<p>Maybe in addition to the hug and lunch money a little Steely Dan to take the edge off:</p>
<p>[Steely</a> Dan-Deacon Blues with Lyrics - YouTube](<a href=“Steely Dan-Deacon Blues with Lyrics - YouTube”>Steely Dan-Deacon Blues with Lyrics - YouTube)</p>
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<p>Correct on one count. He doesn’t have a degree from UA. TxNewCollegeMom listed his name as one of many outside a 10 mile radius who’ve heard of UA, not as someone with a degree from Alabama. She never said or implied he had a degree from 'Bama. Learn to read. By the way, it’s El-Keib, not el-Kieb. Furthermore, he doesn’t teach at UA. He left in 2005 and served thereafter as the Prime Minister of Libya (more than 10 miles from Tuscaloosa).</p>
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<p>Oh dear, you really do have a reading disability, karen. Get someone to read TxNewCollegeMom’s post aloud to you. Listen very, very carefully and you’ll hear nothing about El-Keib being a product of Alabama. </p>
<p>There being no reference to El-Keib being an Alabama product, that leaves you as the one claiming undeserved pretension and merit as a person worth listening to. Here’s looking at you, kid, if you get my drift. ;)</p>
<p>My dear malani, we all know that comprehension is a skill many have not acquired. Being a young 20 year old I’m sure karen has much to explore in the world outside of her box. With experience comes wisdom. We can only pray that those that feel the need to diss a school in a state they have no knowledge of nor visited will get a chance that many of us have been given, travel and see all that there is and realize that not every great person that does great things must graduate from an Ivy. To contribute in a positive way to this world one must first be willing to accept all those that have differing views and backgrounds. Something that is very blatantly obvious when we can name UA grads that are out in the world making a positive difference.</p>
<p>Is Goldman Sachs really the kind of company we want our grads to work for? If there are fewer UA grads there, I say that makes me even prouder of my alma mater. Goldman has helped to engineer almost every single economic bubble and subsequent crash in the last 100 years. See Matt Taibi’s writing for documentation of this claim. Again, not all that comes from Harvard, Yale and Princeton is gold.</p>
<p>^^^ Atlanta, that reminds me of the discussion D2 and I had on the way home from school last week. In science they were asked a question. D2 answered correctly. Teacher was impressed and told them that even Harvard grades have gotten that question wrong. This made me look it up. Sure enough there it was! </p>
<p>The Question:
Why is it warmer in the summer than winter?</p>
<p>Yes, there was a Harvard study done on this question many years ago at a Harvard graduation. Another study asked MIT students/grads another simple and basic question. They all got the answers wrong for the most part. </p>
<p>FYI, D2 is an 8th grader 
She also plans on being Bama Bound. </p>
<p>ROLL TIDE!</p>
<p>So what answer do other people give? This is one of those, “OK, the obvious answer must be wrong so I will Google it”. I just can’t figure out what else it could be.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The “10 mile” reference was a figure of speech. Don’t take it so literally. </p></li>
<li><p>The “look” will always be there. “Alabama” is not a name that connotes quality (rather, it conjures scenes of banjos in Appalachia ( . . . figure of speech!!)), and is reflected in its “77” ranking as a UA booster earlier on this board posted. “77” is kind of buried down low, no?</p></li>
<li><p>If you like the place and it’s for you, then fine. The minute you have to explain something means that it is not obvious on its face, and so that is why great students who choose Alabama will always get “the look” and will have to explain the choice (like all the posters here are themselves doing with references, and names, and etc. etc.)</p></li>
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<p>The OP asked, why “the look”? The Bama boosters are saying, in effect, look behind the look and see all the good stuff that Alabama offers. The Bama boosters are saying that “the look” isn’t justified. All very well, of course. It begs the question: “the look” nonetheless is there. Why? Obviously, people’s perceptions and predjudices. One would be better off answering the OP’s question by focusing on what gave or gives rise to those predjudices rather than riffing and ranting about all the great things Alabama has: somehow none of these have managed to change people’s perceptions, and thus, “the look.”</p>
<p>Karen, the USNWR rankings are absolutely skewed toward schools in the northeast (and to some degree the west coast). Not because they are necessarily “better,” but because they are better known, and closer to where more people live. Look at the population density of the U.S. (and while you’re at it, you might want to take note that the Appalachian range goes all the way up to New York state). There are just so many more people packed into the northeast and California. It stands to reason that the schools in those regions are better known than those in other parts of the country. </p>
<p>People (especially those who are young and impressionable, it seems) assume that because a school is “popular” or highly ranked that it is somehow better. But smart parents and kids do their homework and look beyond prejudices and for-profit ranking lists. In my child’s case, we looked at the strength of the student bodies across schools and found that his small southern LAC had much brighter kids, on average, than some colleges that were widely believed to be “better” (i.e., ranked 30 or even 40 spots higher). We also looked at opportunities for students during college and outcomes after. We looked at things like Fulbright scholarships, undergraduate research awards, and placement rates into medical school. And we looked at where the faculty got their terminal degrees. All of those factors went into choosing a school that gets “the look” just because of where it is located. (There’s another look, too–the “really, you turned down snooty school X for unheard-of school Y?” look.) But we don’t care, because our son is absolutely thriving, loves his school and loves experiencing a different part of the country.</p>
<p>You see, for us parents, deciding where to send our kids to school is a big decision. This is not something you can understand because you are not yet a parent of a college-age kid. Those of us with exceptionally bright, talented kids have options. We want to get it right the first time and not go through the anguish of having an unhappy kid at school who wants to transfer. Maybe someday you will become more open-minded. One can hope.</p>
<p>Karen hon, it would appear that inspite of your expensive education, you are struggling with reading comprehension. The original poster did not ask “why the look”, but rather asked for advice from other parents who already knew what a great deal Alabama is for their high achieving students, how they dealt with the look.</p>
<p>And to that end, I’d give other parents the same advice I gave me own son, who is being raised in the midwest. I remind him that in the south families are not dying to get their kids into Wisconsin, Michicgan or Illinois either, it’s a regional thing. In the end, pick a school that’s strong in what you need and that’s right for you…and that’s exactly what he’s done. So this Texas alum has learned to love saying Roll Tide!</p>
<p>The reason the look exists is because of folks forming opinions based on nothing more than prejudice with an utter lack any first hand knowledge, and thank you for being a fine example.</p>
<p>And one more thing about the USNWR rankings, the college counselor at my son’s very competitive northern suburb chicago area high school told us his sophomore year to toss those out, they really don’t mean much, lots of politics and skewed self reporting. We were urged to get to know the schools on our own, great advice.</p>
<p>Now Karen sweetie, bless your heart. Run along, the grown-ups are talking.</p>
<p>My cousin is from an affluent family in a suburb of DC… He attends University of Alabama.</p>
<p>This thread cracks me up. On both sides of the argument. </p>
<p>There are THOUSANDS of accredited degree granting post secondary schools in the United States. Over 6,900 according to Dept of ed. </p>
<p>[College</a> Accreditation in the United States-- Pg 4](<a href=“College Accreditation in the United States-- Pg 4”>College Accreditation in the United States-- Pg 4)</p>
<p>That is a lot of schools for our kids to choose from. And there is a reason why there are so many. Because there is a need. And because not one school, or one approach to education will meet the needs of every student. And because not everyone can fit on the HYPS campus. There are just not enough seats. Not to mention all of the kids that would not want to go to an HYPS school even if they had the scholastic and financial means to do so. </p>
<p>My son is a CS student. He had the credentials that would have made him a good contender for admission to CMU. And he would have loved to go to school there. He knows that having a CS degree from CMU would have been an automatic foot in the door for him in a number of places. It would have also left him/us with approximately $200 thousand in debt after graduation. Those statements are facts. </p>
<p>Luckily, my son realizes the value of a dollar. He also has enough self confidence to know that there are other ways to get your foot in the door at companies he may want to work for besides depending on the name of his college. And he is glad he will be able to follow that path without sweating his monthly bills. </p>
<p>Being #77 out of 6,900 is not so shabby. Being #1-25 out of 6,900 is awesome, if it is a personal/scholastic/financial/career match for you. But my belief is that in the long run, it all comes down to the person. There are stories of people that have degrees from schools even less well known than Alabama that have been extremly successful, and stories of people with degrees from top schools that have been complete failures. </p>
<p>Would my son have chosen Alabama if not for the scholarship? Nope. Would not have given it a second look. Would he have appiled to CMU, Stanford, Berkley or a miriad of other top CS schools if he would have been able to get significant merit aid at those schools? Yes, but he knew that merit aid at those schools was very limited or non-existent. So he did not waste the application money. </p>
<p>Would my son have chosen Alabama only for the scholarship even if he did not think that he would be able to earn a marketable degree based on their program? Absolutely not. The only thing he hates worse than wasting money is wasting his time. </p>
<p>So Alabama was his choice. It was a smart choice, in my opinion. </p>
<p>At this time, my son has applied for summer internships in the Baltimore/DC area as a 1st year CS student at Alabama. He has received his first offer, and is in the interview process with a few other large companies in the area. He cast a wide net for summer internships, since he knew that the CS students at Hopkins and Maryland have those automatic in’s at a number of places locally. His drive, his interest, and his tenacity will take him far. But I knew that would be the case whether he had his degree from Alabama, Berkley, or any other of the 6,900 options he had. </p>
<p>Roll Tide. And be nice everyone. This is kind of a silly argument. :)</p>
<p>Hey Karen… Why don’t you sit down over there and have a nice tall glass of shut up. </p>
<p>I know a couple of UVA grads here in New Orleans who went there because of money and family connections, and they are both underachievers who get by on their family’s money and the “prestige” associated with their UVA degree. Not to say that is the typical UVA profile, but there are a lot of those types running around.</p>
<p>Yours seems to be a prejudice against state flagships in general, and southern flagships in particular. That is certainly your prerogative. Please come back in 5 years and update us on how much money you’re making and how people can’t get enough of listening to your opinions on various matters. I’m sure you will be a captain of industry by that time. Either that or a cocktail waitress.</p>
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<p>Love it! Classic Slippy right there. :)</p>
<p>What exactly is wrong with banjo playing? Karen seems like an anti Southern bigot folks. Just ignore her like we would the Klan or other dreadful people.</p>
<p>OP " Live in an affluent suburb of DC and am tired of the “look” I get from other parents when I say that Alabama is my son’s current #1 choice.
The longstanding stereotypes of southern schools as somehow lesser are still very prevalent here (VA and NC are not really considered the South)."</p>
<p>Ha! Don’t tell anyone from NC that they are not in the South.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised you get the look. No one in this area knows much about UA or most other state universities for that matter. We have great schools in Virginia, Maryland, and NC so most students who attend a public university will choose from these options. I tried to get DS#1 and #2 to at least look into UA but they didn’t feel the need. Note, however that DS#2 did get the “look” from his peers regarding his desire for early admission to Virginia Tech. Our area of Northern Virginia is ridiculously status concious. There are many bright students who feel they are slumming it if they don’t attend either a private high status university or at the very least a well known flag ship state university. Unfortunately, UVA has a well earned reputation for being especially snooty and protective of its perceived status. Not everyone at UVA, of course, but there are enough to earn that reputation.</p>
<p>I think it’s great the thread got featured on the front page. I value all contributions and viewpoints. I don’t think anybody should be told to “shut up” just because one doesn’t agree with their opinion.</p>
<p>My apologies if I offended. I just don’t cotton to being lectured by an obnoxious college kid about what a degree is worth. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, even stupid ones.</p>
<p>Not offended, slippy. My general rule is that I’m ever mad enough at anything at the Internet, I should step back and think about it for thirty seconds before I respond.</p>
<p>Where you go to school may open doors when looking for a job but it does not determine how successful you are. That is up to the student. </p>
<p>Vlines who posted above said it right. </p>
<p>Also from the DC area, my kids got into some of the best private schools and opted for
other choices so they would not have huge loans. Both are at state schools and engineering majors. They also had great opportunities for internships. And one is interviewing for jobs since he will graduate in May. </p>
<p>I have met three kids this year that are heading to Alabama. One went last year. They
say the south is nicer than this area. And I must say, people need to loosen up here. I have also met a number of seniors going to NC and SC. Some of the reasons are change, friendlier, VA schools hard to get into or too crowded. Plus the merit aide these schools are giving to get kids from the DC area. etc.</p>
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<p>I think you made my point, thank you. No one “gets by” on the “prestige” associated with thier UA degree. There is none.</p>