It’s the end of October, which means that there’s only one thing on every senior’s mind: college applications. 

Last year, the graduating class of 2024 ventured out to a lot of new southern schools, including Auburn University in Alabama, the University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University. As the class of 2025 saw students from last year’s graduating class venture down South, it’s become a trend for the class of 2025 to apply to schools down south.

 “A lot of kids want to go down south and apply to schools down south because it’s very trendy,” Sam Williams ‘24, a current freshman at the University of Tennessee said. “I think the idea of going down south seems very fun.”

Although it’s trendy to apply to schools down south, the South gained popularity in recent years through football. 

“In 2022, when the University of Tennessee beat the University of Alabama in football, the SEC, and specifically Tennessee, got a lot of internet attention, and it kind of romanticized southern culture, especially the SEC, the big state schools, the greek life, the parties, and the tailgates. I think that was really attractive to a lot of students. It’s kind of like the big 10 in the midwest but heightened to another level and add that southern charm to it.,” Ben Ruppert ‘24, a current freshman at Vanderbilt University, said.

Alongside the popularity gained by many Southern colleges, Greek life and “‘Bama” rush specifically became very popular through social media in recent years. Since many want to find friends in college, Greek life at southern universities seems like a great way to find community.

The magnitude of Greek life rush is portrayed to be a lot more significant at southern schools, particularly what is presented on Tik-Tok.

Another popular reason why many students want to venture down South is for a change in weather.

“I want to go south because I hate the cold and I want to go somewhere warm,” Mollie Brandstadt ‘25 said.

Although applying down south is gaining popularity, some schools are more popular than others. 

“A lot of people really want to go to Auburn, along with Tennessee and Georgia,” Brandstadt said. 

In addition, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Mississippi, and Clemson University are among some of the most popular schools to apply to. 

Even though it’s trendy to apply down south, it’s not certain that all students applying down south will go.  

“There were about 60 kids in my grade that applied to Tennessee and only 3 ended up going,” Williams said. 

Students applying down south should be aware of some changes they might not consider when applying, such as a difference in culture. 

“The one thing to be aware of when considering going down south is that it’s a big culture change especially if you go to a state school. The majority of the students are from that state. It’s not that they’re bad in any way, but the culture is different so that’s something to be aware of,” Ruppert said. 

Along with a culture change, students should also be aware of the decreasing acceptance rates for out-of-state students. 

“It’s getting harder for people in the midwest to go down south because a lot of southern schools are trying to get more in-state students to go there,” Brandstadt said.

Ultimately, it’s likely that quite a few students will be going down South for this upcoming year. 

“If you have your heart set on going far, then you can go far,” Williams said.