<p>Something we had in our house for years - I 100% recommend it, can’t definitively say if it helped but it sure didn’t hurt…
[Amazon.com:</a> Top 500 SAT Words Shower Curtain: Home & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Top-500-Words-Shower-Curtain/dp/B000UI8U68]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Top-500-Words-Shower-Curtain/dp/B000UI8U68)</p>
<p>Esp. for those who read in the bathroom, these words and definitions are embedded in our brains :)</p>
<p>U Cincinnati… community college feel, campus empty on weekends, poor graduation rate, weak Greek system, bad neighborhood.</p>
<p>Miami Oxford, huge Greek system, beautiful campus, excellent academics, big hockey school, lots of kids from Chicago area.</p>
<p>Alabama vs Miami, Alabama is bigger, warmer, better football, more diverse, lower graduation rates. (65% vs 81% 6yr)</p>
<p>to add on to what gojack just said… my sister goes to miami and I can tell you that it is NOT urban. the people might be sophisticated, but like everything else in ohio, oxford is surrounded by corn, corn, and more corn. the closest city is cincinnati which is not chicago by any means. plus OOS (and in-state) tuition are ridiculous. and bama and miami have identical USNWR rankings (not that those really matter, it’s just interesting.)</p>
<p>The graduation rate at Bama is irrelevant for most OOS students - especially those with a scholarship or full family funding. The grad rate is not because classes are hard to get or anything like that. Since T-town has a population of 100,000 people, there are a good number of locals who work a good number of hours to pay tuition and take less than 15 credits per semester - so they take longer to graduate. </p>
<p>Of course, those who change majors significantly can also cause themselved to take longer to graduate. </p>
<p>Personally, I don’t know anyone who has taken more than 4 years to graduate, but that’s because I know few locals (feeno, you may be the only one), and mostly know those who are resident students from farther away.</p>
<p>Miami Oxford, huge Greek system, beautiful campus, …excellent academics</p>
<p>Since Miami Oxford is ranked the same as Bama (both #79), the academics are going to be similar in strength.</p>
<p>*My DS will be at UA in the fall (not accepted at MU) , and I think AU is a great school,(and a real bargain) but lets keep it realistic, there are also better schools out there.
*Graduation rates are calculated from; full time, degree seeking students only. (to include part-time, 2 yr degrees etc., MU goes to 94%) <a href=“http://www.units.muohio.edu/oir/FactBook/FB201011/GradRetn/Succ1.html[/url]”>http://www.units.muohio.edu/oir/FactBook/FB201011/GradRetn/Succ1.html</a>
*Drop-out rates do matter, when friends, classmates, roommates etc.,drop-out it has a detrimental effect, the higher the drop-out rate, the more pervasive the ‘failure IS an option’ becomes.
*UA academic credentials are based more heavily on Grad school than MU.</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Teaching | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching)</p>
<p>Best Undergraduate Teaching National Universities
Many colleges have a strong commitment to teaching undergraduates instead of graduate-level research. </p>
<h1>1 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH</h1>
<h1>2 Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH</h1>
<h1>2 Princeton University Princeton, NJ</h1>
<h1>4 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN</h1>
<h1>5 College of William and Mary</h1>
<h1>6 Brown University Providence, RI</h1>
<h1>6 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA</h1>
<h1>8 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI</h1>
<h1>8 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA</h1>
<h1>10 Stanford University Stanford, CA</h1>
<h1>10 Yale University New Haven, CT</h1>
<p>Forbes magazine recognizes Miami as a “Best Buy”
08/26/2010
Miami University is recognized by Forbes magazine as the best public university in the state of Ohio and a “Best College Buy.” Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges 2010 list, published earlier this month, features more than 600 colleges and universities across the country.</p>
<p>“We believe a good college is one that meets student needs. While other college rankings are based in large part on school reputation, as evaluated by college administrators, we focus on factors that directly concern incoming students,” said the researchers when announcing this year’s lists.</p>
<p>The rankings, compiled by Forbes in conjunction with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), consider five general categories:</p>
<p>Student satisfaction accounts for more than a quarter of a school’s final score and is based on student evaluations.
Postgraduate success accounts for almost one third of the final results and is based on alumni salary.
Student debt is considered in the rankings at more than 17 percent and is based on debt load (four years) and student loan default rates.
Nearly one fifth of the rankings are based on four-year graduation rates.
Competitive awards account for less than 10 percent of the final scores.</p>
<p>Miami is one of only 100 schools on Forbes’ “Best College Buy” list and one of only two Ohio universities. CCAP compiles the list based on school quality and cost comparison.</p>
<p>The rankings appeared as a special report in the Aug. 11 issue of Forbes magazine. The complete ranking list is also available online at forbes.com.</p>
<p>We are from the Seattle area and my son is seriously considering Bama. My question for Sea_Tide and possibly others from the PNW is more travel related. What are the logistics for travel to and from the university from our area? Any tips or suggestions? He has very strong stats and will most likely be a NMF. I have read a ton of stuff on CC regarding the university and everything looks fantastic. The travel part though may be a hurdle. Thanks.</p>
<p>Gojack–just looked at Forbes’ main list of best colleges. I’m sorry, but…with all due respect to Forbes…any ranking list that puts Salem College (teeny mediocre girls’ school here in Winston-Salem) within the 100-125 sub-list while relegating Georgia Tech to #242 has to be seriously flawed. Salem College…WTH? ;)</p>
<p>Freein…</p>
<p>Send a PM to SEA_Tide </p>
<p>He has all the info about travel from PNW. 
</p>
<p>He’ll be delighted to help you. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Drop-out rates do matter, when friends, classmates, roommates etc.,drop-out it has a detrimental effect, the higher the drop-out rate, the more pervasive the ‘failure IS an option’ becomes</p>
<p>first of all, drop out rate is different from grad rate. It doesn’t affect a student at all if one of his friends takes longer to graduate. </p>
<p>As to the possibly negative fall-out when a friend/roomie “drops out”: At Bama, there is not a aura of “failure is an option”…not at all. I doubt this student is going to be in a social-circle where friends are likely to drop out of school. </p>
<p>Bama has a lot more URMs attending than Miami-Oxford does, so that will also account for a higher drop-out rate since it’s common knowledge that URMs drop out at a much higher rate than Whites and Asians do. Since Bama has about a 12% African American population (vs only 5% at MU) that is going to affect drop out rate. </p>
<p>MU is not a better school than Bama…not at all. They are very similar in quality, hence the identical ranking in USNews. However, Bama can offer a better “full campus experience” than MU can. Also, Bama has a higher percentage of out of state students which also helps with regional diversity.</p>
<p>*UA academic credentials are based more heavily on Grad school than MU.
*</p>
<p>Where is your evidence for that? But, even if that were true, Bama uses its Grad profs to also teach undergrads, so your point is rather meaningless.</p>
<p>As many of us have posted here previously, the various “rankings” don’t matter a hoot … and actually neither do those statistics about graduation percentages, etc. when so many other factors are really involved. My D turned down more schools above UA in the USNWR rankings than below in order to attend UA next year. Some of that was due to the fabulous merit aid, but more than that it was because she found that UA was the school for HER. So, she’s NOT going to Rice, Tulane, Vandy, WashU, or William & Mary, but she WILL be attending UA! Roll Tide!</p>
<p>So, is MU a great school … absolutely! And so are ALL the schools ranked in basically the top 200 (out of 3000-ish) universities that students can choose from today. The question is, what is it that make THIS university be the “one” that will be the best for the particular student and family making the decision?</p>
<p>Not knowing where each of the prospective students (originally posting on this thread) fits in the honors / non-honors spectrum in this thread, I can tell you, you can bet that if your child is in that top 10-15 percent of kids in the Honors College at UA, that those same matriculation and graduation percentages do NOT hold true to that subsection of the UA population (honors college).</p>
<p>Also, I’ll offer that diversity, in all its forms, is a good thing, and being exposed to all kinds of people from a racial, academic, economic, and religious standpoint can add more life lessons than attending college in a smaller, more homogeneous (at least from an academic standpoint) college. You meet GREAT people from all circles of life … even those that may drop out of school for one reason or another … which often times has no bearing whatsoever on the ability of the university to “teach” those students btw.</p>
<p>My 2 cents …</p>
<p>@freeein2012</p>
<p>Found this info from another thread from Sea_Tide.</p>
<p>The only nonstop to Birmingham from the West Coast is from Las Vegas on Southwest and is a daytime flight.</p>
<p>Delta has a nonstop PDX-ATL redeye that I’ve almost booked myself on. Taking that, you can arrive in Birmingham at either 8:30 or 9:30 am depending on which connection you choose. Alaska will also sell tickets on this flight as a codeshare or will fly you PDX-SEA to catch the Delta redeye from SEA. I’ve flown BHM-ATL-SEA-PDX and BHM-ATL-PDX-SEA before and the SEA-PDX shuttle is really easy.</p>
<p>From Seattle, I’ve flown on American and Continental redeyes and connected from there. To get elite status on Alaska, I’ve flown on Delta redeyes from other cities (LAX and PHX), but not Seattle.</p>
<p>As for expected fares, flights to Birmingham from PDX or SEA are running about $200 each way, though they occasionally go for $140-$185 each way. I’ve paid as little as $88 and as much as $260 each way, depending on when I’ve needed to travel. Definitely sign up to earn miles and try to fly that carrier or its partners whenever possible.</p>
<p>dad2ild Great post and a great summary. We are really interested in Alabama at this point. Diversity is something that is important to my daughter. She is excited about many of her possibilities.</p>
<p>Merit is going to be the deciding factor at any school for us. My DD’s stats are good: 4.2 gpa 28 ACT (yes she took again and we are waiting) 30 seems to be the magic number. Honors college is something she would seriously consider.</p>
<p>Heading to Nebraska in a day, then to ku and k-state. Still need to get to FSU (I don’t think we will get much from UF) have been to Iowa State as old daughter goes there.</p>
<p>I had cross posted in the Parent Forum about strong schools (not Ivy’s) w/ good merit aid and I was given some great schools to consider and I am working form that list now. I truly do not know what I would do without this board. All of you are so giving with your knowledge and your time. You are helping kids find their future and that is something special. Thank you all-</p>
<p>^^^ you are welcome. My D will be a freshman at UA in 4 short months, so I’m not the expert, but just having gone through the process, I’m glad to help. Good luck, and keep a strong eye towards UA … Roll Tide!</p>
<p>We live near Chicago and in order to fly we have to deal with the typically crowded and large O’Hare. Nogotiating the Birmingham Airport is a breeze comparatively. And it really is 45-50 minutes from the rental car check-in to the campus in Tuscaloosa. I’m now not worried about my DD waiting by herself for flights home.</p>
<p>DAD, I meant to say “Great post” too. It was an awesome post, a keeper. Thanks!</p>
<p>GCBMIB…I live in Chcago and we prefer to fly Southwest out of Midway. It’s so much less stress. Love Southwest…wonder if this would be an option for you?</p>
<p>Midway is a bit longer drive for us. While many extol Southwest’s pricing advantage, I must be unlucky or book too close to the departure date. I have never found Southwest less expensive to fly than United or Delta – provided no checked luggage. I have a feeling DD will have checked luggage, so SW will stay on the fare search list.</p>
<p>How is connecting thru midway? SW only has connecting flights from CT and a lot of them connect thru midway. I get concerned when you have a small airport in case flights are cancelled you don’t have many choices. And… given their age its not like they can rent a car and get to another airport or fly to ATL or something.</p>
<p>Midway is far from small anymore! We’ve never had issues flying out of Midway as far as cancellations…</p>
<p>Good to know about Midway. My H doesn’t even like flying out of Hartford CT due to cancellations and that isn’t that small anymore either. He just thinks you have more options out of jfk or lga, but in my opinion a much larger chance that your flight takes off late and you miss your connection, but I don’t have good data on that.
When I checked the SW flight that left CT to midway it said less than 50% on time, so that is kind of scary. It did say the average delay was under 15 mins, so that mitigates it somewhat.
I booked S’s BB ticket nonstop out of lga, but that is too expensive to do on a routine basis.</p>