Alabama is currently my safety school as I qualify for full-tuition scholarship. I plan to visit over the summer and I think I would like the school. I just can’t seem to get past the fact that I could get into much higher rated schools. It’s just that I don’t want to put any financial burden on my single mother. I’m from Ohio so the school is not well-known in my area. Even teachers in my large public school question why I would consider Alabama. How did you get past the prestige issue?
@mom2collegekids this one’s for you … have at!
Once u get past the bragging period in may & june of your senior year of HS, no one cares any more. Alabama especially makes sense if u plan on engineering or need to conserve money to go on later to med school.
And considering there are over 3000 4-year colleges in the US, being in the top 100 (0.3%) ain’t too shabby.
I recommend visiting, not in the summer, but in the fall during regular school session. You will be amazed.
We visited w S1, and he was reluctant to go. After touring the school, he was surprised to hear himself say that he could see himself there. We also took in a home football game the next day-- that was a lot of fun.
Mother’s Day was this past Sunday. Being raised by a single mother is nothing to sneeze at! Make your mom’s year and make her happy. You will lift a huge financial burden on your mother and yourself. If you want prestige school, shoot for them for graduate or professional after you succeed at U of Alabama…
By the way, you should visit and take your mom with you. You will see what everyone is talking about…ROLL TIDE
@GMTplus7 Why do you think it gets such a bad rap? It is ranked in the 80’s.
Sit in on a few upper level classes. Find a professor that you really admire and talk to her/him for a while. And find a hangout close to campus that you really like. With some great concrete experiences, an abstract concept like “prestige” will melt away quickly.
~1/3 of the USNWR ranking criteria is based on a popularity poll given to HS guidance counselors & college heads. It’s like voting for homecoming queen.
Hang out with football fans. (But being from Ohio… no such love from OSU?)
It is a big, well-funded state university that will be footing the bill for your entire undergraduate education. You could tell people that in just a phrase. Or tell them it had the programs you like plus will fund your education. Going for free means a lot.
I agree with the poster above that you will get over it as will your friends. You will go to Bama (if you do) and be happy and it will be fine.
FWIW I have two smart kids, one at a Big State U and one at a small, little known LAC. Everybody immediately understands why he would choose the Big State U: football, cute girls, great college town, and oh yeah, a great education.
We are from Michigan and my son had the option of applying to U of Michigan and did the smart thing and chose Alabama. I suppose he could have got into other prestigious schools but realizes that for what he wants to do his undergrad does not matter. Seriously get over the prestige issue. And what affordable school in Ohio is known for prestige? I never think of any Ohio schools as prestigious ( sorry Ohio State) so you are probably talking about going out of state. Not sure a single mom needs to afford that when such a fantastic package is being offered to her son. My son probably gets more accolades on going to Alabama than my daughter ever did who went to U of Michigan.
Teachers are not generally aware of many schools outside of their state bubble but I know the guidance counselors around our area are catching on to what Alabama offers top students and word is definitely getting out about the scholarships.
Here’s the prestige: Alabama is successfully attracting high caliber OOS students such as yourself and you’ll come out of school with little or no debt!
There are Monday A days - special during the school year to have a well planned day’s program which is a great orientation, and you can see school during a fall/spring school term. Not as much going on during the summer. There is a Saturday’s Scholars’ Day that also is a special one day program - many OOS students plan through Honor’s College to tour on Friday the departments they are interested in and perhaps sit in a class, then have another day (Saturday) of other specific things covered. In the Fall there is an engineering day.
Out of all of those, I would encourage the Fri/Sat, capturing the Scholars’ Day program because scholars and their parents - many are OOS. Many times, parents have said and shared “we have to visit this school before we consider turning down the scholarship”. Out of all the opportunities, this will give the most relevant information for you as a scholar student.
You can capture the football excitement over the TV. Being from Ohio, OP knows about that. It may go to another level when you are a student and are on campus for the excitement. DD is in the Million Dollar Band, so she is participating in the football season. She took a heavier academic load in the spring term.
Honor’s Program is great - overall and specific. One Honor’s Program is STEM MBA. There is a program for UG to get into research as a freshman. Computer Based Honors Program is super selective.
My DD has the Presidential Scholarship, is in STEM MBA program while studying civil engineering. Since we are in-state, we have been on UA campus a lot specifically for various programs (and for many things - primarily things like All State Band, have been on au campus; DD always wanted to go to UA).
UA has a lot of ways for students (and parents) to stay informed and know what is going on - so you can manage w/o being concerned so much about the ‘big campus’. There are a lot of great opportunities, which a big school can offer.
It’s tedious but you have to continually “educate” those folks who don’t know any better … let them in on the secret … many people just have absolutely NO idea of all the wonderful programs and amazing opportunities at UA! The word is spreading more and more … have you seen the stats on numbers of students heading to UA from many midwest states like IL? (If not, I can find the URL for you.) The fact that 62% this past year’s freshman class came from out of state seems to quiet many… from all over the US … not just from the SE.
It’s a big state school, no more or less prestigious than Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, etc.
How bout the fact that 36 percent of UA’s freshman class last Fall had an ACT of 30 or higher? And the middle range of ACT is 22 to 31, the top number of which is the same as that of many top state flagships, like UGA, UF, and UT Austin.
The answer is you don’t and you never will. This is your problem and you will project it throughout your life on everything you do and own.
There are a lot of happy people at Alabama, none of which can make you happy because you believe that you are superior to them. Truth is, a lot of them will kick your behind academically but you will never know that because your scores make you prestigious.
My family was in the same situation. Applied and accepted to several top 10 engineering schools. He also applied to Alabama for the fun of it, at my request. We took a rode trip to UA when we went to Atlanta for the admitted student day for Georgia Tech. The son was impressed and really liked the school. When he made his choice a few weeks back it was Alabama. I recommend saying it outloud 10 times really quick. ;
Ive run into a number of Bama engineers and have nothing but the greatest respect for them professionally. Plus it’s fun to chat at the water cooler with them about the Tide.
I am a current freshmen and I had similar experience during my senior year. My peers were like “why on earth would you go to ALABAMA out of all 50 states???” for whole March through May because they didn’t know better.Not saying Oregon State is a bad school, but they don’t realize that BAMA is about ranked higher than OSU, roughly 30? (Plus they didn’t know I m not eligible for in state tuition in Oregon). However, once graduation was imminent, no one seemed to care! Sure they went to more renowned schools like like UMich, USC-so cal, WUSTL, Grinnell College, Ivy league etc, but hey…I m getting full tuition while my peers, who live in the most affluent area of Oregon with me, are most likely getting zero financial aid! Plus, my mom and I were very satisfied with the threads in CC that only prove good stuff from our BAMA.
Good stuff? One, as @Atlanta68 said, our ACT range is nothing less than UGA, UF, UT Austin.
Two, we are attracting lots of high stat OOS kids with or WITHOUT scholarships.
Three, our engineering department is amazing. We have very good faculty members, and the buildings are super cool and plus you get extra scholarship as long as you keep GPA.
Four, one advantage of huge UG is that you have lots of opportunities for researches. Alabama’s Honors College is better than OSU academically - lots of advantages you wouldn’t have at OSU (class sizes, contact with professors, research/grant opportunities, dorms…)
@Mandalorian, that is the most ridiculous comment I have read in a long time that these schools are all considered the same in the “prestige factor”. I love Alabama but in no way is it considered prestigious, whereas Michigan is considered a very prestigious school. They are not all just big state schools that are equally the same. Do you even understand the definition of the word? I just talked to someone who didn’t get in to Michigan with a 31. It is highly selective and considered around the country as a prestigious university. Alabama still accepts most who apply, that could change at some point but it’s going to take a long time. Perhaps you meant Michigan State and not Michigan??
Someone said here earlier, it’s UNDERGRADUATE work. It won’t matter all that much in the long run unless you are a really pitiful Tier 3 or Tier 2 university. But I’ve seen many people attend the local state university & still get admitted to a “prestigious” graduate school. I remember reading a post about one girl who went to a local school I think Penn State & some other friend got in to an Ivy & kept rubbing it in. When they got to graduate school, both a an Ivy (I think if I recall correctly University of Pennsylvain/Wharton) it didn’t matter because both were THERE, but one of them had saved a considerable amount of $$. Having said all that. I’m actually considering Alabama for graduate school. They have a very good Southern History program with top notch professors. Dr. George Rable is a GREAT historian.