<p>I’m having trouble figuring out how they’re different. I know that mallet is self-governing, and blount has classes on site, but what are the differences in the typical students/vibe?</p>
<p>I’m not 100% sure, but I’ve heard the following describe the cultures…</p>
<p>Blount…granola, hippie</p>
<p>Mallet…maverick, quirky</p>
<p>Blount Undergraduate Initiative is an official program of UA that you must apply to during your senior year of high school. It’s considered a UA minor and is a 6 course liberal arts program with a residential component. From their website: “A key aspect of this program is living in a community of scholars.” For students who were interested in Liberal Arts Colleges & curriculum, it’s a nice way for students to have that experience & still take advantage of all that UA has to offer. [Blount</a> Undergraduate Initiative](<a href=“http://www.as.ua.edu/blount/]Blount”>The Blount Scholars Program) </p>
<p>Mallet is a self-governing organization at UA. Student run. Has a healthy dose of stickittothemaniosis :)</p>
<p>I was just having this conversation with some freshmen over the weekend. There are actually many students who are in both Blount and Mallet.</p>
<p>Blount (pronounced blunt) is an official academic entity within the College of Arts and Sciences. There used to be a rule that participants had to be in the College of Arts and sciences, but that seems to have been relaxed.</p>
<p>Mallet is one of the oldest, if not the oldest honor society at UA. It has a unique charter that requires UA to provide it with a dormitory for its exclusive use, currently Palmer Hall and formerly Byrd Hall (now demolished to make room for a sorority house as UA does not want students living in the center of campus.) </p>
<p>While it may be easy to describe the “typical” Malleteer or Blountie, in reality there is a wide range of students in each organization. Both have a residential component, but Mallet’s is not mandatory, though many Malleteers spend a lot of time at Palmer Hall despite not living there. In a way, Mallet is almost like a fraternity except that it is coed, has been integrated for decades, and has a more intellectual vibe. Dues are also very reasonable, being along the lines of $40 per semester plus housing costs.</p>
<p>As a member of both Mallet and Blount, I felt compelled to give my two cents. Blount is a program, a minor that you have to take classes for, and it can at times be very time consuming. The people really run the gamut, several Greeks, several other Malleteers, several jocks, several band kids, several lots of stuff, but they’re almost all smart.
Mallet is more of a club that you would join, and it’s an honor society as well. The people have a reputation for being very weird, very creepy, particularly eccentric. In reality, they also are pretty diverse in their make-up, although without a doubt they are on average “weirder” than the rest of the campus, Blount included. There are more “less intelligent” people in Mallet because it isn’t a program in any way. You have the option of living in Palmer Hall starting your second semester, and it’s pretty cheap.
I guess the biggest difference would be to just say that Blount is a program that requires a certain amount of credits, while Blount is just an honor society whose members like to hang out and party together. Both have very cool people, and some not so cool people in each group, but there is definitely a lot of overlap in its member.
Feel free to PM for more details, especially about Blount, of which I’m more involved in by default.</p>
<p>XXjcatmufasa - My daughter has been accepted at UA - and is in the process of applying for the Honors College. She just received an invitation to apply at Blount - and we are scratching our heads a little - not quite sure WHY she should apply vs. just applying and living in the Honors College area. Do you have some additional comments about why to apply vs. just the regular Honors College route?</p>