<p>sacchi, the latest freshman class at Michigan was 40% OOS and 5% international. Besides, there are 750 undergrads from NJ and another 1,250 or so from NY currently enrolled at Michigan. Finally, you would be amazed how many in-state students at schools like UNC and Michigan hate the fact that they know many of their fellow in-state students. Many actually choose to avoid them and make an extra effort to make friends with OOS and international students. </p>
<p>As such, I don’t think geographic diversity was the problem. Your friend either did not adjust well to change or did not get involved in the 1,000 or plus student organizations. </p>
<p>This said, many students at public universities will remain within their comfort zone and as such, OOS and international students will have to make a slightly greater effort to make friends. This is not the case only at public universities. Some private universities, like Cornell, Stanford and Rice, have large in-state populations and OOS and international students at those schools feel the same effect. WUSTL is definitely very diverse. Only 10% come from the state and only another 30% from from the region. The 30% figure is very important. People often draw the line at in-state vs OOS, but the fact is, most students at most universities, private or public, will come from IS and neighboring states. That is not the case with WUSTL, were over 50% come from distant states. But like I said, I do not think a student need worry about making friends at any university. College students are, by their very nature, curious and friendly.</p>