bisexual…probably wouldn’t feel right at home at this school huh?</p>
<p>Well I’m not a current student, but I’ve visited a few times and know people that go there. I think, similar to the adult world, as long as you aren’t brash and disrespectful toward other religions, you’d get along fine. Everyone is pretty “chill” there as far as that goes, everyone has differing viewpoints and I’m sure you respect others’ viewpoints and would be fine. To be honest, I’m not sure about the bisexuality thing. Unfortunately we live in a world where that is not yet completely accepted, and I’m not sure if Wake is an exception. I’m just speculating, but I’m guessing that you may have to tone down sexual orientation a bit to feel “at home” at first–I’ve lived in places in the South all my life and it’s beginning to change, thankfully, but it’s still a bit of a social taboo. You wouldn’t necessarily be ostracized for it if you weren’t throwing it out there publicly. I can see how that would interfere with expressing yourself, so if expressing your sexuality openly right off the bat is very important to you then you may not want to apply to not just Wake but most Southern private schools.</p>
<p>thanks for the info! well i wouldn’t say that i express my sexuality “openly” in such a way that people would immediately assume i’m bi (i mean, unlike gay + straight stereotypes, what really exists for bi anyway where someone would guess right off the bat? like if you see a guy being really flamboyant and stuff, people often [wrongly, of course] assume he’s gay and people subconsciously assume most guys who act macho are straight. but what would make someone assume that someone is bi? besides if they were actually doing something like making out with members of both sexes? lol.) anyway yeah so i don’t act flamboyant or macho and i don’t obnoxiously make out with people of both sexes in public lol, i just act like a normal guy and i doubt people would have much of a reason to speculate about my sexuality at all. but it’s also not something i would hide or lie about in any way. and i would prefer not to be around a majority of people who may judge me for it…hmmm…southern schools probably aren’t for me, then. but it’s good to hear that they are slowly but surely changing though. :)</p>
<p>Atheism/Agnostic is the fastest growing religious preference at Wake Forest. I believe 5 years ago it was less than 5%, and my class has almost a 1/3 of the students who identify as that.</p>
<p>As far as your sexuality, I would say it would be tolerated. Although I do not know anyone who is completely out to the entire campus, there is a visible bit of campus which most people suspect is gay/bisexual. I am a guy so I can’t speak for sororities, but I do know one member of a fraternity that is openly gay. But I will be honest, most of the rest will be much less tolerate. This is no NYU, so if you want a school that your sexuality will be embraced and accepted by the entire student body – this is not it.</p>
<p>haha yeah i’m gathering that. 
thanks for all the info, guys!</p>
<p>GSSA (gay-straight student alliance) is actually a great group - I hung out with them a lot during one point in my career at Wake. They plan a lot of activities and just spend time hanging out together in their student lounge. I would say that the best way to describe Wake’s gay population would be toned down; they’re around, but for the most part, they’re not super “out.”</p>
<p>(I’m not gay myself…just my experience as a recent grad)</p>
<p>^but of course, it’s a gay-straight alliance…and i’m neither. haha. so i might not even fit in with them but i see your point. :P</p>
<p>Right, but I think they’re pretty supportive of all sexualities…gay, straight, and “in-between” 
Just a thought.</p>
<p>haha yeah i know but oftentimes gay people are the ones who discriminate against bi’s the most so it always gets on my nerves and raises a red flag when a group calls themselves a “gay straight alliance” instead of an “lgbt” group. :P</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend Wake to a friend who is bisexual. It’s not that students aren’t totally cool towards people with different sexual orientations, but the fact that the GLBT population hasn’t gotten large enough for me to recommend yet. College isn’t all work after all.</p>
<p>If a person did end up at Wake and otherwise loved it, they could make it work by making friends at Salem College and NC School of the Arts (other schools in Winston).</p>
<p>One thing I’d like to emphasize about “southern” feel is that the most distinct aspect is the general friendliness, and that is usually what people are referring to when they mention the term.</p>