<p>You mean UNC is 82 percent North Carolinian, not 88.</p>
<p>Take it from a Northeast native now living in NOVA – they are not the same thing. More than that, many of the counties that William and Mary and other Virginia state colleges consider NOVA (as determined by SCHEV, Virginia’s higher education commission) are far removed from Washington, D.C. and have a distinct southern feel to them that you’re not going to find in New York. The same might even be said about the western and southern parts of close-in Fairfax County! It’s really only once you’re inside the beltway do you find something close to what might be a northeast flavor. </p>
<p>Similarly, NC has for years been one of the fastest growing states in the country and is now among the top ten largest in terms of population. It’s a big state both in terms of area and population, and many of its newcomers are from, you guessed it, the northeast. </p>
<p>You really can’t define what people are like either by the state where they’re currently living or by what region in Virginia William and Mary and other Virginia state colleges consider them to be from. The key point is that both William and Mary and UNC are excellent state schools in the south with distinctly southern feels but plenty of northerners; both have lots of school spirit and active social scenes; and neither has a distinct advantage over the other when it comes to non-southerners or out of staters “feeling at home.”</p>