BMWs, North Faces and Uggs: Welcome to Maryville

Everyone else was thinking it and I said it. As I drove around trying to find a parking spot for my class last Thursday it hit me: there are a lot of nice cars in the student parking lot. I saw models such as Mercedes, Acura, Infiniti, Audi and BMW. Now not every car was luxury import, but there were a lot of nice cars that you do not see everywhere.

I know fall is just around the corner and The North Face jackets will soon reappear, as they did last year.  I was shopping at the West County mall recently and decided to walk into The North Face store; what a mistake that was. I ended up trying on a very thin running jacket that was wind-proof, water-proof and everything else-proof that you could think of, and it was priced at $142. I did not get the jacket, that day. I am by no means ripping on The North Face here; I love my black jacket that I got for Christmas two years ago; however, North Face just has expensive clothing, at least in my book.

I know a lot of the girls on campus wear Ugg boots. The only reason I am aware of this as a guy is because my mom wanted a pair last Christmas. So off to Nordstroms I went and $175 later, I walked out with a pair of furry things called Uggs that had a button on the side of them. I would gladly spend that money again on my mom for Christmas, but that was a lot of money for fuzzy boots.  Call it stereotyping if you want, but let’s face some facts: Maryville’s clientele (the students) tend to have expensive taste.

We all know Maryville is by no means cheap to attend. It costs $11,393 per semester, if you do not live on campus. That’s $22,786 a year, add another $7,042 for the cheapest housing on campus (campus housing ranges from $7,042-$9,070) and you are at $29,828 per year, not including your meal plan, if you live on campus. I know lots of students that go to Maryville have scholarships, including myself. I know Maryville is private university, which has quite a bit to do with the tuition prices. For a lot of students, Maryville is out of reach because of the tuition pricing.

“I think most (students) are middle class, but I think there are probably the same amount of lower middle class students as there are upper middle class students.” says senior Christie Stopke.

When I asked junior Lauralee Gilkey what she thought about the title of this story she replied, “ I think the title is very appropriate. There is nothing wrong with BMWs, Northfaces or Uggs; but they do, like many other things, give you a hunch at a person’s social class. I do feel that the majority of Maryville students are upper middle class, but the good thing is that if you are someone, like myself, who doesn’t have any of these things you are not an outcast.”

So the next time you drive around looking for a parking spot for an hour (yes, I know I am exaggerating a bit) on campus, maybe you’ll notice the BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, Acuras and Infinitis in the parking lot. If you do not see the cars, trust me, The North Face jackets and the Ugg boots will be sure to catch your eye here in the next couple of weeks.

Maryville Tuition rates: http://www.maryville.edu/admissions/undergraduate/undergraduate-tuition-and-fees/