<p>I’m absolutely in love with UVA and definitely am applying there as my top choice. I’m an OOS from NY and i love virginia but i hear there is a culture clash at UVA for northerners who go there. I recently heard a friend of a friend hated it and transferred out just because of this (i actually heard this from multiple people). I truly don’t understand how someone could possibly hate it there. I know it’s greatly populated by VA residents, who possibly have a traditional/southern way of living but why would this be a problem? (I’m so open to different ways of living/cultures but would this seriously be a problem for me?) How is it even different?</p>
<p>Can someone please confirm or refute this ‘culture clash’ issue? And how is UVA different from the north/NY? </p>
<p>Any insight/info on this would be really appreciated! thanks :)</p>
<p>sorry i didnt mean that to sound offensive but considering no one else is answering my question on here i can just go by what i’ve heard!..and i know its split and NoVA residents are completely different from Southern Virginia residents</p>
<p>but it IS greatly populated by VA residents…</p>
<p>Na, don’t worry about the whole culture clash thing. I was raised in South Florida, and then moved to NoVa when i was 18. Although South Fl. is obviously in the south, it is not even close to being southern. Same with NoVa since it is extremely diverse.</p>
<p>Anyways, i just transfered to UVa this fall so i’ve only been here for 2 weeks but i have not seen any culture clashing at all. I have made a lot of friends and many are “southern”.
You just have to be willing to get to know these people and not just be timid because you are not “like them”. Be yourself and just act with people how you would act with those you know and you should be fine.
If you go in thinking that you are going to clash with those that are too “southern” then you probably will. Just remember they are kids just like you.</p>
<p>UVA has a super high retention rate! You must know every person who’s transferred out! ;)</p>
<p>I’m from Philly. There is a definite difference in people from RoVA/NoVA/OOS but for example the clubs I belong to are all mixed up in that respect. So it’s more about who you share interests with. Now there are some southern-only frats I’ve heard of but other than that I’ve never heard of clubs where only people from VA are members or vice versa. Most of my friends are from VA but that is okay with me! I spent my childhood in Fairfax so it doesn’t bother me. But it definitely is nothing like Philly so don’t expect it to be!</p>
<p>My brother goes to UMich, I have said this a lot before, and there actually is a culture clash between IS and OOS there, because they separate first year dorms by making the fancy ones cost more so obviously you can see where that leads. UVA tries to eliminate that kind of stuff as much as possible, all dorms cost the same, etc etc.</p>
<p>It would be helpful if you asked specific ways culture clashes, because it’s very vague and I feel you could argue both ways (for example the quality of academics there is definitely a clash, and maybe even socioeconomic status, but as far as people not associating with eachother because of where they are from, well that is not true at all).</p>
<p>I’m an NYCer and a Bostonian. I have not felt any culture class. In fact, I think many VA students are very happy to make friends from OOS (especially if they come from a school that regularly sends dozens of students here).</p>
<p>There is also a group of students that comes from government or military families and while those students may be Virginia residents, they’ve grown up in diverse schools and sometimes have been stationed abroad with their families.</p>
<p>I’m an OOS student from NC where it really is southern in a big time sort of way. I love UVA, but from my perspective it is very northern in substance, but that’s cool. The kids from NoVa are cosmopolitan, smart, culturally diverse, with most having that D.C. flare and exposure. I’ve never seen, nor experienced a culture clash of any sort, in fact, never even heard of it. There’s lots of OOS students here; one of my best friends is from Chicago, another from Dallas, TX.</p>
<p>Haha dont worry i didn’t even notice. Thanks so much everyone! Truthfully i didn’t believe this whole “culture clash” issue myself, my mom was the one who was concerned about it but now thanks to you guys i can reassure her :)</p>
But it definitely is nothing like Philly so don’t expect it to be!</p>
UVA tries to eliminate that kind of stuff as much as possible, all dorms cost the same, etc etc.</p>