Sorry, Harvard. Everyone Wants to Go to College in the South Now

[Midnighter]

They may be excited about Davidson but unless they are 1 or 2 in their class with 1360+ on their SAT they aren’t getting in

 

[razpsu]

Penn state sucks on what it gives as far as aid. Plain and simple. Southern schools including Duke giving a ton of aid to students.
so my girls are southerners. Stay away Bob.
one had to go to psu because we “brainwashed her” she said. Very little aid even for schreyers. Paying a ton.

the other hates the cold and went to Duke. They gave her a lot of aid! Which offsets my daughter that went to psu.
the third wants to go to psu.

Sc Clemson give full rides for in state students as well as
Some nc schools as well. They consider Carolinas as one.

 

[Big_O]

Call it what it is. Southern chicks are hot.

I found that out in the late 1970s. When we were helping to move my sister into Vanderbilt for her freshman year, there were hot coeds everywhere. I thought to myself, WTF didn’t I think about the southern schools? I’m at Penn State with 2 to 1 male to female ratio and crappy weather during a lot of the school year.

My older daughter chose UF because the weather, great engineering department and reminded her of a ”Penn State South.” Then she went to GA Tech for her doctorate. We tried to talk our younger daughter into going south but she chose BGSU because it was close to home. After a year of college she tells me she made a mistake and should have gone to a school in the south, but was stuck there now.

 

[TheTwistedFrog]

Selling the experience, man that’s rich. That article sounds like it was written by someone who’s never actually set foot on these campuses or attended a live sporting event in their lives.

Furthermore, why would any school leave money on the table by offering in state tuition? Hmmmmm. Could it be because their primary education systems are abysmal and they can’t produce enough people with the skills needed for a modern economy? Nah. Can’t be. Southern states taking shortcuts is crazy right.

And as far as “escaping the political polarization”, bloody hell that’s a gut buster. Might as well just say that this generation of Charmin parents can’t stand the idea of their precious tykes being exposed to any ideas that run counter to their own views.

 

[IrishHerb]

It's hard to find stats that I'm 100% confident in. If you Google the subject, different sites give different top 10s.

Using the U.S. News site, the Stats for 2024:

1	UCLA	108,877
2	UC-San Diego	100,073
3	UC-Irvine	97,942
4	UC-Santa Barbara	90,963
5	UC-Berkeley	88,076
6	NYU	80,210
7	UC-Davis	76,225
8	PSU (University Park)	73,861
9	Cal State-Long Beach	67,402
10	Michigan (Ann Arbor)	65,021

When you look at the % of applicants that are accepted ... this is from back in 2018 ...

SCHOOL (STATE)		FALL 2018 ACCEPTANCE RATE		U.S. NEWS RANK AND CATEGORY
University of California—Los Angeles		14%		20, National Universities
University of California—Berkeley		15%		22 (tie), National Universities
University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill		22%		29 (tie), National Universities
Georgia Institute of Technology		23%		29 (tie), National Universities
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor		23%		25 (tie), National Universities
University of Virginia		26%		28, National Universities
University of California—Irvine		29%		36, National Universities
University of California—San Diego		30%		37 (tie), National Universities
University of California—Santa Barbara		32%		34 (tie), National Universities
San Diego State University		34%		147 (tie), National Universities
Texas A&M University—Commerce		34%		293-381, National Universities
College of William and Mary (VA)		37%		40 (tie), National Universities
Florida State University		37%		57 (tie), National Universities
CUNY—City College (NY)		38%		228 (tie), National Universities
Florida A&M University		39%		254 (tie), National Universities
University of Florida		39%		34 (tie), National Universities
University of Texas—Austin		39%		48 (tie), National Universities
Binghamton University—SUNY (NY)		40%		79 (tie), National Universities
University of California—Davis		41%		39, National Universities
Stony Brook University—SUNY (NY)		42%		91 (tie), National Universities

 

[Lion84]

South Carolina is a good example of what I referenced in my reply about Southern schools making themselves more appealing, financially. My kids had several friends that attended USCe. The friends were in the top 10% of their high school classes. USCe gave them in-state tuition based on their academic performance in high school. I believe they had to maintain a 3.0 at USCe to keep that benefit, but I'm not certain about that.

Daughter was accepted at USCe which most kids are - not that hard to get in and neighber had all 3 kids go there but now with #3 they have cut back on aid and no instate tuition so that $50K is about right - daughter is at PSU as a Freshman in Kinesiology and lives it - $17,800 per semester all in so not that bad - PSU does get kids from all over as well. But trend of kids from the North going South is real.

 

[retsio]

Didn’t read the article, but did they mention acceptance rates for Southern schools compared to the Northeast, Mid Atlantic, or West Coast? Aside from Vanderbilt (7%), the next lowest acceptance rate for an SEC school is Florida at 30% - and it gets much, much higher from there. Georgia is attractive because it’s more affordable and they accept 40%; Bama and LSU are over 70%, Kentucky is a whopping 94%. My guess is the ACC is more competitive.

Worth noting that seven of the most applied to schools in the country are UC schools (UCLA #1 overall); Penn State, NYU, and Northeastern (which has a jaw droppingly low single digit acceptance rate) are in there with Michigan, Boston University, USC, and Cornell.

A rather simple concept the SEC has noticed and is implementing - improve academics. The reason why is also noticeable - the Big Ten as a nationwide competitor has schools with better academic rankings and attracts high number of qualified applicants.

Case in point - my oldest Grandson is a senior at Ravenswood HS in Franklin, TN, suburb of Nashville and a very high influence by Vanderbilt. He has had all AP courses for 2 years plus and will be at or near the very top of his class. He received a full academic ride to USMA and turned it down (he has been #1 in JROTC for 2 years), will not attend Duke since they do not credit AP courses. TN has social volunteer requirements for all grades in HS and must be included in academic reporting. Several SEC schools are offering 4 year academic scholarships for the best students in high school classes all over the South - Bama, Georgia among them. U of Florida is hard to get into, but Florida State does offer FL residents lessor qualification standards.
Of course this will be his decision, he does not want cold weather, and since we have been in Naples, FL for 20+ years - our Penn State influence will not deter him.

 

[Steve JG]

Living and working in Auburn, I can tell you this trend is really. It should worry TPTB at Penn State....especially those running the branch campuses. Highly recommend reading the whole article, I just posted a couple of excerpts.

www.wsj.com /us-news/education/sorry-harvard-everyone-wants-to-go-to-college-in-the-south-now-235d7934

A growing number of high-school seniors in the North are making an unexpected choice for college: They are heading to Clemson, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Alabama and other universities in the South. Students say they are searching for the fun and school spirit emanating from the South on their social-media feeds. Their parents cite lower tuition and less debt, and warmer weather. College counselors also say many teens are eager to trade the political polarization ripping apart campuses in New England and New York for the sense of community epitomized by the South’s football Saturdays. Promising job prospects after graduation can sweeten the pot.

The number of Northerners going to Southern public schools went up 84% over the past two decades, and jumped 30% from 2018 to 2022, a Wall Street Journal analysis of the latest available Education Department data found.

Mitch Savalli drove 15 hours with his parents in a rented white Lincoln Navigator from his home in North Bellmore, N.Y., on Long Island, to Atlanta for his freshman year at Georgia Tech. A few weeks later he was walking from the grocery store to his dorm with a bouquet of flowers for the woman he was taking to a fraternity event when the reality of his new surroundings dawned on him.

“Five people stopped me and told me how kind it was and what a sweet gesture I was making,” he said. “No way would that have happened in New York.”

At the University of South Carolina in Columbia, Alicia Caracciolo, a junior, said it takes her about two weeks to acclimate to the pace of the South every time she returns from her home in New York. At the grocery store she reminds herself to pause and slow down. “If you go and you don’t end up learning something about the cashier, you did it wrong,” she said.

Not sure I would include Ga Tech in with other southern and SEC schools. Tech very competitive to get into and very demanding academically. More in line with CMU and MIT level academic standards. Not a place to go if you are interested in Southern college experience. And since implementation Hope scholarship even tougher to get into. Even UGA standards have increased significantly with Hope. One of my kids graduated undergrad and PhD from Ga Tech in mechanical engineering (PhD with 4.0 BTW) and their experience every bit as rigorous and demanding as mine was at CMU.

 

[Bwifan]

South Carolina is a good example of what I referenced in my reply about Southern schools making themselves more appealing, financially. My kids had several friends that attended USCe. The friends were in the top 10% of their high school classes. USCe gave them in-state tuition based on their academic performance in high school. I believe they had to maintain a 3.0 at USCe to keep that benefit, but I'm not certain about that.

Or just move to FL and pay $7,000 per annual for resident students in their state university's. Amazing to me you can get a 4 year degree in FL for less than 1 year at PSU

 

[Rick76]

if kids go to college in the south, they will probably stay in the south - because that's where the jobs are heading (and have been for a while).

 

[Midnighter]

if kids go to college in the south, they will probably stay in the south - because that's where the jobs are heading (and have been for a while).

US News and World Report 'Strongest Job Markets' 2024; about 8/25 are in the South:

25. Lincoln, Nebraska
24. Manchester, New Hampshire
23. Honolulu
22. Charlotte, North Carolina
21. Raleigh, North Carolina
20. Portland, Oregon
19. Virginia Beach, Virginia
18. Atlanta
17. Salt Lake City
16. Boise, Idaho
15. Portland, Maine
14. Boulder, Colorado
13. Washington, D.C.
12. Greenville, South Carolina
11. Denver
10. Madison, Wisconsin
9. Austin, Texas
8. Ann Arbor, Michigan
7. San Jose, California
6. Santa Barbara, California
5. Charleston, South Carolina
4. Sarasota, Florida
3. Naples, Florida
2. Seattle
1. San Francisco

 

[LB99]

Or just move to FL and pay $7,000 per annual for resident students in their state university's. Amazing to me you can get a 4 year degree in FL for less than 1 year at PSU

yeah, but then you live in FL 🫤

Florida man….

 

[WVilleLion23]

I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time on a bunch of SEC campuses. The amount of stunning looking young ladies is insane.