<p>What are the advantages of Honors program and University Fellows.
I do know they get special housing for honors students. </p>
<p>Do they get more Merit Scholarships or fast track to finish classes…</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “fast track” to finish classes. </p>
<p>Those in the Honors College have certain perks such as Priority Registration. That is a biggie. </p>
<p>The classes in the HC are small, so that’s also a nice perk. </p>
<p>Sometimes there are scholarship awards for those in UFE or CBH. However, the university scholarships are essentially awards for students who qualify to be in the HC.</p>
<p>The biggest perk of the honors college, IMO, is priority registration. The HC also has social and volunteer activities that are great for getting the honors students together. And, not that the whole U isn’t this way, but the folks in the HC are very caring and helpful.</p>
<p>Have you searched University Fellows on CC? IF not, I would suggest that you do so. There’s not a straightforward 3 sentence answer. It’s a concept that is always evolving.
I would say that it’s safe to say that UFE is still in it’s infancy. Dr. Morgan is the Director. She’s incredible.
If you round up, about 5% of applicants are selected as Fellows. I cannot speak to CBHP.
It’s a commitment not doubt!
UFE should not be the “reason” that one goes to Alabama OR the “reason” that one does not go to Alabama.
I don’t need to go on and on about the advantages of Fellows. If you research it you can come up with your own thoughts. Everything that I’ve read, not necessarily on CC, has panned out to be true.
My daughter is currently an OOS sophomore Fellow. She spent 3 weeks immediately after spring semester for a service project that is in a less than lackluster area of southern Alabama. That’s 3 weeks of an already short summer break. It was building area playgrounds, teaching junior high students different concepts, exploring the town to learn about culture in various parts of the state. It was emotional, exhausting, and eye-opening. It’s almost considered a right of passage within the Fellows community.
Do not get your hopes up about extra scholarship $$. That is definitely not the intended draw or appeal of the program.
I don’t know what percentage of Fellows is in the greek system. However, they do exist. Conservative, liberal and somewhere in the middle students are members of UFE. They’re diverse. It’s not one size fits all. I know of outstanding students that were not extended an invitation. I know of a few that have turned out to be the “doesn’t work so well with others” type. The one common factor is that they are dedicated to being change-agents around campus, the community and statewide.
Of course, they have some handholding in the beginning but for the most part the students govern themselves with Director/staff direction. They are taught what is expected of them and then they are EXPECTED to carry through. Obviously, that doesn’t happen overnight and they have mentors, opportunities, experiences that are designed to help them succeed as socially aware persons of society.
So, I don’t know if I’ve answered your question or not. My intent was to leave out academics. People get hung up on a this score or that gpa. It is NOT the deciding factor of membership selection. It’s only a simple way to get successful applicants to apply.
Selection is not easy. If it were, it wouldn’t be selective…Several interviews are required to proceed to the next round and so forth.
I believe beginning this year, 2013, a UFE minor has been designed for Fellows. What does that mean? I have no idea. CBHP has had a minor for sometime and it was never clear as to why UFE did not have a minor attached to membership. But now they do. Since my daughter missed the first year of the UFE minor opportunity, she has the choice of taking a few extra requirements to also receive that particular minor. However, I think she will put that way down on the list of priorities. NOT UFE but the minor aspect. She is participating in the University Scholars program and will begin graduate classes next semester (her 4th semester at UA).
She loves UFE, her sorority, her friends all over campus, and BAMA, in general. I guess that I should point out the fact that she decided to go the traditional dorm route. No honors dorms for her. One year was enough but she’s thankful for the bonding experience that she had from sharing close quarters with “new people”.
Don’t get caught up in one area of the “college experience”. It’s about opportunities and making the most of each one. Never pass up an opportunity, my mother frequently said. Although, it was most often said when we were little kids and traveling was she referencing, don’t miss a pee break :)</p>
<p>For those asking about the Academic Elite scholarships, it is important to understand that most of the Fellows do not receive the Academic Elite scholarship. As I understand it, the typical recipients are the Fellows who will not receive the NMF scholarship, but whom the University very much wants to accept the Fellows offer. It isn’t possible for a student to receive both the NMF and Fellows scholarship, because the University’s scholarship rules specify that a student may only receive one full tuition or better scholarship – and the University gets to decide which one you get.</p>
<p>moms - Thanks again for great detail on CBHP and UFE. I did read them on their web sites but need more info from people who used them.</p>
<p>UFE is very clear now what that means and its not all about High GPA its more about how you can serve the community and what you can give them back and you dont have to be A+ Student to do that… </p>
<p>Fast track i mean, I search another University in Florida and they have something like Fellowship and that translates more to $$ savings and they can even start as sophomore instead of freshman and their classes are different and they dont do general classes so most of the time they graduate in 3 yrs or less. but those are A+++ students. So thats why I want to make sure how UA UFE program is different…</p>
<p>Does CBHP classes are different and only honors students take them or regular students are enroll too… ? I am sure not all classes will be honors some of the Classes honor students takes must be regular classes with many regular students…</p>
<p>what housing (Dorm Name) get assigned to Honor Students. ? Does Housing cost more or same for Honor Students since they get special housing if enroll early for housing…</p>
<p>Dad–UFE are all A+ students, in case I didn’t make that clear. What I meant to explain was that A+ student may get in, may not. It isn’t based on whether you’re an A++ student or an A+ student, that’s already a given that they’re all high stat students.
Honors dorms are a set price. It doesn’t matter if you enroll early. Enrolling early may give you more of your first choice options.
Honors College students take regular and Honors classes. No, students not in HC cannot take Honors courses, that I’m aware of.
This has nothing to do with UFE, but Alabama is very generous with their incoming credits that students have received prior to college, i.e. Clep, AP, etc That is how you get to accelerate through course requirements. My daughter will be classified as a senior after this semester (3 semesters on campus). It had nothing to do with UFE just to be clear.
If you have NMF scholarship or Presidential, what would be the hurry to finish early? It’s a guaranteed 8 semesters of tuition.
My daughter’s roomie is in CBHP. She had some late hours during the semester last year but I don’t know of any summer requirement that they had like UFE did. THey’re different programs striving for different outcomes. Some students are in both, UFE and CBHP.</p>
<p>My student is not in UFE, but I especially appreciated reading asaunmom’s post #4 above. From my perspective, so many students and parents see UFE as one of the top ‘prizes’ to get at UA, as if it is something to tick off on a list of high achievement items. No doubt, UFEs ARE often high stat, high achieving students…but as stated, that just gets you the right to apply. It takes a special person to be in UFE. I’m disappointed to hear that some UFE’s are\might not be working well in the program (for whatever reason). I had thought/trusted that UA does a very good job year after year of selecting the right students for this program. It is disappointing that any student would let UA down by not pulling their weight. It is an absolute honor and privilege to be selected, and those students who get ANYthing from UA (be it a small scholarship or a grander full-ride +++) need to consider giving back to the system that has given them so much. As I have suggested elsewhere, UA might consider offering the Academic Elite only after the 1st year in the UFE program, to ensure the ‘right’ students receive this award and recognition. It is a balancing act to try and entice/attract top applicants…yet ensure that the most deserving who do accept receive further benefit later. Good luck to everyone who is applying to these programs.</p>
<p>How much work are the 1 credit UH 120 classes generally?</p>
<p>“If you have NMF scholarship or Presidential, what would be the hurry to finish early? It’s a guaranteed 8 semesters of tuition.” I think the hurry is b/c you can use the NMF scholarship for grad school.</p>
<p>Yes, thank you taxguy…I was referring to leaving school as a graduate.
I didn’t assume that he was referring to graduate school since he never mentioned that. Only that OP stated, “so most of the time they graduate in 3 yrs or less.”</p>
<p>Son is not NMF but will go to Med School after finishing his undergrad. So if he can finish in 3 yrs then I believe he can apply 1 year early or do some intern work in Health Sciences…</p>
<p>He taking 12 AP classes and hope some of them translates to college credits… even few credit means less semester load for 4 yrs…</p>
<p>12 APs will get him a LOT of credit at Bama. Use this link</p>
<p>[Credit</a> by Examination < The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://courseleaf.ua.edu/introduction/academicpolicies/creditbyexamination/#advancedplacementaptext]Credit”>http://courseleaf.ua.edu/introduction/academicpolicies/creditbyexamination/#advancedplacementaptext)</p>
<p>Way off topic—but
APs and corresponding minimum score for credit.
Yes, it’s done every year. Lots of students head to college with loads of AP, CLEP, etc credit. Thanks to BAMAs generous credit, students accelerate through classification designation.
I’m from the school of thought that why rush to adulthood, career responsibility, etc. If you’re packing on student debt, then I totally get it and would get the Hell out of school as fast as possible. But with Presidential and NMF, which covers 8 semesters of tuition, what’s the hurry? Each will cover graduate courses if you are University Scholars student. That’s only my opinion. Every one has their own thoughts about it.
Just remember that when a student graduates with a Bachelor’s then the Pres/NMF scholarship is over.</p>
<p>Be mindful when you count up all those AP credits. Many medical schools do not accept AP credit for the pre-med required classes. Bio, chem, even physics and calc will need to be taken at the university level, not with AP credit. </p>
<p>Alabama has a great pre-med advising program. Check out their website, it also lists what med schools do/don’t accept AP credits:</p>
<p><a href=“http://prehealth.ua.edu/pre-medical/[/URL]”>http://prehealth.ua.edu/pre-medical/</a></p>
<p>Longhaul - thanks for the Link. </p>
<p>If I use that Link then he already got 46 Credit plus he be taking 5 AP Classes this yr and might take 3-4 AP Exams. </p>
<p>I agree that Med School dont count these AP credit but if student take higher level courses then those higher level courses can replace the lower level AP courses. So basically these AP credit fulfill UA requirement for graduation not the Med school requirement for acceptance.</p>
<p>I cannot agree more that the most important years in ones education is the full 4 yr of undergrad experience, not high school or Grad school. But if one going Med track then 4 yr of undergrad, 4 yr of Med school then 4-5 yr of Residency will definitely Burn you out. So if one can shave off 1 yr from 12-13 yrs then to me its worth it…</p>
<p>I myself gone to undergrad and Grad school (part time with a full time job) and to me Grad school was like walking on the Water and Undergrad was the real killer… But you learn so much as Undergrad where Grad school Professors just handing out A grades like nothing…</p>
<p>But with Presidential and NMF, which covers 8 semesters of tuition, what’s the hurry? Each will cover graduate courses if you are University Scholars student. That’s only my opinion. Every one has their own thoughts about it.
Just remember that when a student graduates with a Bachelor’s then the Pres/NMF scholarship is over. </p>
<p>It was my understanding the NMF scholarship could be used for grad school … what am I missing?</p>
<p>Under previous NMF 8 semester awards, the student gets 8 semesters for undergraduate OR graduate classes. However, the “trick” is to make sure that you have at least one undergraduate class in all 8 semesters. My D who had in excess of 36 AP credits therefore will NOT “walk” with her class for her BA/BS at the end of this year (her 3rd), but rather will walk for her MA/MS next year after her 8th semester. Her advisers in the Business school have worked her schedule so that there is at least 1 undergrad course in her schedule until the end. Thus, her 8 semesters of paid tuition are safe. She is NMF, but the new NMFs have 10 semesters, so this will not be an issue for them, but will continue to be for Presidential. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>^^^ Incidentally, she did not figure this out on her own. The advisers at the school are quite adept at knowing what to do. :-)</p>
<p>All the physicians I have talked too discouraged taking the AP Credits for med school required classes. They say it’s better to retake the class and get a good grade than to skip ahead to higher level classes and risk getting a lower grade. Better to retake the class and get an A then to take the next level and get a B. </p>
<p>Real college level courses can be much different than high school AP classes, even if they say they are equivalent, they often are not. Unless your S got a 5 on his AP exams and is a whiz at the subject, I would think twice about skipping ahead as most med schools require a 3.75 or higher college GPA. You can jeopardize that by skipping ahead and possibly not doing as well in them as you would just retaking the class.</p>
<p>My pre-med D opted not to take the AP exams for Bio, Chem, and Calc and will retake those classes. Even without those she still had 32 credits coming into freshman year and is classified as a sophomore.</p>