<p>Hi, I am getting ready to finish my junior year in South Carolina. I am considering Ole Miss and University of Alabama for graduate school. I am currently majoring in French and would like a pursue an MA in French. Can anyone comment on the Modern Language department at Ole Miss? If you have any information on Bama's foreign language department, that would be nice. I'm pretty much basing my final decision on the amount of funding I get (Ole Miss told me they try to fully fund MA French students), how does the campus feel, how does the town feel, and the cost of living. I already noticed that Ole Miss' tuition rates are a lot less than Bama :-/ As of right now, Alabama is my top choice based simply on town size.</p>
<p>I've been having trouble finding apartments online in Oxford. Any tips on a 1br apartment within a 20 minute drive to Ole Miss for about $500 per month or less? I plan on making a visit to Ole Miss and Bama in May.</p>
<p>Happy to hear that you are planning visits to Ole Miss and Alabama. So many questions are answered during a visit. Make sure you make appointments prior to your visit…it makes the time productive. My ds are both working towards an undergraduate major through the Mondern Language Department. Though I cannot speak to the strength on the French faculty or the Masters program, I can tell you that the professor have been outstanding in my ds chosen languages. They are extemely student oriented (one of my daughter’s Spanish professor hosts a weekly lunch table). Faculty-led study abroad opportunities are numerous. Both ds are on track to achieve very high proficiency levels in their chosen languages. </p>
<p>The town and campus are beautiful. People are very friendly. Yes, it is smaller than Alabama, but my ds don’t seem to mind this at all (they are from a much larger city). I suggest you try Craig’s List and take a look at the online school newspaper daily for housing opportunties.</p>
<p>When you say that Bama is your first choice based on town size, are you saying that you prefer a larger population? If so, Ole Miss may not thrill you (although I hope you like it).</p>
<p>You mention finding an apartment within 20 minutes of campus. If you can find an apartment farther than 5 minutes from campus, I’ll be surprised. 20 minutes by car would put you quite far away indeed, way outside of town.</p>
<p>For $500 a month, you might actually have better luck finding a unit in a small duplex. I think seekingknowledge’s advice is good, and when you’re on campus, look for postings in the Student Union, too.</p>
<p>Good luck! The faculty I’ve met in the Modern Languages department are super nice and super helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I don’t mind a small town as long as it’s got some class to it. I’ve lived in a small town before that had nothing except for a mom-and-pop supermarket and a burger joint. Not what I’d call classy…</p>
<p>It would be nice to be able to walk to campus. I probably won’t be able to do that in Tuscaloosa. I don’t mind a 30 minute walk. I go to a fairly large school now (about 30K students) and I thought it would be nice to attend a smaller school in a small town. I shouldn’t have to worry about crime in Oxford either.</p>
<p>I emailed the Foreign Language department at Ole Miss a few weeks ago and got a prompt reply. I was impressed by their response. Not to mention, the tuition is much cheaper at Ole Miss than Bama. I’m assuming the taxes in MS are probably a little better than AL.</p>
<p>About housing. Are there areas of town that aren’t completely student oriented? I enjoy being away from noisy students. I’m hoping I can find a complex that caters to working people or graduate students.</p>
<p>It sounds like your expectations are quite reasonable. Maybe you’ll like Oxford after all.</p>
<p>Oxford is not teeny-tiny, just small. There are 12,000 residents, and they have to live somewhere, and they don’t all own houses, so I’m sure there are apartments that cater to regular working folks rather than students. I just don’t know where they are, but a website such as Apartment Finder should help with that.</p>
<p>I know Ole Miss has a party-school reputation, but my son has been there almost a year now, and in seven or eight visits I have not seen any rowdy behavior. People seem to know how to have a good time, but I haven’t noticed any tendency to get so drunk they puke in the streets. The Ole Miss culture is genteel. My point is that living near campus might not be so bad.</p>
<p>In one direction from campus you have a nice residential area and The Square, the town center with boutiques, bookstores, restaurants, bars, and nice apartments and condos. In the other direction you have a mall, chain restaurants, Wal-Mart, gas stations, and other such places that “regular people” frequent. Both areas are within walking distance of campus, though not exactly right next to it. A bike would be useful.</p>
<p>The personal income tax in Mississippi is 3% up to $5,000, 4% up to $10,000, and 5% over $10,000. The sales tax is 7%</p>
<p>If you are looking for class, IMHO you will have no trouble finding it in Oxford. It’s a charming town. There are a few large apartment complexes that are known to be “more festive” than others. However, the choice of quieter apartments/duplexes abound. Some landlords only rent to grad students. Oxford also has an amazing bus system that covers the majority of apartment areas. (It’s free for students! Very efficient and the coverage is expanding each semester. If your apartment is on one of the routes, you automatically eliminate the campus parking issues. I agree with Mantori…a twenty minute commute would place your apartment in the country!</p>