If you’re anything like me, you love the warmth, so much so that you’ll want to spend your college years away from bipolar Maryland weather and into a place where you can develop a tan just by walking to class.
I visited seven colleges over spring break, and can confirm that schools in the south are superior to any other part of the country. Although traveling from state to state over the span of 10 days was exhausting, and I recommend students space out their college visits, I learned about the differences between southern culture and Maryland.
The first difference I noticed was how nice everyone was. Whether it was tour guides, campus staff or restaurant waiters, everyone I encountered seemed to have a similar genuineness about them. Experiencing southern hospitality for the first time was somewhat of a culture shock, but I can’t say I’m mad about it. It made my experience more enjoyable and left me excited about the idea of living there.
I visited a good mix of schools in terms of size and spirit. The highly populated schools were exactly what you would expect – huge, crowded, and peppy. I specifically got this vibe from the University of South Carolina, which has a population of about 30,000 undergraduate students. The school not only has a massive stadium and a beautiful campus, it has hundreds of clubs and organizations to get involved with, countless events and spirit beyond belief.
Alternatively, the smaller schools I visited surprised me, like Elon University and College of Charleston. Although the schools were not massive in population size, they didn’t feel intimidating. Most of them offered the same opportunities as the bigger schools, only they prioritized community and small class sizes. At first glance, a small school may not seem like it has much to offer in terms of social life, but many of them had a large Greek life percentage and unique chances to try something new.
The actual tours and tour guides themselves played a part in my perception of the school. I had some amazing guides who made me feel like that particular school was the perfect fit, and others that made me dislike the campus and almost everything the school had to offer. It is possible however that the weather played into this. There were rainy days, sunny days and cloudy days, so I tried to separate my first impressions from poor weather conditions, as well as the tour guides’ presentations.
As I mentioned earlier, I noticed tons of cultural differences between Maryland and the south in the colleges I toured. The athletics, Greek life and partying specifically caught my attention. These southern schools party hard – they have tailgates, intense sorority and fraternity culture and hundreds of traditions that you would only know if you attended the school. Personally, one of the main things I value in a college is the social life, so I was delightfully surprised when each tour guide explained their school’s passion for a social atmosphere.
After my tours, I have a much clearer understanding of the environment I want. I now feel that I can add, remove and put a question mark next to schools on my list based on my preferences from my tours. Ultimately, this trip solidified my desire to attend college in the south, particularly at a school with enthusiastic culture and a warm climate.
