@hzhao2004, being Asian from NYC, I’ve been called racist names in the Northeast, and maybe in California. I’ve lived all over the US (midwest, west coast, mid-atlantic) and traveled in almost every state. I find the cities in the north to be some of the most racist and segregated places in the country.
I grew up in Baltimore and attended university in the suburbs of Baltimore. In my late 20s , I relocated to the Charleston, SC area. It truly is a friendly, diverse area in which I immediately felt comfortable . I would strongly recommend CofC for a visit.
Much of all this fear, let’s be honest, is that of the parents, not the kids. Kids find like-minded kids, they adapt to dress and social norms. They work it out.
It is the parents that obsess about all this stuff.
I was surprised to find out that Princeton and Virginia are considered South. From my geographic location, they are both North East.
@DrGoogle coming from New England, I think generally people think of South as past DC. But I would agree that VA is the transition state. NJ? Definitely NE!
Well, the capital of the CSA was in Richmond, after all. And Lee’s army was the Army of Northern Virginia.
You know what JFK said of DC: “All the charm of the north and the efficiency of the south.”
I’m a young African-American male from NJ who will be attending UNC Wilmington next year. I’ve yet to visit the state because of unfortunate circumstances, but my parents did express concerns about my going nine hours south. I’ve been told that NC has some “traditional Southerners”, but those are mostly in the rural areas. UNCW is a school in a very beautiful, laid-back, chill, relaxed beach city, and the campus and students are a true reflection of that. In fact, the calm manner of many of my future classmates was one of the main attributes of the school that attracted me there, in addition to its generally strong academics and versatility.
My parents were worried that I would experience racism in Wilmington, but I brought up the fact that I experienced a LOT of it, subtle or blatant, right here in NJ. There is a lot more de facto segregation up here. And I was just tired of all the snobbery and arrogance of the north, in addition to the brutal winter weather. The more my parents tried to get me to go to Quinnipiac, the more they pushed me further and further to UNCW. I wanted to attend this school as soon as I got in, and NOTHING was going to stop me.
By the way, I would certainly recommend my school to your D: chill vibe, versatile school, wants to spread your wings, great opportunities in a growing state, up-and-coming school that is gaining more respect across the country. AND she will be surrounded by so many more Northerners, guaranteed! Greek life isn’t a dominant force, but that’s part of the versatility of it all. Even if Dubville isn’t her final choice, I think it would be a great fit for her. I know that I’m going to LOVE it!!! 
My neighbor’s kid went to a school in Virginia, she is a blonde hair kid from California, but she said the professors and students were not as chill as Californian.
Californian and eastern preppy are not the same.
Not eastern preppy, garden variety public college. The kid didn’t want to stay in California.
My D and 2 of her high school classmates are at Southern colleges (we’re from the NE.) Her friend at William & Mary joined a sorority and the southern culture is fine (she’s fairly liberal.) The one at Elon absolutely loves it (joined a sorority too) but said it’s more conservative than she thought it would be; NC is giving college students a very hard time about voting there.
@zobroward I’m not sure why you think my suggestion is so outrageous. I was not implying that the southern regions of the United States are ‘third world’ in nature. I understand that the OP is just trying to address her concerns when it comes to cultural differences. I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider these differences to avoid a possible “fit” problem. (emphasis on ‘possible’…not assuming there are problems with ‘going south’)
So what I was trying to say was that while people on a message board can be very helpful, it might be beneficial to talk and build relationships with people in one’s own community who are attending certain schools…in this case southern. I would have recommended that for anyone, regardless of the specifics.
I don’t know the answer to this, so please don’t flame me if I just haven’t seen this. I have NEVER seen posts that reflect he opposite sentiment of this one. I may have just missed them, but I never see concerns from Southerners about how they will fit in at “Yankee” schools. I only see concerns about the cold/snow and when/where to purchase approprriate winter attire. Have there been posts in the opposite direction?
Sorry, OP, not trying to hijack.
@Hoggirl
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I have NEVER seen posts that reflect he opposite sentiment of this one. I may have just missed them, but I never see concerns from Southerners about how they will fit in at “Yankee” schools. I only see concerns about the cold/snow and when/where to purchase approprriate winter attire. Have there been posts in the opposite direction?
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there are rarely ever such threads. That’s one reason why some of us find these kind of threads a bit off-putting. I realize that the OP is just trying to ferret out the truth after hearing a lot of stereotypes.
The funny thing is that my Calif nephew found his NE highly-ranked school hard to adjust to. He’s a very smart, smiling out-going surfer-looking boy who felt very out of place in the more reserved NE. If he hadn’t been recruited for his sport (no sports money at this school), he would have left after the first year…his “tribe” was his teammates. My sister never thought to consider that he might have some “culture shock”. However, she received a lot of “warnings” about her other son going to a highly-ranked SE school…yet that nephew had no issues and loved that school.
@hoggirl, my Southern D attends school in NY. In her History class the other students all seemed to assume that as a Virginian she’s in favor of slavery and rather attacked her for it. She had to point out that NY did not end slavery fully until 1827, and of course she’s not a supporter of slavery. She also had to curb her use of “ma’am”, a Southern courtesy that many NY’ers seem to take as an insult. And yes, dealing with the extreme cold weather was a learning curve.
As a parent, I did worry just a tiny bit about it, but figured she could set anyone straight that needed to be set straight, and she has. I think it’s been a great learning experience to live in another region.
@mamaduck. Thank goodness she stopped at Ma’am. Sugar or Hun would have thrown a NYer for a loop. 
This happened in Manhattan?
There are regional differences in the US. They aren’t necessarily good or bad, but sometimes they do require adjustment.
For instance, when HD and I started grad school in the city in which we already lived I met a woman who had just moved North to our city for school. After a brief conversation in which I gave her some information on local resources she asked me about my bible study group. Not only did I not know anyone who was in a bible study group I had no idea how one would go about joining one other than randomly walking into a church of one’s denomination. She seemed very surprised when I told her I didn’t attend church. Years later I was rejected from a secular Southern adoption agency on the basis of the fact that I listed my religion as “atheist.”
My new acquaintance assumed I would be in a bible study group because where she was from this was the norm. I assumed my irreligiosity was no big deal because that was the case in my home community. We were both wrong.
This is not to say that all Northerners are less religious or Southerners more so. It’s just to point out that 88jm19’s suggestion is a good one. It’s hard to know how your own community will feel to someone outside it.
interesting observation @Hoggirl. Funny you used “Yankee”, because when we moved to Texas after graduating college, my husband and I found it really strange to be called Yankees. (We’re Cubs fans! )
The big adjustments for us were St. Augustine grass and fire ants!
I grew up in a rural part of the midwest and went to a school on the east coast with many kids who grew up in large metro areas. They asked me if I ever went “cow-tipping”. I had never heard of it. They ended up having to explain what it was to me.
I DID tell them about the joys of snipe hunting.