<p>For those of you who attended the University Fellows Experience finalist weekend, can you share what it was like? Your impressions of the faculty, students, campus?</p>
<p>If you can share a bit about yourself also, that would be helpful - are you in-state? out-of-state? Definitely attending UA or not sure yet?</p>
<p>I’m out of state (South Carolina). I’m not sure if I will attend, but the weekend caused Alabama to move up a lot in my college option rankings.</p>
<p>I had gone in unsure of it all but with an open mind. I was astounded by the program. The Fellows have access to so many resources and get such individualized attention. Rice University has been my dream school for so long and now I’m so conflicted because I loved everything about the UFE at Alabama.</p>
<p>What was the interview process like? Can you share? And, Roll Tide!!</p>
<p>@ohgagirl</p>
<p>Here is a summary of what my schedule looked like:
Friday evening: Reception, dinner, small talk with people, nothing amazing
Saturday: Breakfast, informational session about study abroad, short meeting with the associate dean, short meeting with the founding dean, meeting with a faculty member, lunch, interview, informational session about internships, discussion group, informational session about pre-med, campus tour</p>
<p>Saturday was a long day, but was very informative. The actual interview was about 30 minutes long. It was with two faculty members and two current fellows. They asked general sorts of questions about how you deal with failure, leadership, etc. But then they also had my essay with them and asked me about specific things I had written. The interview is different from the rest of the day’s activities because it as done as an individual. All my other activities were done in a group of about 5 other finalists. But it wasn’t terrible; the interviewers were friendly and tried to make me feel comfortable.</p>
<p>I hope that gave you some insight!</p>
<p>Did they say how long until you know? Best of luck!</p>
<p>They said decisions would be released in mid-March.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply, tropicalslushies - and best of luck with both the UFE program and Rice!</p>
<p>When you have the time, if you (or anyone else) could share what you were told about study abroad, I’d appreciate it. Does the UFE program provide any kind of sponsorship or funding for program participants who want to study abroad?</p>
<p>Also, you mentioned an informational session about pre-med. Is the pre-med program different for UFE participants than for other UA pre-med students? Is there additional mentorship/support?</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>@dodgersmom</p>
<p>There are 3 kinds of study abroad programs.
Exchange programs are 1 or 2 semesters long and are at a foreign university. They cost UA tuition (scholarships and such included).
Summer Faculty Led Programs are 2-5 weeks long and are the cost of in-state tuition.
Affiliate programs are through another program and can be a summer, semester, or a year. The fees differ for each program</p>
<p>I don’t think the pre-med program is any different for Fellows.</p>
<p>@dodgersmom </p>
<p>It’s also possible to directly enroll in a foreign university or another university in the US, pay their tuition, and have UA write the student a check for the value of that semester’s tuition at UA. While direct enrollment involves a lot more paperwork than an exchange, there are a lot more universities to choose from and the cost can be thousands of dollars less than an exchange program.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, there are no special requirements for UFE participants who are pre-med or certain majors. In fact, the individual departments reserve the right to allow non-honors students into their honors classes on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>One of the most important things to do to be successful at UA is to actively search for opportunities, have meetings with faculty and staff in multiple departments, learn what other students are doing/have done, etc. Opportunities rarely fall right into ones lap; research and networking are required.</p>
<p>“I don’t think the pre-med program is any different for Fellows.”</p>
<p>I agree. The Honors College is very hesitant to step on the toes of the Pre-Health Advising dept. That doesn’t mean that the HC isn’t offering some classes or seminars that supplement a pre-health student’s resume. It does. </p>
<p>And, I think UFE has done some medically-related programs in the past. I think they were involved with something in regards to diabetes-testing in rural areas. Certainly that would be a fine thing to put on a premed resume.</p>
<p>However, the HC doesn’t want to be seen as over-stepping its boundaries in regards to advising, etc. That’s all done by the pre-health advising dept. The pre-health office is in Clark Hall. However, I think it would be nice if it were in Nott Hall since most/all pre-health students are likely in the HC. I think at one time it was either in Nott Hall or Lloyd Hall (next to Nott). </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.prehealth.ua.edu/”>http://www.prehealth.ua.edu/</a></p>
<p>Have any of the UFE Finalists received news if acceptance? Congrats to all- such an honor to be invited as a finalist!</p>