<p>
[quote]
For my S1, Duke is the only elite school he did not bother to consider seriously for that reason: because the rest of the top 10 schools are in areas where he will fit better. For my S2 (at Bucknell), he never considered applying to anything below the Mason Dixon line.[\quote]</p>
<p>To be fair to places like Duke and UNC: I’m a Bucknell alumus, and am at Duke for my PhD. Durham and Chapel Hill (and Carrboro) are ‘southern’ cities only by virtue of their geography. It is a rare day when I meet someone who was actually born in the Carolinas. The vast majority of people I meet, whether working at restaurants, in and around town, etc, are transplanted northerners, usually from New York, Boston, or other large city. There’s a Whole Foods and farmer’s market within spitting distance of Duke’s campus, for heaven’s sake! ;)</p>
<p>I’m sorry to say, because I really like Lewisburg, but I get the sense that the religious conservatives and others who live in and around Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, Northumberland, Sunbury, etc. are <em>far</em> more intolerant than anyone I’ve met in the cities around Duke. That said, if you drive thirty minutes into the rural areas around Raleigh-Durham, all bets are off.</p>
<p><em>Off-topic fact</em>: I was a TA as a BU senior, and I remember a few displaced Tulane kids who were at Bucknell.</p>