Mississippi Vs. Alabama

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm considering applying to either the University of Alabama or the University of Mississippi as an academic/financial out of state safety, due to their automatic merit scholarships.</p>

<p>The lower scholarship range is at an ACT score of 30, which I currently have, and the upper range is for a score of 32 that I'm shooting for in September. </p>

<p>University of Alabama
Price: $22,950 tuition + $8,650 room and board
Scholarship: 2/3rd - Full Tuition annually
Total: $8,650 - $16,292 annually</p>

<p>University of Mississippi
Price: $16,266 tuition + $6,850 room and board
Scholarship: $9,000 (30), $11,000 (31), $14,984 (32) annually
Total: $8,132 - $14,116 annually</p>

<p>The larger scholarships make each school a much more appealing option, and I may not apply to either if my ACT score doesn't increase to where I need it.</p>

<p>Pros and cons:
I'm aware that Mississippi's tuition may increase, which I am weary of
Mississippi has a much higher quality of life rating, but much lower academic rating than Alabama
Both are deep southern schools, and I'm not sure if I would fit in, although ~50% of undergraduates are from out of state at each institution
Alabama is a jock school, and I likely won't play sports in college</p>

<p>Additional info: Likely going into pre-med and a science oriented major. A strong academic department in science would probably sway me</p>

<p>Any insight on either school would be appreciated.. I'm trying to choose between one or the other, so I can narrow down where I'm applying.</p>

2

<p>You could apply to both, and decide later.</p>

<p>Be sure that you are looking at the correct room and board and other costs (i.e. per semester or per academic year).</p>

3

<p>Money is tight right now, and I’d like to apply only where I would like to go if accepted. I have no preference either way at the moment, and I’m trying to decide which I like more. I may decide to apply to both, but I’m trying to decide between them at the moment…</p>

4

<p>I would say go to Alabama, but here are some links I found about Mississippi. ALl recent.</p>

<p>[Church</a> refuses to marry black couple in Mississippi - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/30/us/mississippi-black-couple-wedding/index.html]Church”>http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/30/us/mississippi-black-couple-wedding/index.html)</p>

<p>[NAACP</a> Mississippi Leaders Ask If Hit-And-Run Of Johnny Lee Butts Was Racially Motivated?](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost)</p>

<p>[Mississippi</a> candidate says mayors blocking Chick-fil-A ‘need to be introduced to the Second Amendment’ | Nation / World News - The News Tribune](<a href=“http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/08/01/2236812/mississippi-candidate-says-mayors.html]Mississippi”>http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/08/01/2236812/mississippi-candidate-says-mayors.html)</p>

5

<p>That’s interesting, although not directly related to campus.</p>

6

<p>Maybe see if you can find out more about their pre-med advising. Some schools are known to do a better job than others.</p>

7

<p>for premed you should also look at UAB… they have automatic merit based on your stats also…overall cost would be lower than ua or mississippi. UAB is home to a top med school, its a tier 1 research university, surrounded by 7 hospitals for shadowing, volunteering, wonderful honors program (sci’tech geared to research) … urban campus, about 11k undergrads, very diverse (about 26% AA)… not a football school though. about 6% greek</p>

<p>with your current stats you will get 15 k per year. total cost of attendance (tuition dorm food) is 22-25k. that 15 k would cover about 12 credits per semester…so you need to add about 1800 for 3 extra credits per semester (600 per credit hour for oos) However you can get food cost down quite abit…dorms are apartment style with full kitchens. Overall you would have about 10K left to pay out of pocket per year. </p>

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[University</a> of Alabama at Birmingham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Alabama_at_Birmingham]University”>University of Alabama at Birmingham - Wikipedia)</p>

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8

<p>Thank you parent56, that’s the kind of insight I was looking for. I was looking into UAB today, I am just in the dark when it comes to the strength of the academic programs for some of these random universities. </p>

<p>I’ll look into it a bit more, but the ugly campus is definitely a turn off… It’s so hard finding something that works for me AND that’s affordable too. I’m not a fan of larger city campuses</p>

9

<p>Have you looked at Auburn?</p>

10

<p>Enifrica -</p>

<p>There are several threads on guaranteed merit-based aid in the Financial Aid Forum. If you haven’t spent much time there, you should do so. There may be more options for you.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

11

<p>Auburn’s an awesome school but their merit aid is now lower then UA.</p>

12

<p>Auburn’s scholarships are not high enough for an OOS student with his stats.</p>

<p>Bama is not a “deep south school” at all. You wouldn’t have any trouble fitting in. Bama’s students are from all over the country. </p>

<p>I don’t get the “jock school” and “I won’t be playing sports” part. I doubt most of the kids are Bama are playing sports. Some kids GO to games and watch as SPECTATORS, but the majority don’t even do that either. The student body isn’t a bunch of jocks…lol.</p>

<p>Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science and Engineering Complex…very state of the art. Very good science depts. </p>

<p>Also very good pre-med advising. My son is pre-med at Bama. He’s a rising senior and applying to med schools NOW.</p>

<p>[The</a> University of Alabama Health Professions Advising Website](<a href=“http://premed.ua.edu/]The”>http://premed.ua.edu/)</p>

13

<p>enfrica… welll… i wouldnt call the campus ugly :slight_smile: but it is urban…it is all centrally located around a green area… but you are correct it is not an “old college” feel. red brick buildings, not outstanding architecture. Certainly it is very strong for sciences and son is quite happy with the premed advising (as well as his academic advising) there. He has had so many opportunities there to do research and publish etc</p>

14

<p>Well I’ll keep both of the Alabama school’s in mind for the future then, thanks!</p>

15

<p>feel free to pm me enifrica…you wont find much info on uab on CC.</p>