<p>Son’s top choice right now, pres scholarship and honors college, loves football, what’s not to love, right?</p>
<p>We are from upstate ny and now realize there aren’t too many from our area at UA. I think a few people at school have raised eyebrows when son talks about UA (they beleive he could ‘do better’). Personally I don’t care about that at all, as the value of the education I beleive he will receive there is huge. However, I think it may be concerning him a bit. We are visiting in a few weeks and surely that will be very telling, one way or the other. But any reassurance from all you great folks would sure help!</p>
<p>If anything, I am not as concerned about the social side of fitting in but opportunities both for post-grad recruiting and internships etc while in school. If placement tends to be regional that may be a disadvantage. But I live in upstate NY and haven’t worked for a NY based company in 9 years, it is a changing world.</p>
<p>Also if anyone can dispute the Greek issues - have read that northern kids don’t do well in the Greek system, not sure if he even wants to go that route but the last think I want is for him to feel out of place when he is really far from home. He is a social kid, but young and very inexperienced. </p>
<p>We are from upstate ny and now realize there aren’t too many from our area at UA.</p>
<p>??? Do you mean from Upstate NY…or from the NE in general. Actually, there are a good number of Bama students from the NE. The state of NY sends a good number of kids to Bama, as do other neighboring states from the NE region.</p>
<p>Your child will not experience some kind of odd “culture shock”. There may be a few different popular foods here (BBQ is big), and some different regional stores, but there are many, many national chains here as well. The people here are friendly. Now, that may be shocking for those who come from areas where people don’t say “hi”, ignore you, or give lousy customer service. lol </p>
<p>Alabama has many, many OOS students. This year’s frosh class is 55% OOS and the entire campus is approaching 50% OOS. </p>
<p>As for people thinking that your son could “do better.” They probably don’t realize that Bama is ranked equal or higher than all the SUNYs, so just ignore their comments. </p>
<p>Occasionally, there is this crazy rumor that NE kids don’t do well in Greek systems, but that’s just not true. If a student wants to pledge and “does his homework” to find out what the procedure is, then he’ll likely pledge. I imagine that if ANY student arrived on campus in August without doing any “homework”, (especially girls who need recs), that student wouldn’t do well…but that has nothing to do with region, that’s because the student didn’t do what needed to get done.</p>
<p>Here are the enrollment numbers of some of the NE & Mid-Atlantic states…</p>
<p>Connecticut ---------------- 51
Delaware ---------------- 10
District of Columbia ---------------- 3<br>
Maryland ---------------- 86
New Hampshire ---------------- 17
New Jersey ---------------- 87
New York ---------------- 62
Ohio ---------------------------- 94
Pennsylvania ---------------- 111<br>
Rhode Island ---------------- 11</p>
<p>As a southerner living in New England, I can tell you that your son will be fine. To be honest, I would hesitate sending a southern kid to the northeast, but going the other way is no problem. When my son got to his southern school, he was shocked, “Mom, people actually come up to you and talk to you!”</p>
<p>In general, New Englanders don’t respect schools in the south. Their loss, as far as I’m concerned. After living up here 26 years, I try to let it roll off my back, but the attitude still surprises me.</p>
<p>To be honest, I would hesitate sending a southern kid to the northeast</p>
<p>lol…Yes, this can be VERY true…and not just southern kids, Calif kids as well. My Calif sister’s kids are at two univ…one is at a NE univ and the other is at a southern univ. The son at the NE complains that no one says “hi” or acknowledges him at all (he’d leave, but he’s playing a sport there). The one at the southern school walks thru his campus and feels very welcomed.</p>
<p>Though our family has southern roots (originally from Alabama/Mississippi) we now reside in Northern Virginia.
Our DD was accepted at UVA, but chose to attend UA. Her experience speaks for ALL UA can bring to the table if you let it.
She had a Sustainabilty internship with Aramark, she had a summer internship in NYC with Coach, Inc (yes she got an amazing discount) and after graduation last May she started in a Leadership program ranked in the top 20 by Fortune magazine…aka…she is gainfully employed and very happy.
Our DS is now a freshman and loving every day, doing well academically and socially.
Bottomline…at the end of the day, if your son wants a great university with professors and staff that care, and a bright future…UA fits the bill!</p>
<p>It’s funny - I see frequent posts about northerners wondering if they should send kids south, but I don’t see similar posts from southerners considering sending their kids north. Well, I guess there are some, but it’s usually in reference to cold weather, not culture!</p>
<p>We are from Rochester, and yeah - I am surprised to even have to worry about these things. I agree northerners are ‘colder’ than southerners in general and I think he will do great. I was kind of surprised to see how low the OOS numbers from the north were, why don’t more kids like mine take advantage of the very generous merit aid? That is what it really is coming down to. Suny can’t touch that, and sorry, I do not understand the $30K a year tuition bill many in our town don’t even seem to blink at. But now I get what is happening, no one in school besides son is even looking south. Fools HE will be an accounting major, I am really thinking this will be great for him and he will quickly forget that he isn’t around ‘yankees’…</p>
<p>It’s funny - I see frequent posts about northerners wondering if they should send kids south, but I don’t see similar posts from southerners considering sending their kids north. Well, I guess there are some, but it’s usually in reference to cold weather, not culture!</p>
<p>I know!! As someone who is from friendly Southern Calif and friendly Alabama, the concern should be the other way around. </p>
<p>Actually the OOS numbers from the north aren’t really “low”. Most students attend a school within 300 miles from their home. Once you get outside that radius, the numbers drop dramatically. The fact that Bama has the OOS numbers that it does (from non-bordering states) is actually very good.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! I have learned alot on CC, and never would have even found Alabama if it weren’t for these threads, I am really optimistic he will know when we get there for our visit that it will be a great fit for him. I hope he can rep the north well!!!</p>
<p>upstate, he might just want to leave his Yankee shirts and baseball caps at home, lol! “Yankee” is still a fighting word down south (unless it’s changed since I moved away!).</p>
<p>I never would have found Alabama either without these boards. S would have ended up at Hopkins or Lehigh or one of the other elite schools that accepted him. Instead he is blazing a trail as a Long Islander in Alabama. Meanwhile, he’s loving the classes, loving the sports, loving the people, loving the life. And with his full scholarship, I’m loving the bill. So far, everything is great. All that remains to be seen is job potential, but it’s way too early for that. </p>
<p>He didn’t even bring his Yankees caps to UA. Though, for some inexplicable reason, that moron says he likes the Cubs. Let’s see where his true colors are over the coming weeks. Yankee season starts in October.</p>
<p>upstate13, don’t worry about a thing. My son is now a junior and absolutely loves UA. We are from Hawaii. When he entered UA he prayed that he’d meet kids from California and/or NY, thinking that they would somehow be his kind of (liberal) peeps. Within weeks he made fabulous friends. Guess what? All but one (a fellow NMF from Ohio) were from the deep South, most of them from Alabama. I’ll never forget what he told me: “Dad, I’ve learned that people are people.”</p>
<p>As for the fraternity thing, don’t worry about that either. My son and his Ohio buddy faced no issue joining their fraternity or becoming officers therein.</p>
<p>There are some southern universities that are very popular with students from NY and New England. The University of South Carolina is sometimes [jokingly] referred to as SUNY-Columbia in reference to this.</p>
<p>While the merit scholarships are very real, very valuable, and perfectly acceptable to mention as reasons as to why one chose to attend UA, the scholarships are more of a marketing tool to get students to visit UA and hopefully attend. UA is already experiencing the phenomenon of having the siblings of children who attend(ed) UA due to a large scholarship also attend UA despite not getting as large of, if any, scholarship.</p>
<p>While I will readily admit UA’s flaws and offer constructive criticism, I cannot see myself attending any other university over the past 3+ years. What began as seeing a few posts on CC and happening to meet a representative at a college fair in Seattle who encouraged me to visit campus has evolved into a magnificent experience that will provide me with memories for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>HI Upstate 13…we are from Chicago and I had some of the same concerns that you did and while they are very valid, I can tell you that they are unfounded.</p>
<p>My D and her roommate, who is from San Diego are both Greek and while they are girls, trust me they have had lots of contact w/ pledges in the fraternity’s. She has met and had game dates with boys from PA and one from Chicago. She has friends in RCS from NY, and Ohio. She has met boys from all over and told us that while fraternity pledging is time consuming, every one of the boys she has talked to has told her that it is worth it and they love it.</p>
<p>She does take a lot of friendly grief about her ‘accent’. And they do ask her to say certain words, like Chicago, sausage, etc. But it is all in fun and she loves it. </p>
<p>She is going to Nicaragua with the Greek Mission Trip right after finals are done. A house has been built that has been funded by UA Greeks and these kids will help finish it, dedicate it and throw a Christmas party for the kids living in the Mission. I am very impressed w/ this project and proud that she is going.</p>
<p>Cute story: Last night I went to Midway to pick up my daughter and her roommate. They came off the security line in red shirts. One had ROLL across the front and the other had TIDE. So standing next to each other it read ROLL TIDE! They are as passionate about Bama after 2 months on campus as they would be if they were raised there. But it is not just about football. Many have told you about the amazing opportunites that are here and they really are. My D is on Freshman Forum, Emerging Scholars, plays soccer (IM) and is Greek. She is double minoring because of the generous acceptance of AP credits that UA has. </p>
<p>I am grateful every day for the community that led us to UA. Make sure that you take your son to the Bear Bryant museum while you are on campus. It explains a lot about the passion for the man and for football. The movie that they show right when you walk in is worth watching.</p>
<p>Have a great visit and don’t hesitate to ask questions here. </p>
<p>Bingo! My son’s experience as well. This is college as it was meant to be (and I say this as a dyed-in-the-wool blue and gold alum of Cal Berkeley).</p>
<p>*She does take a lot of friendly grief about her ‘accent’. And they do ask her to say certain words, like Chicago, sausage, etc. But it is all in fun and she loves it. *</p>
<p>lol…I tease my Chicago-suburb H about the way he says, “college” and “doll”. Oh, and it took awhile, but he’s finally learned not to say “southmore” for “sophmore” (that was weird…don’t know if that was a regional thing or what…and yes, he went to college…grad school, too).</p>
<p>^^^ LOL M2CK One other thing she is trying to stop is saying “Pop” for soda. Down South it seems that everything is a Coke. Light Coke, Dark Coke. It’s is definately a regional thing. D says Pop. One day a little Southern girl turned and looked at D and said “I’ve always heard that some people call it pop, but I’ve never actually heard anyone say it”. She could not wait to call me and tell me.</p>
<p>Also, if you are from the Chicago/Midwest - Y’all replaces ‘You Guys’.</p>
HE will be an accounting major, I am really thinking this will be great for him and he will quickly forget that he isn’t around ‘yankees’…</p>
She has met and had game dates with boys from PA and one from Chicago. She has friends in RCS from NY, and Ohio. She has met boys from all over and told us that while fraternity pledging is time consuming, every one of the boys she has talked to has told her that it is worth it and they love it.</p>