It sounds like really similar thinking from our kids. On the “proximity to the beach,” I had to laugh when we went to Triton Day and I insisted we walk down to the beach since I had seen on the map (bird’s eye view) that the beach is right there – not realizing that “down” to the beach means literally down a cliff haha. It was a long walk down and a tiring walk up, but I’m sure there are easier ways to get there or to other beaches. Lol.
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“Mom, pay the deposit. I’m going to Bama.”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Crying a little bit here.
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ROLL TIDE!!!
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It means he is going to marry into the south. I would have said southern belle, but I am not sure anymore whether that is politically correct.
The university location also determines to some degree what the geographic location of the career might be.
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It’s funny how we categorize schools in our minds. I noticed that I have now started to think of Michigan as roughly a peer of Oregon State because they compete at the same level in formula SAE… Michigan is the only other US team that competes at the big event in Germany… so they seem like peers 
I guess that’s probably similar to how some people categorize schools based on their sports leagues?
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So excited!!!
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I am so happy for you!! It has been a long journey 
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Reed (on principle) has refused to submit data to be ranked for years and they also refuse to do the peer ranking that other colleges do, which is also part of the algorithm.
I think it is well known for intense kids that go on to earn a high percentage of Phd.s in proportion to their class size, but it’s also in the PNW, and (imo) LACs out here aren’t known (or considered) by people who live on the East Coast. (The old New Yorker illustration of “The View of the World from 9th Avenue” comes to mind 
).
I say this with affection! I went to a LAC “back east” in the fall of 1991 and when I told my classmates that I was from Seattle they asked me what kind of farm I lived on - they weren’t teasing me, they genuinely thought Washington, Oregon, Idaho was farm country. The furthest west anyone else was that they’d met was from Chicago. Once Nirvana broke out later that year, I was asked if I knew them (because Seattle was a “small town”). Reader, I did not.
All that is to say, that IMO if Reed (or for that matter Lewis & Clark or Whitman) was “back east” - it would be “ranked” higher. Reed both opted out of rankings, and it exists out here in the hinterlands.
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I have loved following your story. Thank you to everyone who has shared their detailed journeys 
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Also gotta hand it to Bama. They’ve really got it goin’ on.
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I see more Michigan paraphernalia (shirts, sweats, license plates, etc.) than any other college in my area besides Cal and Stanford. There are at least 3 members of “my” gym, who graduated from Michigan.
D21 was just named a Learning Assistant (LA) at Cal Poly SLO today and the professor who runs the program lists Michigan as his alma mater.
BTW, for those considering Cal Poly SLO, if you apply and are accepted to be an LA at SLO, then you will receive priority registration, which is very nice.
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My kid who’s at Mississippi State…yeah, can’t really argue.
(Though she will happily point out, with very little prompting, all the ways that her college compares favorably for engineering in general and for industrial engineering in particular with the rest of the SEC, no matter the auditory accompaniment.)
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That’s hilarious about the friend’s kid going to your husband’s “bad” school. Thank you! You made me feel better.
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This isn’t unique to the East. I grew up 90 minutes from San Fran in a city of 200,000 people at the time, but when I went to UCLA 5 hours south I had so many students sincerely ask me about cow tipping (“Heathers” had come out relatively recently). I’ve never been near a live cow in my life, but to many in SoCal anywhere from Santa Clarita or north of it was one big farm.
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The disconnect? Well, there’s everything that @blueberriesforsal wrote, plus the fact (and yes, I very carefully chose the word fact) that relying on USNWR rankings as a measure of a college’s comparative quality is simply idiocy.
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Is it weird if I cry, too? I’ve been following your / his story for so long. 
(happy tears)
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ok; makes sense. I will say my sis is a bay-area lawyer, and while she didnt attend an tippy-top school 25 yrs ago, she will (can?) only hire from those schools now.
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My employer only considers applicants from T10 schools, for entry level roles. They have more tolerance for other schools when hiring people who have accomplished work experience, though they still ask for GPA’s, test scores and transcripts even for people decades out of school.
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Good for you – and him! Bama presents itself very well. I’m not surprised your son had a change of heart after visiting. And I think it’s very wise to avoid student loans for the undergraduate years if your son is considering going to law school. Coming from another Pennsylvanian whose son turned down Pitt for Bama – Roll Tide!
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my kiddo loved it too, early march, 2020. It’s a very common thing for fraternities to hit New Orleans for formals… . . 5 hrs maybe? and the beach . .4.5 hrs?
girl from my D23’s old dance company is graduating there this year; got into med school in yet another state than our’s and Bama. They have good teachers there. your son will be fine! (and my D23 is still sad she can’t go. . )
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