Alabama

[Anonymous]

Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

ICYMI: San Diego and that part of southern CA is actually rather conservative. If you bother to follow local politics in that area, you will notice the locals are far from progressive. Orange County, anyone?

If you have actually lived there, you would know that it’s affluent and conservative (think: faux liberals who might be fine with lgbtq issues and abortion but draw lines when it comes to race, immigration, and protecting their money/taxes).

It’s funny to me that Dcumlandia lacks meaningful perspective on such things yet feels quite confident in open criticism of certain areas and blind assumptions about others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

My kid rushed at Bama at quickly met tons of kids from all over the country, including many from CA (one of whom apparently flew in on his parents’ private jet).

One thing many haters don’t realize is Bama attracts very affluent kids: some have full rides while others are full pay.

Parents pay to ship very fancy cars there so their kids need not make the long drive. The cars on campus are shockingly nice. The kids are well dressed. The vibe is cheerful and friendly. Everyone seems to be networking and having fun.

Kids go golfing and play tennis.

My kid has a frat brother who brought a very nice boat to town, and he’s not the only one.

My kid was raised in a very nice area and is well traveled by any measure, yet he is shocked by the wealth he’s encountered on campus (noting where people have vacation homes, where their primary residence is, where people travel/vacation, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UNC started becoming popular OOS, UGA having it's OOS moment, now AL for OOS. Some mention TN OOS. U Louisville OOS. What's next, Ole Miss for those from DMV?

Actually, yes. My friend from HS is a professor at Ole Miss. She said there has been an uptick in OOS, particularly from this area. Anecdotally my next door neighbor (McLean) sent his daughter there. She graduated from a very good private school here. No idea about her grades though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

Streaming series, with Bama kids at UCSD, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

You mean the UC San Diego admits (and other UC students) who can’t do 8th grade math? (Report out this week).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

My kid rushed at Bama at quickly met tons of kids from all over the country, including many from CA (one of whom apparently flew in on his parents’ private jet).

One thing many haters don’t realize is Bama attracts very affluent kids: some have full rides while others are full pay.

Parents pay to ship very fancy cars there so their kids need not make the long drive. The cars on campus are shockingly nice. The kids are well dressed. The vibe is cheerful and friendly. Everyone seems to be networking and having fun.

Kids go golfing and play tennis.

My kid has a frat brother who brought a very nice boat to town, and he’s not the only one.

My kid was raised in a very nice area and is well traveled by any measure, yet he is shocked by the wealth he’s encountered on campus (noting where people have vacation homes, where their primary residence is, where people travel/vacation, etc.).

None of the wealth you describe is even remotely shocking. At my kid's school he knows one student who's family owns a 777 that probably cost $1 BN fully outfitted, another lives in a penthouse at the Four Seasons, others casually refer to their Aspen homes that probably are at least $40MM+...the list goes on.

What you describe is some caricature of what someone would think is shocking wealth, who has no concept of what that means.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Just found out that our DCs stats would mean full tuition and admission to the honors program at U Alabama. I know some folks would look down on Alabama but free college is pretty appealing. (Can save the college funds for grad school) anyone have experience with Alabama.

My kid there is there on a full ride. By the end of this year kid will have studied abroad in 5 different countries...which the scholarship paid for (most of). Lots of very smart kids at Alabama. Great programs, extremely small classes in the upper levels (fewer than 20 students) taught by professors (not TAs). Plus some pretty impressive and difficult to get into programs like Randall Research Scholars. They also offer a very popular 5 year STEM + MBA degree. Can't beat a FREE top notch education. Roll tide.

Do NOT get an MBA at age 22 from Alabama. Very bad idea.

Taking the full ride for undergrad could be a great idea. Getting a Bama MBA is a bad idea for anyone who hopes to become a high flier.

Not true. Friend of my DD did BS, MS in engineering and MBA in four years on scholarship. He is being recruited all over the country by top firms. Has three job offers.

What's your definition of 'top firms'? I doubt it's equal to that of most high fliers. Top firms do not visit Bama as a target school.

More importantly, delaying an MBA is crucial for two main reasons:

1) students get more out of MBA curricula when they have real professional work experience, which is why even schools with early admissions programs like Wharton and Harvard require admitted undergrads to work (in a full time, professional capacity) for at least two years before matriculating, and

2) the MBA is a great for people who want to pivot. Engineers do an MBA after 2-3 years because they want to move into management roles. Investment bankers do an MBA because they want to jump to private equity. Marketers do an MBA to make them attractive to large, international firms that overlooked them coming out of undergrad. All MBA students want to broaden their networks.

22 year olds who go directly into an MBA program, at Bama or anywhere else, forego these major benefits of the MBA, making the benefits of the degree very limited and the opportunity cost high. So it's NEVER a good idea to go directly into an MBA program from undergrad.

Ignore this poster. As someone with an MBA from a top5 school I don’t necessarily agree. This person is assuming there is only one pathway to a single career that is worth pursuing. If you aren’t trying to go into top tier IB or Management Consulting there can be lots of reasons to do a STEM+MBA that make total sense.

The purpose of an MBA is generally for career pivots. Kids who do business school in undergrad generally don’t also do an MBA. In this case your kid is trying to set himself up for more career options right away. There is no reason for him to do a double major STEM/business as an undergrad if he can learn the same content but achieve a masters.

Previous poster here: sounds like you made my point. Very very few college seniors -- who, by definition, have never worked full time in a professional capacity -- have the insight to predict whether the career pathway they start off with will be a good fit personally, or provide sufficient opportunities for growth. Doing an MBA directly from undergrad cuts off the most viable way to return to school and pivot. Doesn't allow the kid to expand alumni network by adding a second university.

And you are wrong about kids who do a business undergrad not doing an MBA. Some don't, because they are already at top tier companies and are succeeding. Many, esp. those who are floundering, do add an MBA.

If you believe very few students know which career pathway is going to be their ultimate trajectory wouldn’t it make MORE sense to do a dual business/STEM so you maximize your diversity of skills? Particularly if you can do it in far less time at far lower cost than waiting?

Nope.
yes, you can do an undergrad business degree or Econ degree if you like, but MBA takes it to next level.

I attended grad school (joint STEM and business program at a T15 MBA and STEM school) in early 90s, when the job market was crap. So I sat in business classes with 22 yo MBA students who literally had never held a job (not even a summer job at McD's for some of those kids). I quickly learned for group projects to gravitate towards the 25-28 yo students. Why? Because they had work experience and more critical thinking and knowledge about the real world. I got stuck on a project once (assigned groups) with 4 kids who literally had no work experience--they were just at their MBA because M&D were paying for it since they hadn't landed a job upon graduation (just like lots of people). That project was miserable, I had to lead it all and some of the ideas were downright stupid...mostly because of lack of experience.
Now I was right out of college (company hired us and required us to get our MS immediately), but we had all worked at least 2 summers--I had worked 3 for the company and 3 more summers in retail/HS level jobs. And my MS was mostly stem with some supplemental MBA courses, not a full MBA.
I couldn't help but think most of those students were wasting the opportunity and how much more meaningful it was to those with 3-5 years of work experience...they knew what areas they wanted to focus on and got so much more than just book learning out of it.

Yeah...it may make sense to double major in STEM and business, but getting an MBA at the same time as undergrad is a waste.

For all intents and purposes, an MBA is more about the network you form with other students and very little about learning all that much. If 95% of your fellow students are all 25+, they aren't really interested in getting to know the 21 year old who has never worked before and adds little to their experience, nor does anything to enhance their professional network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this very thoughtful response.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UNC started becoming popular OOS, UGA having it's OOS moment, now AL for OOS. Some mention TN OOS. U Louisville OOS. What's next, Ole Miss for those from DMV?

Actually, yes. My friend from HS is a professor at Ole Miss. She said there has been an uptick in OOS, particularly from this area. Anecdotally my next door neighbor (McLean) sent his daughter there. She graduated from a very good private school here. No idea about her grades though.

Someone in our neighborhood has an ole’ miss sticker on their car. My HS aged son thought it was the Spanish word ole and I can never unhear that now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all so exhausting. The OP asked about experiences with the school and in typical DCUM fashion it became a toxic mud slinging activity from people who know nothing about the actual school.

It’s ok for there to be multiple sides to a topic on an anonymous message board. Not everyone needs to agree.

The haters seem to have never even been to the school, or have a kid there. How is that responding to OP? Everyone with experience seems super enthusiastic — I haven’t seen one negative post feom
someone who has a kid there.

That is every single thread about UVA. Welcome to DCUM. It's just how it is here.

[Anonymous]

According to this website, at the University of Alabama, there are:

213 undergrads from VA
136 undergrads from MD
3 undergrads from DC

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/the-university-of-alabama/student-life/diversity/chart-geographic-breakdown.html

And only a tiny number of these students are NMF from the DC area.

For some families, a free undergraduate education is worth it!

My sibling attended VCU for free years ago (not NMF) which allowed my parents to pay for in-state med school with less than 20K loans.

It's a smart decision on Alabama's part to offer so many opportunities to the NMFs who want to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to this website, at the University of Alabama, there are:

213 undergrads from VA
136 undergrads from MD
3 undergrads from DC

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/the-university-of-alabama/student-life/diversity/chart-geographic-breakdown.html

And only a tiny number of these students are NMF from the DC area.

For some families, a free undergraduate education is worth it!

My sibling attended VCU for free years ago (not NMF) which allowed my parents to pay for in-state med school with less than 20K loans.

It's a smart decision on Alabama's part to offer so many opportunities to the NMFs who want to go there.

College Factual is directionally correct...but not actually correct. Alabama is in fact 42% in state vs. the 32% indicated in this link (per Alabama's own website).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to this website, at the University of Alabama, there are:

213 undergrads from VA
136 undergrads from MD
3 undergrads from DC

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/the-university-of-alabama/student-life/diversity/chart-geographic-breakdown.html

And only a tiny number of these students are NMF from the DC area.

For some families, a free undergraduate education is worth it!

My sibling attended VCU for free years ago (not NMF) which allowed my parents to pay for in-state med school with less than 20K loans.

It's a smart decision on Alabama's part to offer so many opportunities to the NMFs who want to go there.

Many reasons to attend Alabama other than the money. The academic opportunities alone. But then there’s also the gorgeous campus, happy environment, great weather, world-class sports…. Just a great place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious if you took UC San Diego students and put them in Alabama if they would be able to survive?

My kid rushed at Bama at quickly met tons of kids from all over the country, including many from CA (one of whom apparently flew in on his parents’ private jet).

One thing many haters don’t realize is Bama attracts very affluent kids: some have full rides while others are full pay.

Parents pay to ship very fancy cars there so their kids need not make the long drive. The cars on campus are shockingly nice. The kids are well dressed. The vibe is cheerful and friendly. Everyone seems to be networking and having fun.

Kids go golfing and play tennis.

My kid has a frat brother who brought a very nice boat to town, and he’s not the only one.

My kid was raised in a very nice area and is well traveled by any measure, yet he is shocked by the wealth he’s encountered on campus (noting where people have vacation homes, where their primary residence is, where people travel/vacation, etc.).

None of the wealth you describe is even remotely shocking. At my kid's school he knows one student who's family owns a 777 that probably cost $1 BN fully outfitted, another lives in a penthouse at the Four Seasons, others casually refer to their Aspen homes that probably are at least $40MM+...the list goes on.

What you describe is some caricature of what someone would think is shocking wealth, who has no concept of what that means.

I think PP’s surprise is reflected in this thread - no one thinks of Alabama as a wealthy school. It is. We were also shocked by the money there (the cars are unbelievable). It’s very evident.