<p>A big thank you to Pasbal (and others) for reassuring me on choosing FSU after being a Floridian expat overseas who is coming back home after 6 years :D. </p>
<p>I’ve only had the chance to visit Tallahassee & FSU once and began to worry that in that 2 day visit I got the wrong first impression hahah -_-</p>
<p>I’m from the Northeast, and you (Original Poster) are giving everyone a very bad impression of students from the Northeast.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you had such a disappointing year. My son tells me about the students who get trashed all the time, don’t go to class, etc. But there are seriious students there and it’s unfortunate you didn’t meet more of them. As to how they dress…in Florida, you’re usually going to get shorts, t-shirts and flip flops…it gets hot here. How do northeastern students dress in hot weather? As someone who moved from NY 30 years ago, it was a shock, but people seem to either embrace it or are repulsed. I will say some of my friends who didn’t like Florida and moved back, found they had romanticized what they thought they missed and some ended up moving back to Florida.</p>
<p>I had a stepson who was from NJ and went to Virginia Tech. Said the locals were rednecks, etc. He said the same things about that school --it’s in the boonies, and tried to transfer out for his first two years. Since he didn’t get into the school he wanted to transfer to, he stayed and eventually graduated from Tech. You now will not find a more ardent supporter of the school. Sometimes, culture shock is just that, and you can adapt and appreciate what’s good about a place. If you were as unhappy as you were, I suspect you saw the negatives everywhere even in things that if you tried to join in may have been fun…the UF/FSU rivalry generally is a good-natured thing and gives the students a sense of comraderie and school spirit. You don’t have to be a die hard 'nole to still join the crowd in the chants</p>
<p>I’m from overseas (lived overseas in Europe since I was 2 years old) and hadn’t even SEEN FSU before I came for LATE orientation (in August, 2 days before classes start). Yes, it was even more of a culture shock for me than you EVER had, but honestly, it is up to YOU to make the best out of it…which is what I did. If you can’t see a little light in something like college, get ready for the real world after college–you may not be able to choose where you get a job after school, but it may be the only job offer you get; however, you can ALWAYS try to make the best of it.</p>
<p>1) "Be prepared for a big culture shock: The students who attend FSU are very different from the people from the north east. From the way they dress to the way they talk, be prepared to have an adjustment period. It is also nearly impossible to hold an intellectual conversation with many of them unless you are talking about getting trashed every night. I can’t even explain how many examples I have of this from my first year. "</p>
<p>^ i am from new Jersey and I am attending FSU this summer. I know quite a few people who go to FSU and they aren’t much different than me! what culture shock are you talking about?</p>
<p>Knicks, why were you afraid to leave your roommate friend from back home? Didn’t he want to leave this awful place too if he’s from the northeast? I would think that since you are warning the out of state students that Tallahassee and the students here are so unlike the world you are used to, then he would have been just as unhapppy as you are. </p>
<p>Just curious, what did he think of FSU?</p>
<p>Did you ever think that maybe there’s something about you that attracted the type of people that couldn’t carry on an intelligent conversation unless you were talking about getting trashed every night?</p>
<p>Quick thoughts:</p>
<ul>
<li>You seem to exaggerate some things. I can’t tell if you are serious or are ■■■■■■■■ us.</li>
<li>If you’re serious, you don’t seem to know much about any other universities for how harshly you judge FSU. A lot of the problems you describe are problems at many other schools.</li>
<li>It sounds like you came to Tallahassee without knowing anyone and you probably left with few or no friends. I’m not sure you would have been much happier elsewhere.</li>
<li>It sounds like you were in a bad dorm when you probably should have been in an honors dorm.</li>
<li>You carry a cross because you paid a lot of money to go to FSU. This is a state school. Just because you are paying three times the price doesn’t mean the facilities are going to magically become Ivy League-like.</li>
</ul>
<p>Longer thoughts:</p>
<p>1) It doesn’t make it right, but nearly every school has the “professional partier” types. Most of them do poorly or are kicked out.</p>
<p>2) Crime is problem at a lot of universities. The other schools you mentioned, UConn and Miami, have just as much crime reported as FSU. (I looked up the data.) I do wish FSU could put up a wall around campus or would install security cameras everywhere to further deter crime. I suspect cameras are actually coming one day soon.</p>
<p>3) I’m not a fan of the on campus food, but what do you expect? It’s typical school food. Do you want a Morton’s Steakhouse on campus? I don’t think you got off campus much because off campus there are all the normal restaraunts you’ll find in any city.</p>
<p>4) Some dorms are old and some are dorms new and nice. It sounds to me like you waited too long to make your decision and were stuck in a bad dorm. Were you in the same dorm the entire time?</p>
<p>5) Perpetual consturction is again a problem at a lot of schools. The campuses are either constantly expanding or so large that when one area is completed, another area becomes dated and needs to be revamped. Would you rather the campus be stuck in the past? Shutting down the entire campus and doing construction while no one is around is not an option. As for the Leach Center, I was a frequent visitor there. It’s a fine gym. It’s like going to an LA Fitness or Golds Gym. It’s big, but sometimes there can still be a wait on certain days and for certain machines.</p>
<p>6) The city is composed largely of college students and alumni who are originally from south and central Florida. Homeless people are a bit of a problem along Tennessee Street. Most of them aren’t even homeless though. They are just people who live in Frenchtown and want handouts. FSU PD does a good job of keeping them off campus.</p>
<p>7) Rivalries like this exist in every state. Unless you’re from the state you probably won’t get it. For instance, I know Alabama and Auburn have a strong hate for each other. To me though they are practically the same. As for the old “FSU students can’t get into UF” thing, are you ■■■■■■■■ us? I graduated near the top of my class in high school and could have gone to any state school. I chose FSU because UF didn’t have the program I wanted. Why didn’t you go to UF?</p>
<p>8) I can’t disagree here. Getting to Tallahassee does suck now. When the economy tanked a few years ago the airlines cut many of the direct flights to Tallahassee. I just hope the city continues to grow so the airport will grow, improve, and upgrade to international status.</p>
<p>My roommate also had a problem as well as one of my close friends who I met at FSU and is from the same area as myself. They would tell you about many of the same problems that I had. I still left the school having some really good close friends but I feel that it’s just not the place for me and I wanted to say what I needed to say and get it out of my system. I’m sorry if I insulted people but I was just stating my feelings.</p>
<p>Honestly, what are young adults coming to today? Whiny, weepy, dilettantes who want to share their feelings? Everybody has feelings. Big deal. If FSU is not for you, move on. FSU is not going to be for the masses anyway…it is a challenging place to learn and grow. If it weren’t, it would not be a place I’d want to be associated with and send money to.</p>
<p>If you want to share cogent thoughts, fire away. Please keep your feelings to yourself.</p>
<p>Parent2noles why don’t you just keep your thoughts to yourself. The only reasons I said I was stating my feelings is because people said they were insulted by what I said in my original post.</p>
<p>We could say the same to you knicks… If you are not happy, move on. Your comments sound like sour grapes mixed in with some immaturity. You made a bad decision. Man up and quit taking it out on FSU or Tallahassee. There are likely Floridians who left and went to the NE. The culture shock of the Jersey Shore mentality likely sent some of them packing as well… Not all northeasterners or like those portrayed on Jersey Shore. And not all those who live in Tallahassee are hicks. DUH.</p>
<p>Everyone is entitled to an opinion. When you post on an anonymous board you can expect all sorts of replies. You were being honest with your OPINIONS. So was P2N.</p>
<p>It’s almost cute how knicks5171 keeps saying that we’re all immature because we are countering his points, most of which apply to 90% of colleges and universities, yet when he does worse we aren’t supposed to judge him like that because we don’t know him.</p>
<p>Pot, kettle, black, you know the rest. </p>
<p>FSU wasn’t for you, so move on. You made a rush decision and it bit you in the rear. Maybe next time you won’t wait till the last minute on something as important as where you’re going to spend $35,000 a year to learn. If I’m going to spend any decent sum of money on ANYTHING, you can bet I’m going to do research on every aspect of that item that I can. </p>
<p>There are plenty of people like you on both sides, whether they came south to FSU and didn’t like it, or went north and didn’t like it. You aren’t special buddy, no matter what anyone tells you. Just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean every person from the northeast will. The only reason you list for why FSU sucks that is valid is the culture shock aspect, which anyone who has done reasonable research into it will know that anyway.</p>
<p>I’m from the NY city area, and let me tell you–when I went to college in upstate NY, that was a culture shock too! Talk about rednecks–they are present up there, as well as in the South, and we used that term, too. I grew to love that area. Now I live near Clearwater and my daughter is about to go to FSU. My husband graduated from there. The trips we have made to Tallahassee have been great. I think its a beautiful campus and doesn’t look anything like the area of Florida I live in! It almost reminds me of some places in NY and NJ because of the hills and deciduous trees (minus the heat). </p>
<p>What I am trying to say is that you can have “culture shock” even if you stay in the same state. I came from a loud, large family and had a roommate who was an only child–we were basically from different cultures! Luckily, a large state school will house a lot of people from a lot of different cultures/backgrounds, and with a little effort people will find others with similar interests. Or learn to enjoy meeting people who are different.</p>
<p>knicks–I think what was most annoying was that you seemed to make sweeping generalizations about a student population that’s over 40.000 and the population of an entire city. If you wanted more intellectual stimulation you should have sought out activities that attracted like minded people. As to the area, I distinctly remember at orientation that they told us Tallahassee isn’t the big city. And even the most basic fact finding about FSU would have revealed the UF rivalry. My son, however, totally agrees with you about the food.</p>
<p>As I said, once my stepson realized he was “stuck” at Virginia Tech, he opened up to what was good about it and ended up a die hard supporter. But since you are so unhappy, if you have the chance to transfer somewhere that might be a better fit, then you should. Just don’t complain about the ice and snow when you get there.</p>
<p>To Knicks, leaving Florida, take a friend. You are free to cross the Florida Georgia border at any time and keep going north.
I doubt you will be missed.</p>
<p>Nothing new about the food. It was worse when I was a student. Start cooking for yourself. :)</p>
<p>I am from Queens, and i find it sad a lot of New Yorkers come to Florida and expect it to be a carbon copy of the city. Get real, there is no legit pizza here, no decent chinese that even compares to NYC. But Florida has its own flair and flavor and i absolutely love it here. It took a while to adjust but, if you can’t be open minded and would rather spend your time at FSU COMPARING the world around you rather than taking advantage of everything, then you really deserve to be with those other spoiled kids in the city that spend their days in the public library and nights sharing poetry.</p>
<p>It’s kinda funny how almost every neighborhood in Florida has joints that claim to serve “real New York” pizza; “real New York” bagels; and “real New York” hot dogs!</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess “kinda like NY pizza” does not sell! ;)</p>