Am I the only one who doesn't care about rankings?

<h2>cptofthehouse >>>…That is the drawback of putting your child in a school like the Un of Alabama that I am sure is a great school for those who know it and are in the area. To stick a kid there from, say NY, may not be a great idea unless there is some connection there already. The flagship would be preferable because it has a more cohesive college community there, and more kids from elsewhere. <<<</h2>

<p>FYI 24% of students at UA come from other states - that is roughly 1 in 4. Also, many of the “in-staters” are also originally from other states (like my kids - we are Californians who moved to AL a few years ago). </p>

<p>On Wednesday, my younger son (a senior in high school) and I got to “sit in” on a couple of honors classes at UA. Since honors classes are small (not to exceed 15 students), the profs had each student introduce him/herself and to say where each was from. These kids came from all different parts of the country, and a few came from Europe, Africa, China, and Japan.</p>

<p>So… I can see that it would be easy for a “New Yawker” to think that UA is filled with a bunch of local yokels, but it is not. And if you were to view (available online) where many/most of its profs come from, you will see a lot of HYP’s on the list. And… UAH (our local state uni) also has MANY students from out-of-state “blue states” because it is often cheaper to go there, then to one’s own in-state school - and because UAH has such strong Engineering, Comp Sci, and Physics departments (and better winter weather :wink: )</p>