Came anyone comment on these Alabama schools ? D encountered all of them at SETC & I am confused as to the strength of their MT programs and are the first two the same school just different campus??
Univ of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Univ of Alabama Birmingham
Univ of South Alabama
Thank you
The University of Alabama and The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are both in the UA system, but are 2 very different schools. University of AL is in Tuscaloosa, about 45 minutes from Birmingham, and is a traditional southern college, large school, beautiful old buildings, with an active Greek life and of course college sports! Their BA MT program has been around for a number of years. UAB is located in Birmingham, has a more modern, urban campus, and the BFA MT program is new in the last 2 years, although they have had a straight theatre program for a long time. Their performance facilities are beautiful. I know nothing about University of South Alabama’s MT program at all - sorry! The school is in Mobile, on the Gulf coast. Happy to answer any questions I can!
Thank you @MTmom2017 . I am getting confused by all these schools lol. Alabama is a bit far for us but D talked at length to the Univ of Alabama & also spoke with the Birmingham. The university of south Alabama we didn’t get to see there so not familiar with it but she got letter from them after so want to check them out. I’ll look them up geographically too. I see univ of Alabama is quite large… Might be too big. My husband is making fun of me as I didn’t know all the sports stuff about them lol. …
I agree with all of what @MTmom2017 said. I auditioned for both UA and UAB, both have decent programs. Neither of which I was terribly interested in, but I did audition for them since I lived so close. UA is a HUGE campus and very sports centered. They only have one actual theatre, so that’s a downside. UAB has the luxury of the Alys Stephens Center which is gorgeous.
Another two I’d recommend is Samford University in Birmingham. BFA MT program that is quite good. Very musically based. Also, Birmingham Southern. You audition for the BFA at the end of your Freshman or Sophomore year I believe, but a solid program. Both are private if you were wondering.
Were you just not interested in them since you are close by @ABMT16 ? I think Samford was there too at SETC. And yes Birmingham southern we already knew about. I wouldn’t say Alabama is a location we are looking at strongly but she may audition for at least one school there. I hadn’t realized there were so many programs there.
We met the head of the UAB program at unifieds. She is very enthusiastic and passionate about building the program. UAB has had strong acting and voice programs for years. The facilities are amazing and there seem to be many opportunities for students with respect to performing and some theatre tech. I think the students will get a great deal of personal attention from the director as well. While not an exclusive program like FSU or UMich with a long history, they seem to be quite selective.
@theaterwork Samford was. I wasn’t interested in UA after I auditioned. I didn’t like the atmosphere and faculty quite honestly. UAB is just too new for me. I auditioned and got into Samford, and it’s a strong contender. I’ve attended camps there for years for theater and piano so it holds a place near and dear to my heart. They have a new MT head who I can tell is trying to bring the program up to some good stuff. Also, around Birmingham getting any degree from Samford is well regarded since it’s tougher to get in academically. Not that I’m sticking around for theatre, it’s still just a prestigious school with a great program (that I also got decent $$ out of).
Echoing the reputation of Samford and the energy & facilities of the UAB program. Birmingham -Southern is a lovely place with an established theater program. The facility is older, but it is charming. The faculty is very nurturing. The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa is a very large, vibrant place that is thriving. The theater is indeed older but an amazing new venue will open in the fall of 2019. The program is competitive to get in, features a NY showcase and has more success stories than the aforementioned schools, due to the talent and the connections the University has. Your husband is right. This place is big time sports and the revenue it has generated for the school is amazing. The honors college makes it have a smaller liberal arts feel and the MT students are very well-trained in all disciplines and love it. You can’t go wrong with any of these choices.
South Alabama is in Mobile (as mentioned) which is almost a 5 hour drive south of birmingham. I have heard nice things about the program at the university of mobile and springhill college as well.
Also: UAB is an urban campus in the middle of downtown birmingham. Not much green space. Some people love that, others prefer a traditional campus. Samford, Bhm Southern, UA, and Springhill are all beautiful schools. If you didn’t think that was enough, Auburn has a new BFA MT program as well and Auburn is another big time sports school and a very respected University.
I had a friend come out of Mobile with her BA in MT and she is PHENOMENAL. She will be on a tour/Broadway in no time. She got into UA, Samford, Elon, everywhere in the southeast. She went to Mobile for financial reasons, but they obviously did her a LOT of good. I don’t know much of the program other than one amazing girl that graduated from it 
We are heading down to UAB next weekend. D auditioned inChicago and loved her interactions with the instructors. I appreciated them calling me in from the hallway and taking the time to meet me after her audition and to explain the program and how they are growing it and tell me about the school and area. They were very accommodating and yes energetic and generated a lot of excitement with my daughter even after two whole days of auditions. One of the instructors had even baked cookies and brought little bags of them to give to the students to " keep thier strength up" at unifieds. After we had lots of communication and encouraging emails until the academic acceptance process was done and D was offered a spot in the MT program. We are looking forward to our visit. The director has organized a full day with classes visits and even the opportunity to sit in on thier dress/tech rehearsal for thier spring show that is going up a week later. D is really looking forward to seeing the area and meeting some students and instructors! So am I.
And after driving through a snow storm with weekend to visit Viterbo and freezing during the walking tours… D is seriously considering somewhere WARM!
@TaylorsmomWI - That was our experience with UAB at Unifieds as well, and D is heading down to B’ham w/her Dad in 2 weeks. They will get to sit in on classes and have tickets to see their production of Spring Awakening that night, and decided to stay an extra night to check out B’ham itself. I honestly have appreciated the efforts Valerie Acceta has made to communicate with us. It’s not high pressure, but definitely shows a personal touch that I would think reflects the nature of the program itself… D is deciding between some very different programs, so hopefully the campus visits will bring some clarity…SOON.
@TaylorsmomWI @WTXMom I’m auditioning for UAB through video because I can’t make it on campus unfortunately, so I’d love for you to continue updating your experiences with the school!
I know a girl who is in Spring Awakening… She seems like she loves the school and has had many performance opportunities so far. I think UAB deserves more representation on CC!
I will definitely update after our trip this weekend ! It should be interesting. D is in rehearsal for two shows right now and we only have one day Friday off. So we will drive 12 hours overnight after her Godspell rehearsal Thursday night to be there at 9 am Friday… Do all her scheduled activities… Watch the spring awakening rehearsal… Then drive home 12 hours overnight to get home for fiddler on the roof rehearsal Saturday. Lol. Theatre taxi mom to the extreme! Wish me luck
@TaylorsmomWI Eek! I thought I deserved the gold medal for my recent trip but I humbly step off the podium for you!
@TaylorsmomWI - whoa. And I was feeling sorry for myself having to deal w/D’s Area One Act Competition ending late Thursday night and having to drive 7.5 hours starting at the crack of dawn Friday morning to get to her last audition, only to turn right around and drive the 7.5 hours back the next day! Hope you have lots of 5-Hour Energy!
Wooohoooo! Yay caffeine!
Great to hear about the upcoming UAB visits! I am visiting with my daughter next weekend as well and looking forward to seeing the show on Saturday. I’ll post about our trip after our visit. Also, I saw this the other day and thought it very telling about the strength of the program.