<p>Well, yes, you can drive to the ocean from LSU/Ole Miss. You can drive to the ocean from Tennessee or Kentucky or Illinois as well. It will just take a bit longer :)</p>
<p>I live in Louisiana and it has many fine qualities. Good beaches are not one of them even though we are a coastal state (and BTW, Baton Rouge is NOT on the coast). There are some very nice beaches on the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle. 4-5 hours from Baton Rouge. And a good bit farther from Ole Miss, which is practically in Tennessee. </p>
<p>Oh, and I grew up in Louisiana and went to school in New England. Racism is not limited to the south by any means. I believed the hype and thought people in NE would be more enlightened than people in Louisiana. I was wrong.</p>
<p>If you want to go to med school definitely keep your debt low for undergrad. Ideally you want no debt. Look through the list of automatic full ride/free tuition scholarships for schools that meet your geographical preferences.</p>
<p>Your thread title caught my attention as I was doing a pre-dawn, can not sleep scroll through the CC threads! I am happy to report that as someone who grew up in the suburbs of Boston and went to college in the southern city of New Orleans I think I fared/turned out perfectly fine later in life! Now I live in Florida and would not change a thing! The south has been pretty darn good to me!</p>
<p>So much of your college experience has to do with what YOU make of it rather than where you are planted. </p>
<p>Somewhere along the line in this thread being close to the beach was mentioned. I hope that this is because you find peace and tranquility from being close to the ocean and NOT that you want to work on a tan! The later could be a problem in being a motivated pre-med student. If being close to the ocean is important to you then the schools you mention are probably not the best choices as you will have a bit of a drive. You might want to consider more of the Florida schools such as the following public schools: University of North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic University, or New College of Florida. Private Schools such as Flagler College or Eckerd College.</p>
<p>Florida:</p>
<p>North is South
South is North</p>
<p>You might want to look at the College of Charleston.</p>
<p>If you want to get a job in the more snobby cities in the northeast, don’t go to a southern state school. But I think those are the only parts of the country that are snobby enough to care. You aren’t going to end up on wall street from one of those schools, but you can do a lot of other things.</p>
<p>Florida may be geographically be further South than other states, but culturally it is not part of the Deep South. And since by this question you were alluding to cultural influences and not geographic ones (presumably), for the purposes of your question UF is certainly not a Deep South university. I currently live in New York (as a Southern transplant) and while the other states on your list are considered Deep South by New Yorkers and Northeasterners in general, Florida is decidedly not.</p>
<p>I have to agree that this question is a little ridiculous. All of the big state universities on your list are well-known, reputable universities that send thousands of graduates to grad, med, and law schools every year. Yes, it’s absolutely fine to attend college in any of those states and still have a life afterwards. I mean, after all, there are grad, law, and med schools and doctors, attorneys, and professors in the South too. We’re not all peach farmers or rodeo cowboys.</p>
<p>I think your list is a mix…Ole Miss is good school but not as selective as, for example, UGA. Are you thinking southern schools are less selective and less expensive? That depends on school. For really near beach (3 hrs or less) check into ECU (NC), UNC-wilmington, College of Charleston (top medical center nearby), University of South Carolina, Tulane. Maybe further, Alabama, Auburn, UAB, UGA, UF, Florida State. Not as sure about other Florida, alabama and Mississippi schools. If you’re thinking less selective means you scores look good for scholarships, they may still be low. Research individual schools. Also some great LACs such as Furman and Wofford that have hight rates of getting kids into med but much more expensive since private.</p>
<p>As an aside, my husband is lawyer who ofter interacts with big NYC firms…they underestimate him based on living in south at their peril:)</p>