What’s that got to do with anything. I went to Syracuse. It’s arguably the best journalism school in the country. We were #1. Tulane has been #1. Wisconsin. UCSB. Colgate. USC.
It’s meaningless.
Again I’m not advocating Bama over any other. I’m sure all state flagships are solid whether Nebraska, Oregon, Iowa or otherwise.
@James_West started with it seems like more are going to Bama from their NE area schools the discussion went in that direction. I just provided info I had.
I’m not a homer for Bama. My son wouldn’t even look there but went with three friends on college visit or job shadow day. He fell in love with the insane dorm (ridgecrest) and their engineering quad.
I simply was sharing articles and my thoughts as to why this is.
I guess the 900+ national merit finalists think so. As you point out, 25% have high ACTs…31+. Yes it’s an easy admit. Yes their astrobotics team is one of the tops in the nation. Yes they have many a student there that couldn’t get into top schools. No different than an Arizona. Or Colorado etc.
Again the initial post was related to a comment about the school being regularly on the list in the NE.
So the discussion has been why ?
That’s all
If you want to mock the school go ahead. But if easy to get into was the answer, there’s a lot of schools even closer to the northeast that would work for these students
There are kids from our SF Bay Area school that go to Alabama. The one I know well went because he was a music performance major and one of the top instructors on his instrument taught there. There are usually as many reasons for students to choose a school as there are students. And BTW he got great merit aid, loved his time there and is living somewhere around there post graduation.
Since Alabama apparently was attractive to some due to its large scholarships, the recent shrinking of the scholarships may have reduced its appeal somewhat. The out-of-state scholarships for 3.5 HS GPA / 32 ACT used to be value of tuition, but now is a fixed amount somewhat lower than tuition (so it does not track tuition increases now). National Merit Finalists still get the value of tuition plus housing and more.
I think a parallel school to Bama, also with huge merit but not quite as lucrative unless a 4.0 bur also a large (but not as large) OOS contingent is Arizona.
According to college factual it’s feeder states include #3 Illinois, 6 NJ, #8 NY and #9 PA.
It’s pretty straightforward why Alabama (and other large southern publics) is popular with students from the north. They are bringing in top students with the national merit finalist scholarships, basically on close to a full ride. That helps raise the stats and profile of the university.
Then there are a ton of “good” (not great) students from upper middle-class homes in the Northeast who’s parents cannot afford to send them to Fordham, GW, Syracuse etc at sticker price… These sticker prices have become untenable for the mildly rich. So they can go to Bama or Clemson or University of SC etc. For 25k per year less than these other schools at sticker price. Plus get a good education, go somewhere different, watch amazing football (and get that football experience), AND enjoy the warm weather. It’s a win-win-win for everyone. The kids in the northeast (for some reason) just don’t like going to their state flagship. Maybe it’s because the states are so small and they feel like they are not far away enough from home. The mid ranked universities and Catholic colleges are just too expensive for kids that are not ranked in the top 20% of the admission pool (those kids get merit/discounts) and even at a family income of 250k in NY or MA or CT, many people can’t (or won’t) pull off 80k a year for a middling private. At 50k sticker all in (likely cheaper once kid moves off campus after sophomore year), that’s a savings of 30k per year!
I hate to say it but the hyper restrictive covid policies in the North have made these Southern schools even more appealing to students from up here. College kids don’t care about covid and they hate the restrictions. They see all their friends on social media that went South and were having a great time last year while they were stuck at home doing remote College, some for both semesters of 2020/2021 + Spring 2020 (looking at you GW).
IN has two public flagships - IU and Purdue. They both have different strengths. Instate tuition is very reasonable (not like IL). Both run around $20K/year inclusive of room and board for instate residents. I can’t speak for IU, but Purdue also has good merit aid for instate applicants.
Of course some majors at Purdue are getting much more competitive so even instate applicants are getting shut out and needing to look elsewhere.
Agree but one thing. I think covid was pretty similar no matter where you were…not in society but on campus.
Classes were all on zoom. Dining halls were grab and go. Only in the last weeks did my sons and daughters schools go sans mask….Bama and Charleston and I’m told professors have asked kids to continue.
But you are right that kids don’t let that impact their social lives. Away from class they can be reckless but I’m sure that’s the case up north too.
Btw…I can’t speak for Clemson but at Bama, U of SC the kids going aren’t paying yhe $50k sticker. They’re bringing down the smart kids. Bama…Those with a 29 act and 3.5 are half tuition or a 30 and 3.0. U of SC is aggressive. Not southern but Miami of Ohio another.
U of AZ less aggressive after the top kids.
These schools have parents with money. As you said why pay $80k if you don’t have to, even if you can afford it. BMW and MB are everywhere in Tuscaloosa, which btw has a lovely campus but is not a nice town.
Even 2nd and 3rd tier privates discount though. Call it merit aid. If you can go to Gtown and American wants you they need to pay or fail. Same with an Elon vs Duke. Elon is less merit. They just cut tuition. Or a school like Hendrix. You got into Tulane. How bout we set your tuition at in state rates.
If you are paying full pop today you are either uninformed, super wealthy and don’t care, going to a directional, believe the marketing/hype, or will do anything for mommy or daddy’s little girl. Or maybe someone who isn’t good with money and will be under constant stress in retirement from not saving enough. And I know I’m missing a whole host of things
I don’t think this was true at all. Last Fall when D was on campus, 3/4 of her courses were in person. The one that wasn’t still allowed students to gather to watch the lecture together. It certainly wasn’t “normal” but it wasn’t as restrictive as a lot of other schools. Reading through the covid and college thread shows a big discrepancy.
Yes I’m sure school dependent no matter where. But I don’t think the generalization given of the south was correct, not at my soms or friends schools. Society yes. But not campus.
Edited to add this year is much different. Think a year ago our kids were locked up. And some schools. UNC. Bama had no choice. They started horribly. I’m not sure my son had any in person class in fall of 20 and few if any in spring 21. Even the end of Spring 20 was like a jail.
Not to talk politics but we r beginning another wave. I’m hopeful with the high vaccination rates at many colleges it can be managed with little harm. Both my kids want to get their boosters when home next week.
Well I said “good” students, not “bad”. Meaning the kids that would not fall in the top 20% at GW (George Washington), but would fall in the 20-50% of admissions there. They are not getting any meaning merit at GW, Syracuse, etc, with a 29 ACT and a 3.5. Yes, they may get something at Bama, but assuming they don’t, parents are happy to pay sticker and save.
My D has several friends at Bama and other southern schools, the restrictions were not even close to what was going on up here. They still aren’t. If your kids have always been at southern schools, you may not have lived it like we did with kids up here. At my Ds college, doors had to be open in dorms all through fall 2020 and most of spring 2021 with no more than 3 kids in a dorm room and masks on. IN THE DORM room. And it was enforced. No sports, zero activities (all Greek life was zoom only, not allowed to meet in person at all even outside). Mandatory bi-weekly testing. It’s not even close to the same.
Did I mention that GW and many other schools up here were CLOSED to students March 2020-August 2021?
I agree with this, and there have also been a wide range of covid policies this year, even though many classes are in person. Some schools required masks indoors and outdoors, grab and go only meals, clubs can meet in zoom only, spectators limited at sporting events, etc.
Some of the southern schools had far fewer restrictions to start with and have loosened them even more, from 80,000 people at football games to no masks required anywhere now (like at Tulane). I agree that high schoolers are paying attention to these policies and will act according to their preferences.
