<p>Junior son has the stats to make U of Alabama and UAB attractive financially. Can someone who knows more about these schools compare/contrast them a little bit for a northeasterner who's trying to decide whether either or both should be on our visit list for latter August. I've had people send pm's about Alabama, but not UAB. Looking at stats, should UAB also be on our list?</p>
<p>Kiddo wants Pre-med.</p>
<p>On our list for this trip are Emory, Furman, and Davidson. Earlier this summer we're also going to WUSL and Pitt. In the fall we're going to try to get to Franklin & Marshall, Case Western, U of Rochester, and possibly Yale (pending whether it's still on his list or not).</p>
<p>UAB has an excellent medical school, however, I wouldn’t recommend it that much for undergrad. It’s largely a med school/hospital with a university attached.</p>
<p>Bama has a beautiful traditional campus. </p>
<p>My son is pre-med at Bama…his girlfriend of 3 years is pre-med at UAB…so I am very familiar with both schools. </p>
<p>Your son would get a fine pre-med education at either school, but UAB would not offer the full college experience if that is desired. UAB is more of a suitcase/commuter school. </p>
<p>UAB has only 10% of out of state students.</p>
<p>Bama has about 43% of out of state students. </p>
<p>Since both schools are only an hour apart by car, it would not be that hard to visit both.</p>
<p>^^ Thank you for your insight! My main concern with adding too many schools is we’re already trying to get 4 schools in within 5 days. Otherwise, we need to be back for the start of our school year. If they’re just an hour apart we ought to at least be able to do a drive by, but I’d definitely prefer he not be at a mainly commuter school.</p>
<p>^^
Thank you for those thoughts. I think we’ll scratch UAB. My goal is to let S see all the places he might have an interest in so he can decide where he wants to apply this summer/fall. I’ve used his list and am in logistics mode now that summer is almost here.</p>
<p>Although I realize you’re hesitant to add schools at the moment, I strongly recommend Rhodes anyway. The sciences are very strong, and it has an excellent reputation for merit aid. Pre-med advising is excellent, and many students do biological/medical research at St. Jude or the Memphis Zoo. Along with Davidson, Haverford, and a few others, it’s one of my favorite LACs.</p>
<p>Both Rhodes and Furman are very beautiful, but I would much rather be in Memphis than Greenville.</p>
<p>I’ll have him take a look at Rhodes. If he likes it, it’s easier to add that one to our St Louis trip than our GA/AL/SC/NC trip. Thanks for the suggestion.</p>
<p>The only things UAB really has in its favor are its diversity (36% nonwhite vs 19% nonwhite at UA ) and its urbanity (in the heart of 1million+ metro vs 45 minutes away). UAB is on par with UA academically (in some disciplines higher ranked than UA and lagging behind in others). However, unless you are able to bring your car to Birmingham, you’re not going to be able to access a lot of Birmingham’s urban amenities; Southern cities are brutally auto-centric. UA at least offers a self-contained campus bubble if you lack a car.</p>
<p>^^
Then you need to do a more thorough visit of the city.
It’s not LA or NY, but B’ham does offer many cultural venues and region-specific and ethnic dining options. B’ham also offers upscale shopping experiences.</p>
<p>*Southern cities are brutally auto-centric. UA at least offers a self-contained campus bubble if you lack a car. *</p>
<p>LOL…actually many cities in this country are “brutally auto-centric”. I’m a Calif native, and if you don’t have a car, you are pretty much stranded. And, in case someone doesn’t know what you mean by “self-contained campus bubble”…Bama has a tram system with various color-coded routes.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add a difference that I recently learned regarding UAB and UA. My son (at Bama) and his girlfriend (at UAB) are both pre-med. They have both concluded that grading in pre-med classes at UAB is very cut-throat. They don’t know why that is. UAB isn’t teaching more info, but the GF’s pre-med GPA (aka science GPA) has really taken a beating at UAB to the point that she probably won’t be able to apply to med school. While she would argue that my son is the stronger student, my son would argue that her grades in OChem do not fairly represent what she’s learned.</p>
<p>I also meant that most off-campus activities and nightlife are accessible without the need for a car. I think most northeastern cities have a more developed city-wide public transit system.</p>
<p>I don’t know if most NE cities have such, maybe most very large cities like Boston do, but if most NE cities do, that’s great…the NE states and cities are geographically small…and they don’t represent most cities in the US… </p>
<p>Boston has 48 square miles of land and is very densely populated…B’ham has 150 square miles of land and is not densely populated…so it’s easier for those smaller geographical cities to justify the investment of city-wide public transportation. States and cities with larger geographical areas and less-densely populated areas are challenged to have city-wide transportation by their sizes.</p>
<p>As for B’ham/UAB…since many of its students are in-state, many will have cars. So a student who doesn’t have a car, will generally have a friend/roomie that will have one. </p>
<p>At Bama, with about half of the students coming from OOS, some will have cars and some won’t. However, those without cars don’t seem to suffer from it because either their friends have cars. I am hoping that the Crimson Ride will extend their trips to Midtown Village beyond just Sunday.</p>
<p>well i totally disagree with the some of the above!!!</p>
<p>uab is a good school for alot of things, besides just medicine and has offered my son an incredible undergrad experience. He has been doing research since the 1 st month…is in an incredible honors program (sci tech)… also in a scholars program and is a TA. He is involved in clubs, ultimate frisbee, an officer in some things. He has is car on campus, alot of students do…but only really uses it to go out of town or to go shopping in town. He walks to most things he needs to go to. Not much different from ua or auburn. </p>
<p>as for the grading mentioned above… UAB is a tough school, they expect alot, but do the work and you will be fine. professors my son has had are EXTREMELY approachable, welcome students for office hours etc.</p>
<p>it doesnt have the rah rah attitude re football, it isnt the classic campus…but that doesnt make it less of a school.</p>
<p>most alabama kids go instate (lived here 27 years)…when my oldest graduated from hs…he was the only one that went out of state. So most alabama schools are full of kids that may go home on weekends. </p>
<p>creekland…feel free to pm me for more information.</p>
<p>I’ve been intrigued by UAB for a couple of years. What I’ve learned about UAB makes me hope that Lake Jr. will apply. Jr. already intends to apply to Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>I have no personal experience with either campus, but from long distance observation and meeting a UAB grad or two here in the northeast, I’d opine that the health sciences and medicine is UAB’s juggernaut. However, the university seems to be expending $$$ to enhance the overall undergraduate experience academically and aesthetically. I think that they’ve decided that they can’t compete for hearts and minds on an apples-to-apples basis with Tuscaloosa, so they’re trying to be different and excellent. Look for them to focus on the STEM fields (although engineering at Tuscaloosa has a better reputation). I think a science undergrad will be well served at either campus. The smaller student population in STEM departments at UAB might provide a slight advantage.</p>
<p>if considering uab, anyone interested in the sciences should definitely look at the sci/tech honors program…if interested in chemistry they should also look at the chem scholars program. EXCELLENT programs that are selective…requiring essays and interviews.
Sci’tech is under the direction of Dr. Tucker…wonderful. The students have wonderful opportunities for research and will do a thesis based on 2 years of research. While no immediate financial reward for sci/tech… if you choose to do your phd at uab , they cover the tuition.
chem scholars allows your student to be a TA…which is a paid position…my son really enjoys it. Son also has incredible access to his professors.</p>
<p>Lakewashington… they have really made an effort to have a green area…new suite style blazer dorms (although my son liked the older dorms better as they are full apartments…full kitchen, living room, balcony etc) and an incredible rec center…5 story rock wall, lazy river pool etc.</p>
<p>it has great merit based on gpa and test scores… but even so, it is cheaper than ua or auburn.</p>
<p>We’ve noted all the above comments - thanks! At the moment, my guy’s decided his other options are ranking higher on his list than either, but we haven’t hit application time yet. Time will tell.</p>
<p>*UAB has only 10% of out of state students.</p>
<p>Bama has about 43% of out of state students.*</p>
<p>Those stats are going to make a significant difference on weekends. And, rumor has it, that Bama’s incoming frosh class is almost 50% OOS. </p>
<p>Certainly UAB offers a very good academic education and offers extra-curricular experiences. We are certainly “crossing our fingers” that our younger son is accepted to its med school.</p>
<p>However, I think that a student who wants a more traditional-looking campus, lots of green areas, more kids on campus on weekends, and full college experience, along with the strong academics, there is no comparison.</p>
