I’m a high school Junior who is seriously considering Alabama. My grades went up significantly this year after I did very very poorly last year. (2 Ds) I’m currently making all As with the exception of 1 B, including in my AP classes. My GPA at the end of last year was UW 2.80 W 3.00, but should go up significantly at the end of this year obviously. My SAT scores were low for the first time but Im planning on retaking them and hopefully doing better. M 540 CR 480 W 520.
How are my chances, and is there anything I can do to improve them other then pulling up my GPA and scores?
@mom2collegekids - Thank you for you advice, you seem to be an expert on bama so i hope you dont mind me asking a few questions.
The city seems a bit big for me, Im also looking at Auburn and Ole Miss which both appear to have smaller towns. Ole Miss is the only one I have visited so I am just going off what I have read and seen. Does the town feel big when you are there?
Its the biggest of the 3 SEC schools im looking at (about 30,000, I believe?) It seems very large compared to some of the other schools, but people claim that Alabama gives them very personal attention. Could you speak to that?
I’m not the expert that mom2ck is but my S is a Jr this year too. We visited Auburn and Alabama both this past Oct. Alabama rolled the red carpet out for him whereas Auburn seemed like they could have cared less if we visited. Alabama is a bigger campus but that’s because it has more green space. Auburn tends to be compact, less green space with some aspects of the school (vet science, pharmacy,etc) being off the central part of campus… We asked the Auburn’s tour guide what it was like on the weekends. He stated a lot of kids go home on the weekends so it gets pretty quiet. There is also no guaranteed housing at Auburn (big concern if your out-of-state). There is nothing in Auburn (no Target or Walmart to ride the bus to for snacks). T-town is bigger with lots to do but campus is walkable. I can’t help you with Ole Miss. Hope this helps. You really do need to visit to get a good feel of the campuses.
S did not do so well on the SAT either so he concentrated on the ACT. He took it three times with the third being the charm. Good luck this year.
Tiger transit does run to Walmart and Tiger Town that has all your stores including Kohls and Belk etc.
Campus doesn’t empty on weekends - not sure where that came from. After fall it may seem deserted but son sitting next to me at the moment never heard anyone who actually goes there say that?
You will getter better marketing from UA - and UA fans tend to market anti-AU but you seldom see that in reverse.
Also CVS and other convenience type stores plus all standard fast food restaurants and larger restaurants are walking distance from campus if you don’t want to wait on bus schedule or bookstore and other on campus stores don’t have what you want. Really, that is not an issue.
Agree that UA will charm you and give you more $ - they do that well.
tuscaloosa is a medium-sized city. It isn’t a big city.
I think Ttown is a good-size for a college-town. Not too big that it’s overwhelming, but not so small that there are only a few shops or restaurants.
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Its the biggest of the 3 SEC schools im looking at (about 30,000, I believe?) It seems very large compared to some of the other schools, but people claim that Alabama gives them very personal attention. Could you speak to that?
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Bama has managed to grow yet not lose it’s personal touch. What are your concerns? Bama doesn’t treat its students like they’re just numbers. Also, Bama doesn’t seem to get bogged down with red tape like some big schools.
My son looked at all three schools. He liked Ole Miss but not Oxford. He liked Auburn a lot but Auburn was scratched off the list when we saw how little they offered in terms of merit scholarships to out of state students. (And my son has great stats) He liked Alabama a lot and everything that Tuscaloosa has to offer. Alabama has given him an incredible scholarship. He has always wanted to go out of state and now he can thanks to his hard work and Alabama’s generous merit scholarships. He will be a freshman in the fall of 2015. Look at all three schools and get a feel for yourself. Good luck.
Is Tuscaloosa big? It really is just relative, if you come from Chicago or NYC, it will seem pretty small but of course if you come from a smaller town, then yes it will feel big. However, it is certainly not large enough for you to feel out of place. Really, if you didn’t want to leave the vicinity of campus, you would still find plenty to do. As a matter of fact you could stay on campus and find plenty to do. It might take time to get acclimated but that is what your college years are for, to stretch your wings and get outside your comfort zone.
I visited Auburn and many, many other campuses with my student and none had the personal approach like The University of Alabama, some campuses were quite pretty but none as outstanding as UA.
UA also has the Crimson Ride bus service which will take you around campus and off campus for shopping if you like. You could also bring a bike for transportation and exercise but it is a very walkable campus.
Keep in mind that unless you’re planning on bringing a car and driving all around town, Tuscaloosa will seem like a much smaller city. Once you get acclimated to campus and develop a routing, it will feel even smaller. Realize that you most likely won’t see all there is to see in the area during the four years you’re at UA. For example, I think I went to 2 movies in four at the main multiplex across town, never went to some of the more popular restaurants, etc. What I did do is make parts of UA my home turf and took advantage of opportunities to visit other areas if I was interested at the time. It worked extremely well.
@threeofthree I know of a few kids from my area that attend Auburn and they really seem to like it. My daughter could not picture herself there. For some people it is UA and for others AU, and that’s ok because it is all about fit. However, I just can’t help myself with the next part of my comment because I find it ironic that you are on the UA page griping about how UA people “market anti-AU.” Are you serious?
My apologies - didn’t realize I was on the UA page - it was a latest comment. I do try not to ever post negative about UA - my son had a great offer from them but selected AU. I also didn’t intend that to be griping - I read these comments from the latest posts and did not pay attention to where it was posted…my bad. :-S
@threeofthree Thank you for correcting my misinformation. The student tour guide was the one who told us it empties out on the weekends unless it is a home game weekend. Never saw the Wal-Mart and again tour guide never mentioned that Tiger Transit going anywhere but around campus or to apartments close to campus. The OP needs to tour all three to get a good feel.