Is Bama a good reputable school? I know they have worked hard to change the reputation over the last few years
25 per cent or more of the freshman class last Fall had an ACT of 32 or higher. With over 6800 freshmen, that’s a lot of very smart people .
Virtually all schools with Big Div I sports are going to be “party schools”.
That has nothing to do with the academics offered at the school.
Of course Alabama is a reputable school. It is fully accredited. Its College of Engineering disciplines are ABET accredited.
30% of the school has an ACT 30+…and those kids are mostly concentrated in about 12-15 majors. So, if you’re considering a serious major, your classmates will be strong like you.
What is your major and career goal?
It’s what you make it. If you want a party school, take a light load in a fairly easy major, take 6 years to finish your bachelor’s degree, and party away. If you want academics, choose a challenging major, a heavy load, and buckle down. it’s up to you. I will say - half of your education in college is NOT in the classroom. 
We were asking ourselves the same question 3 years ago. Our son was interested in medical school, at the time, and we were wondering could Alabama prepare him or should he attend a more academically rigorous school? He was a NMF finalist, with a 34 ACT, and Alabama offered a very generous scholarship. Fast forward, son is a rising senior at Alabama and is applying to dental school. He recently took the DAT- Dental Admission Test and scored in the top 1%. He always carried a full course load of challenging classes, has been involved in several organizations and activities and has enjoyed himself. It can be party school for many, as are other universities, if that’s what your interested in. It’s what you make of it.
Just like at any other large state university, you will find what you are looking for. I can speak for our student, who found his classmates to be very smart and his opportunities for research and interesting projects on campus plentiful. There are so many great opportunities on campus he has difficulty choosing which to participate in. I suppose that would be the same for parties if he were looking for that. Visit and let your student decide.
http://oira.ua.edu/d/content/reports/2014-2015-common-data-set Mom2collegekids, the stats are even better than that. 36 per cent, not 30 per cent, of last Fall’s freshmen had an ACT of 30 or higher.
Any day now those kids with 25-26 ACTs (which are considered around the 80%-ile nationally) are gonna ask ‘is UA too academic for me?!’ People tend to forget that a 30 ACT translates to the top 5%-ile nationally of those taking the test (not necessarily those enrolling in college - that’s an important distinction). But having a third of your student body in that top tier really does say something for how ‘academic’ UA truly is and has become.
's of National Merit Finalists attending UA is impressive also! I'm sure someone has the stats on that....
This is something i was mulling over after I visited this campus with my D & S earlier this year. I believe that a serious student could flourish here…the good teachers and strong academics are present. BUT i believe that a kid who’s not very self-directed could completely fall into a party hole here. In our case, I think my daughter would have received a good education. But I think my son would have completely gone off the rails.
^I have three sons and their friends went to a variety of schools (big 10 schools, small LACs etc.) and each one of them had a few friends who did not return to their schools after their freshmen year basically because their grades were too low as they had “too much fun”. This happens at any school. For most they took a year off, or went to the local university here, and then went back (some to different schools, some to the same school) and seem to be on the right track. My three kids were fine, and my two UA students were able to stay on the President List their freshmen year. It depends on the student, not the school.
Many of those were OOS.
Any major university can be a party school even with good academics. UIUC was just rated the #1 party school in Princeton Review. UIUC is number 6 engineering school in USNWR.
UW Madison has always been one of the top party schools and has been a top university for a long time.
Everything is what you make of it!