<p>There are some southern schools I'm interested in, but I'm a little concerned about fitting in, as there is nothing southern about me. Just wondering if anyone could comment on this for the following schools: Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, Wash U of St. Louis, College of William and Mary, Wake Forest, and Elon U.
Do frats and sororities dominate the social scene? How is the community? Is there a cliquey atmosphere? Are professors accessible? Are there alternatives to the party scene (not a partier)? Anything else significant/interesting you know?
Also, this is very specific to me, but I've heard these schools have good Christian communities on campus and am wondering if it's true: Furman, Rhodes, Davidson.
Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>“… there is nothing southern about me.”</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but what do you mean by this?</p>
<p>W&M, Duke, Wash U, for open, non conformist thinking of the student body.</p>
<p>Emory, Duke, and WUStL are not very Southern at all. Vandy is a little, but that’s changing. Wake Forest and Elon are fairly Southern but still much more liberal than you might think (e.g. 70% of Wake students support gay marriage).</p>
<p>Furman definitely has a strong Christian presence. I haven’t noticed it as clearly at Davidson, but I’m sure there’s a decent-sized community.</p>
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<p>As a transplant to the South, I’d take the OP to mean that s/he is not politically or socially conservative, Greek-oriented, wedded to traditional conventions of dress and style, or supportive of systems of social status that correlate with socioeconomic level.</p>
<p>What type of person are you? Tell me a little about your personality, and what type of people you like to be around. They all have very different feels to the school, and all attract a different type of student. (not all southerners are alike - ha!)</p>
<p>Rhodes has folks from all over the U.S. and the world (44 states, 15 countries right now). To me, southern culture expresses itself here in terms of strong tight community, friendly attitudes, weather, and food. Political leanings of the students are more or less balanced between conservative and liberal based on both the freshman and senior surveys we give.</p>
<p>A little fewer than half of the students go Greek, but the houses are not residential, which makes the system pretty open. I rushed Pike, but my best friends were a Kappa Sigma and an independent. There’s a lot to do, and if you’re not into the party scene, Rhodes is smack in the middle of Memphis with everything it has to offer. There’s also a formal activities program called the Big Diehl ([Rhodes</a> College | The Big Diehl](<a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu/campuslife/9663.asp]Rhodes”>http://www.rhodes.edu/campuslife/9663.asp)). </p>
<p>Christian presence is expressed in a couple of ways. First, the college’s chaplain is an ordained Presbyterian. Second, there are several student organizations - Rhodes Christian Fellowship, Reformed University Fellowship, Tuesday Fellowship, Greek Fellowship, Catholic Student Association, etc. There will be no shortage of fellow students to share (and challenge) your faith.</p>
<p>If you have any questions about Rhodes, feel free to ask me.</p>
<p>I like the South. I am a liberal Yankee and I go to Wake Forest. Frats are certainly relevant, but as I have gone along, the less important they seem.
If you have any specific questions about Wake Forest PM me.
Wake Forest also has a very strong Christian community.</p>
<p>Wash U. is in St. Louis, Missouri = midwestern, not at all southern.</p>
<p>Another transplant (and re-transplant) here. How will southerners know you’re not southern?
Dead giveaways: yankee accent, bad manners, talk too fast, honk at people on the road, always in a hurry. . .;)</p>
<p>What about Rice?</p>
<p>Rice is not a Southern School in culture. Southern schools are SEC schools (including Vanderbilt), Wake Forest and Elon to a degree, Furman, Rhodes, Sewanee, Washington and Lee, and I am sure I have missed some.</p>
<p>Duke, Wake, and Elon are not noticeably southern anymore. The rest are southern but its more an accent than anything else. WUSL isn’t in the south.</p>
<p>Gadad, your surmise of what I meant by not southern was pretty close, except for maybe the not conservative part. I have been raised fairly conservative Christian and I am standing strong in that, though at the same time I want to be around people who are different from me in worldview. I’m not sure where I fall yet on the political spectrum, but I know I’m not a big supporter of any certain party.
Caitydrew, to answer your question, I would say I tend to be pretty artistic and connect with artists probably more than any other type of people, though I’m not going into the arts, except as a minor. Um, for my personality, I’m a ENFP for all you Myers-Briggs junkies. I love meeting people and can be very outgoing and appreciate people who are different from me.
Thanks for all the helpful replies!</p>
<p>The most diverse of the Southern universities is Rice. It also has the lowest faculty/student ratio. It is one of the two US universities, the other being Yale, that has a true residential college system–no fraternities or sororities.</p>
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The most diverse of the Southern universities is Rice. It also has the lowest faculty/student ratio.
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<p>Schools like UT-Austin have more international students than Rice has undergrads… so you could argue some of the larger publics are more diverse.</p>
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FALSE. Rice posters seem to be among the worst offenders of spreading propaganda. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Asian
Duke: 26.9%
Rice: 20.7%</p>
<p>Black
Duke: 10.1%
Rice: 7.3%</p>
<p>Native American
Duke: 0.6%
Rice: 0.5%</p>
<p>Hispanic
Rice: 12.1%
Duke: 6.9%</p>
<p>White/Other
Rice: 59.4%
Duke: 55.5%</p>
<p>Internationals
Duke: 10%
Rice: 6.4%</p>
<p>OP - Check out Virginia Tech.</p>