We’re having a crisis at our house! D17 called me to “talk her down” because she’s suddenly doubting her decision to go to UAH. She’s concerned that it isn’t in the rankings for aerospace (I think it is, just not in the top 100 or so) and that Huntsville might be more conservative than she likes.
Does anyone here know about the liberal/conservative leanings of Huntsville, especially with regard to LGBTQ+?
Just as she looked up UMD’s 8th place national ranking for aero and began to panic about living in the conservative south, she got an email from UMD that she qualifies for an engineering department scholarship of $2,000 / year. Not a huge amount, but together with the Presidential, a corporate scholarship, and her tuition remission, her costs would be fully paid. By my best estimate, she’d owe about $5,500 per year at UAH.
The only thing that really bothers her about UMD is the surroundings. She’d have to drive there, and probably live there for internships / co-ops, and she hates the traffic. Huntsville is about on par with where we live now, so minimal driving stress.
@CA1543 I’m in love with Ben! Yes, we’ve already paid a huge housing deposit, over a month ago I think. D17 has terrible OCD so she’s really, really hoping for a single in a suite. Sharing a room could be disasterous for her, we’ll see. She’ll sacrifice anything for a single, she’s happy to hike far from classes and dining to have her own sleeping space.
As for the organization of accepted student events, Cal Poly does an awesome job at this! I’m looking forward to their summer orientation and fall week of welcome, they seem to have it dialed in as far as helping the kids get acclimated, feel comfortable, and make friends.
I haven’t lived in Huntsville, but have traveled there extensively for work and know many people there professionally. Huntsville, to me, is like a midwestern city transplanted to northern Alabama. It has probably the highest concentration of scientists and engineers of any city in the US. A highly educated population, mostly transplanted from everywhere in the US to work for NASA, DoD, and contractors. I’d say it’s middle of the road politically and in terms of religion. I am not familiar enough about UAH to comment on it.
@NerdMom88 - Are there no public transportation options around UMD? With the $5.5K she’d save a year she can Uber (or better yet, she can use Lyft – and boycott the pro-Trump Uber)
Cheaper, higher-ranked programs and in a more tolerant area all seem like good reasons for your D to reconsider her choice. I haven’t heard anybody ever say anything bad about UMD (except my D, who said it was too big for her).
@NerdMom88 I hope it’s just a case of a bit of cold feet. Someone might have said something at school.
Of course UMD is an excellent option as well, especially with extra $, but it seemed that the smaller size and other factors made UAH a better fit for your D.
@NerdMom88 Is this driving to UMD at the beginning of semesters and over breaks, or are you saying she would have to live off campus and drive to campus? If it is just after breaks, is there some train or bus she could take to get there instead of driving?
(((((HUGS)))) @NerdMom88, I don’t have anything to add. But I was so looking forward to following your D’s progress at UAH. As a Big Merit School it is on my radar. Huntsville sounds awesome! I Definitely want to visit Huntsville and the campus.
@LoveTheBard - I think it’s better kids to concentrate on education than worrying about whether a company is for or against the duely elected president!
@NerdMom88, wow, congrats to your D. I can see why this might be a hard choice for her.
I’ve lived in Huntsville the better part of 20 years now. Huntsville (city) and its surrounding suburbs are not like the rest of the state. It is growing quickly and as it does, its culture continues to evolve.
In general, people here are conservative. I’m not sure where you live, but it really might be a bit of a culture shock to her at first. The people she will be associating with on campus, however, will be much less conservative/more liberal than the general population, but this is still the Bible belt.
Regarding the LGBTQ+ community, my understanding is that there is a close community here that is fairly vocal and active. Having said that, the general populace demonstrates more of a “live and let live” attitude without having arms wide open. But times are changing here, just like everywhere else.
@Ynotgo, she would be driving to medical appointments and tests, where it’s difficult to go with public transportation. Also, if she lived in Maryland she would be heading up to Baltimore to visit her sister; there is a circuitious way to get back and forth by public trans, but it’s cumbersome.
@LoveTheBard, for some reason she’s very anti-Uber and Uberesque transportation (even though her sister uses it regularly.)
I think it may go beyond driving in the area. H and I used to live there so we’ve taken the kids back several times. I think the sheer congestion of buildings and people just stresses her out. She seemed ok with the campus itself, though.
I’ve spent another couple of hours researching Huntsville, and the results are very, very mixed. Some people call it vibrant and liberal, others say that what passes for “liberal” for Huntsville would be deemed conservative elsewhere. Some think that the tech industry has pushed the city to the left, and others say that the tech people, especially at Redstone, are generally pretty conservative. It’s consistently ranked as one of the more liberal cities in the state but, TBH, that’s not saying much.
@Belle315, thanks for your input. We’re in a town of about 140,000 in central Illinois that has two universities and a couple of large national corporations; it’s a bit smaller than Huntsville, but very similar. Not exactly the hub of the gay world, but it’s kind of like you said, live-and-let-live.
I think I need to sit down with D and clarify what she’s looking for. She’d be tolerated in Huntsville. However, here she is only “out” to her friends and immediate family, and I don’t know whether she’s good with that or if she’s looking to spread her wings and be more out and proud.
@NerdMom88 where do you live now? For my kids coming from Southern California even liberal by Alabama standards might feel super conservative to them. When searching for colleges I had to acknowledge their fears about racism and bigotry in the south… while obviously a college campus is its own subculture, it still may be different than students from other parts of the country would expect.
@NerdMom88 - I feel your pain! Given the recent wrinkles in my D’s decision-making process that was made more difficult by an increased FA offer first at her SCEA school and later (thankfully) matched by Stanford, I know how difficult and stressful this process can be. To paraphrase a quote given by @SincererLove’s, courtesy of a U Chicago economics professor: “There is no optimal solution, only trade-offs.”
@socalmom007, we’re in central Illinois, but in a large enough community that it’s slightly liberal leaning. I know she’s felt comfortable coming out to her friends here, but she definitely would not have done so in the small town where she grew up.
I think your D would be more than just “tolerated” here. There aren’t going to be any pride parades through the town square any time soon, but on an individual basis, people are generally warm and friendly no matter your walk of life.
My good friend (middle aged gay man), didn’t feel comfortable being out to more than a handful of people for many years, but he says things have changed a lot in the last decade and he feels much more comfortable now.
Funny enough, that general I mentioned lives next door to a lesbian couple. Everyone gets along famously.
^ And I think if possible we want any thoughts on transportation from UMD to medical appointments and to Baltimore without having to drive in congested traffic.
If she could get past her opposition to Lyft, that could work. We went to Baltimore and DC about 1.5 years ago and took (shh) Uber between the two. It was a lot less expensive than even parking a car would have been, not to mention renting.