<p>Articles like that apply to pretty much every university in California’s higher ed. school system that aren’t UCLA or Berkeley. They had a quote in that article from someone affiliated with UCR for example, which doesn’t have anywhere near the resources of either of the aforementioned schools.</p>
<p>But to know that you have to know quite a bit about California’s exceptional universities. And i’m guessing the majority of people on this forum know as much about UCLA and Berkeley as I know about Alabama (not a whole lot.)</p>
<p>Additionally there’s an important difference with being scared about California slashing its budget and deliberately spreading misinformation in order to boost the university that someone, or their child, goes to. This is what prompted my response.</p>
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<p>Just because a university is not rich doesn’t mean that it will either…</p>
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<p>my point is that the resources aren’t as scarce for the two universities I’ve been talking about it as it might seem. And they’re not very dependent on state funds either. </p>
<p>UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, for example, gets 6% of its budget from state funds, and raises the other 94% by itself. Is it really hard for the university to raise that other 6%? Of course not. In fact, they wanted to become independent and relinquish the state’s money, until Yudof, likely fearing that his tenure at UCOP would be marked by the privatization of the University of California, essentially blocked the move. (Anderson’s currently working toward getting around Yudof’s block.)</p>
<p>Back to the point of this thread, yes i’m sure that Alabama is fine university and that you’d have similar opportunities as in many other universities. Are there advantages to going to a top UC over Alabama? Certainly. But the contrary is also true.</p>
<p>It’s so sad that someone has to try and spoil others good fortune. I bet the posts on the thread of our new ■■■■■ friends school are sparse or nonexistent. Jealousy rears its ugly head again. It just sounds like someone just needs a good hug and help getting his lunch money back. Either way we should just respond with a hearty ROLL TIDE.</p>
<p>I have been reading this thread and just shaking my head. The question I keep coming back to is why do these people care so much? Why do they feel the need to come to an Alabama forum and “inform” all of us about the mediocrity of the school we have chosen and our kids’ dismal job prospects? I just don’t get it. It’s unbelievably rude, not to mention completely unnecessary. Posters on CC are by and large a very informed bunch, and we are all very well aware of the relative merits of the various colleges. We make our choices, you make yours. And make no mistake, many of our kids had choices. Lots of them. Including whether to attend schools that are “better” than UA. I feel no need to justify the choice my son has made, and I really don’t understand why so many people seem to feel threatened by it.</p>
<p>That being said, I do think that beyphy has a point also. Just as we don’t want people spreading misinformation about Bama, we probably should refrain from making statements about UC’s that we don’t know for a fact are true. It’s a little different because we are on the UA forum and not the UC forum, so we are not running around bashing people’s choices on their “home turf”, so to speak, but the point is still valid.</p>
<p>^^^^Actually, the point is: Go to your board/forum of expertise (UCLA maybe) to comment/post. IF you’re ignorant (by your own admission) about a college, don’t comment/post. That’s the point. Believe me, it’s take no rocket scientist to figure that out.
Unfortunately, common sense is lacking in many of our very well educated peers. Pity.</p>
<p>I’m ignorant about many things “California” therefore, I don’t visit those particular forums by choice. Honestly, because I don’t have any interest whatsoever. Welcome, to the BAMA forum that obviously interests you on so many levels. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two, hopefully, one of those being etiquette.</p>
<p>First of all, Beyphy is not a ■■■■■. He (?) is an unabashed UCLA/UCB booster, though.</p>
<p>The thing is, not everyone wants to go to college on the coasts. There are millions of people in this country who have no interest in living in the northeast or California, whether for college or anything else. Yes, there are more of “you” than of us but please try to understand that many, many people WANT to live in the south or midwest. And we want to send our kids to school there.</p>
<p>My daughter, while only a HS sophomore, has informed me of three things that so far are important to her in her college search–warmer weather than we have in the upper midwest, a big state-school environment, and a respected dance program. Of course her needs could change, but right now Alabama is a credible option for her–and one of only a few schools that fit all of her current criteria. She doesn’t want to work on Wall Street. She doesn’t want a pressure-cooker environment. The fact that Alabama is working to make tuition affordable to qualified OOS students is huge for us.</p>
<p>I’m practicing “the look” with the fervor of a method actor so I can lay it on Steven Spielberg with authority the next time I run into him at a cocktail party. It took this loser 35 years to complete his B.A. at . . . Long Beach State. ;)</p>
<p>If sufficiently motivated, I may also give it to him for attending Brookdale Community College. :)</p>
<p>Somewhere along the way we are losing the notion that what really matters is finding a good fit for our students! If my freshman engineering student had wanted to go to one of the excellent California schools, I would have hesitated for a moment based solely on him being so far away from home but then said sure, let’s check it out. We visited a lot of schools in New England and in the Middle Atlantic region, and only went to Tuscaloosa because of what we learned in this forum (eternal gratitude to M2CK). As soon as we went on campus and met with Professor Fridley and Dean Sharpe we knew this would be home, but that’s us. The main thing is to find a good fit. Being from the DC area, I see enough bickering in the media every day; no reason for any negative vibes here on our thread. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>I know all about the “look” but really, this isn’t about choosing Alabama. It’s about making a decision that isn’t the obvious choice. People always expect others to defend those choices. If you’d done something they considered logical, such as send your son to Harvard, no one would give you the look or ask you why you’d done it. They’d just assume you made the logical decision because it’s the one they would have made.</p>
<p>We moved from one top rated school district to another because our kids were enrolled in a less highly regarded private school here, and we wanted to shorten our commute. We get the look and even a few rude comments all the time about why we’re not availing ourselves of the wonderful public school. I just reply with “I’m glad we have choices” or “It’s all about fit.” That’s the truth.</p>
<p>Really, who cares what others think?? We know our students are happy and prospering, we know that our students will graduate with a minimum of debt, we know that our students are getting a great education for a great value, we know that they are offered many opportunities and are taking advantage of those opportunities.</p>
<p>Maybe it is time to revive the bragging thread for the doubters? But then again, who cares what the doubters think or say. We are UA and we are proud!! </p>
<p>I haven’t been keeping up with this thread . . . have been outside doing some final preparations for the blizzard that’s descending on us.</p>
<p>Just wanted to post to let y’all know that no one up here in northern New England had better so much as whisper anything negative about Alabama . . . given the announcement I just heard on the evening news about the local power company getting assistance this weekend from crews who’ve come to help out from as far away as Oklahoma and . . . Alabama!</p>
<p>Hoping everyone is staying safe & warm up north!<br>
Our daughter is still considering Alabama & I can’t say enough about what a beautiful, welcoming school it was when we visited.
Our son is a ChemE major @ UTAustin, so we are very familiar with a big school. UT is so hard to get into with the top % rule, that they make students feel like they are lucky to be there (& they probably are). There are 1000s of people to take the spot w/in the hour if they say no to the acceptance.
Son graduated 20th in a class of 800 (very good public school) & had crazy high test scores. He didn’t get a penny in merit aid from UT. He chose Austin because it’s ranked #4 in the country for ChemE. Even with no merit aid, it’s a great deal if you’re in-state.
Our daughter is admitted to & loves Austin, but has a little more flexibility in what she wants to study. She wants a larger school w/traditional campus vibe & great athletics, so that makes Alabama a real option, too. They have truly made her feel special. The scholarship offer is just icing on the cake. </p>
<p>Just a quick add-on note:
My husband is very successful in business. He wanted to go to Notre Dame but couldn’t afford it.
He holds an undergraduate EE degree from Montana State U & has many people with prestigious undergrad degrees & MBAs working for him. His first job out of college was a technical sales job. It gave him great experience/training & he took full advantage of the opportunities. He’ll be the first to say it’s definitely not so much about where the degree is from, but what’s done with it afterwards.</p>
<p>Amen SNinTX! My H has a very similar story, except he was bio med at Texas A&M. He really wanted to go to Rice but when he got accepted his parents told him they just weren’t willing to go into debt when he could go to a good state school. Fast forward quite a few years and he is an engineering director for a major company with eons of MIT grads working under him. As long as you’re getting a solid education, it’s definitely the person, and not the school that matters in the long run.</p>
<p>The fact that most of our top banking professionals and government leaders attended ivy league schools or other elite institutions should put into question their worth for society. Harvard alone has many alumni directly responsible for our continuing economic troubles and our debt based system that values seniorage, or access to low cost money, over productivity. Elites gone wild!</p>