One really has to wonder why more people don’t want those $15/hr jobs when 15x40x52 (no vacation) comes to $31,200 before taxes. Surely that’s enough to pay the bills… in some world or another.
Like I said - another bubble many don’t realize exists.
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They’re paying $15 bcuz they can’t pay $10 or $12. And some are realizing they can’t pay $15 either.
People have choices. For some it’s $30k or unemployment. For others, as you say it’s $30k is not enough.
Which is why I choose to tip those who choose to work regardless of where it is. I try to reward those working for a living or working for extra spending money. It doesn’t matter to me. They’ve chosen to work, and those jobs usually are “work.”
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Tip your barista! Always a good plan to tip any food service worker that allows tips. They are handling your food after all.
But I think I have derailed this thread. I’m still not sure what the point of the thread is? “Colleges that are bubbles”? I think all colleges are bubbles to a certain degree.
Are some more insular than others? Sure.
Is it bad if they are insular? I don’t know. I think it can be good, can be bad. Just depends on the situation.
My D22’s prospective school is a tiny bubble, but they have a requirement for service and community engagement, so students there are probably more engaged with the surrounding community and the world at large than students at many other colleges and universities.
I’d much prefer the no tipping route. Companies should just pay accordingly with no tipping allowed. Many countries outside the US do this and it’s just easier. Many of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area take this approach as well - you buy a ticket for their meal - you show up and that’s it.
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Yes it’s derailed.
You are right everything in life is a bubble. Even within the schools or the ‘cliques’.
But some schools operate this way….whether knowingly religious, by gender or otherwise. Others attempt to appeal to the masses. But they are still loaded with bubbles.
It started bcuz on a previous thread an op asked to rank three schools for their conservative Christian kid.
Furman.
Richmond.
Davidson
I gave that rank order and made the comment that too bad you want your kid in a bubble or something like that. I wasn’t referencing any school as a bubble but the family not wanting their child to experience the real world.
So I also went off topic :).
But we no longer have discussions in society. And it’s bothersome
We are just about taking away peoples rights….mainly from those who want ‘limited’ government. But I digress 
I think that in some cases the size of the school matters. Insular bubbles might more easily exist in smaller schools. Larger schools simply support more varied bubbles.
I guess it depends upon one’s friends and family. Tons of discussions where I live with those I interact with. Any topic is fair game.
We haven’t been assaulted by Russia yet to keep us in line (or North Korea or China). I hope it stays that way both from abroad and within.
Maybe, maybe not.
I just went over to Niche and picked out 4 colleges ranging in size from 30,000 to 1,000 undergrads, listed in descending order of undergraduate size: U. of Michigan, Harvard, Mercer (GA), and Presbyterian (SC). A larger enrollment might mean that there may be a larger number of students in a particular category than at a smaller school with a higher percentage, but the school with the higher percentage means one would be more likely to encounter that category in real life.
Some of the categories I found particularly interesting were % of Pell Grant recipients, household income distribution, and personal political association, though I thought there were interesting differences in all the categories.
U. of Michigan
30,204 undergrads
- 20% Pell Grant recipients
- 3% Varsity Athletes
- 50% Female/50% Male
- 1% over age 25
Household Income Levels
- 21% less than $30k
- 13% $30-48k
- 15% $49-75k
- 16% $76-110k
- 35% $110k+
Ethnic Diversity
- 4% African American
- 14% Asian
- 6% Hispanic
- 8% International
- 4% Multiracial
- 5% Unknown
- 60% White
Personal Political Association
- 13% Republican
- 42% Democrat
- 25% Independent
- 3% Other Party Not Mentioned
- 17% I don’t care about politics
Harvard
7,148 undergrads
- 17% Pell Grant recipients
- 16% Varsity Athletes
- 49% Female/51% Male
- 4% over age 25
Household Income Levels
- 16% less than $30k
- 22% $30-48k
- 28% $49-75k
- 10% $76-110k
- 25% $110k+
Ethnic Diversity
- 6% African American
- 16% Asian
- 11% Hispanic
- 18% International
- 5% Multiracial
- 3% Unknown
- 40% White
Personal Political Association
- 11% Republican
- 37% Democrat
- 33% Independent
- 19% I don’t care about politics
Mercer
4,260 undergrads
- 29% Pell Grant recipients
- 10% Varsity Athletes
- 61% Female/39% Male
- 16% over age 25
Household Income Levels
- 24% less than $30k
- 15% $30-48k
- 17% $49-75k
- 19% $76-110k
- 25% $110k+
Ethnic Diversity
- 31% African American
- 7% Asian
- 5% Hispanic
- 3% International
- 1% Multiracial
- 5% Unknown
- 46% White
Personal Political Association
- 19% Republican
- 26% Democrat
- 32% Independent
- 4% Other Party Not Mentioned
- 19% I don’t care about politics
Presbyterian College
1,041 undergrads
- 33% Pell Grant recipients
- 41% Varsity Athletes
- 51% Female/49% Male
- 0% over age 25
Household Income Levels
- 21% less than $30k
- 12% $30-48k
- 24% $49-75k
- 21% $76-110k
- 22% $110k+
Ethnic Diversity
- 12% African American
- 1% Asian
- 3% Hispanic
- 9% International
- 3% Multiracial
- 71% White
Personal Political Association
- 33% Republican
- 17% Democrat
- 17% Independent
- 33% I don’t care about politics
Can we get a bit closer to the topic please?
There’s been a tendency to suggest that “bubble” = “echo chamber” and the opposite of that is a “diverse” environment which is an admirable or even necessary part of the college experience.
But while diversity (by which I think you mean an open exchange of different views) may be a good thing in an abstract sense, framing it this way gives license to colleges to discriminate or even impose quotas to ensure that there are no “bubbles” of say Asian STEM-focused students and that a sufficiently “diverse” set of URMs are admitted. As ever, sometimes the cure (or the way in which people implement it) may be worse than the disease.
Put another way, only some kinds of “bubbles” are socially and/or politically acceptable. A “bubble” (aka interest group) for an underrepresented minority is widely thought to be a good thing (eg clubs and scholarships for women in science and engineering). A bubble of white men not so much (I can’t imagine a scholarship that was explicitly only given to men would be considered acceptable, even in a subject where they are comparably underrepresented like teaching - there was an outcry in the UK about a proposed scholarship for poor white kids who statistically are more disadvantaged there than poor Black kids). And colleges predominantly consisting of conservative Christians therefore cannot be compared with HBCUs or women’s colleges.
You have to know the background of those numbers too. Presbyterian College is the smallest D1 school in the US. It has to have 14 varsity teams. It used to play in the FBS but now is in the Pioneer league (no scholarships for football). If you only have 1000 students and need to field 14 varsity teams, almost every student has to be an athlete!
My daughter was recruited by Presbyterian. She would have added to a lot of those numbers - Asian, Pell grant, ‘don’t care about politics’ but it still would have been a huge bubble for her, not that different from her high school.
Do I think sports are more important to students at Presbyterian (41% are athletes) than at Michigan (3% athletes)? I do not.
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Depends on whether you mean spectator sports or sports participation. Michigan seems much bigger in spectator sports. In sports participation, it may not be so obvious.
How accurate is this? I’ve read elsewhere that 67% of Harvard undergrads come from the top 20% of US households (by income) which isn’t reflective of what you posted.
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Odd… Pell grant (though not the maximum amount) goes up considerably higher than $30k income levels, and far more than 25% of Harvard students attend without financial aid that is offered to income levels far higher than $110k.
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Harvard has some low income students who aren’t eligible for Pell - DACA students, internationals. A student with a single parent (household size of 2) who makes $50k may not get a Pell grant but would get the max of Harvard aid.
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Unless the other parent is dead or completely unknown, Harvard financial aid will be contingent on cooperation and financial situation of both parents, even if the student is only supported by a single parent.
Some colleges campuses develop nicknames to this effect, which may be enhanced through alliteration, such as in the “Bowdoin bubble.”
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I just looked to see where Niche is gathering its information from. This is what’s listed under “data.”
The IPEDS data on College Navigator shows the net price for families at the various income brackets shown in the Niche data, but I’m not able to figure out where Niche is getting the percentage of students by income breakdown. Perhaps someone who’s more familiar with the data sets can help? The IPEDS data does show 17% of students receiving Pell grants.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Harvard&id=166027