<p>I was looking into Bama, but I have heard from friends that Bama is a party school. And I also want to be in an economic hub because I want to get into business after my undergrad.</p>
<p>All large schools, especially ones with big sports, will have a party element. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many serious students on these campuses.</p>
<p>I see that you’re looking at Oklahoma and UTexas…Bama isn’t more of a party school than those two schools. </p>
<p>I have had two kids at Bama…those in serious and challenging majors don’t have time to be “party people”.</p>
<p>Im not trying to sound conceded, but I feel that UT has a better rep academically compared to Oklahoma and Bama. But I could be wrong. How was your kids experience at bama and what are there majors?</p>
<p>^^
Since UT won’t give National Merit money, maybe you should re-think that. This is all a moot point though until next Fall when you will find out if you got NMSF or not…</p>
<p>UT isn’t going to give you NMF merit, so…</p>
<p>My kids have done very well at Bama. My older son is now in a PhD program at an elite school and my younger son will be applying to med schools this summer.</p>
<p>All flagships are party schools. Frankly, most schools are…except bible schools. My nephew swears that MIT has the best parties.</p>
<p>I believe that UT - Dallas does give NMF merit money… full tuition plus? I think. Perhaps it is just an unofficial package. UTD is definitely a strong math/science school, and engineering, I think.</p>
<p>soup song… uab (birmingham al) is not a “party/fooball” school… has full ride for nmf. Tuition and housing) and accredited engineering programs. about 11K undergrads</p>
<p>[UAB</a> - The University of Alabama at Birmingham](<a href=“http://www.uab.edu%5DUAB”>http://www.uab.edu)</p>
<p>Bama is a large, SEC school with great football… so of course there will be the partying element. But the atmosphere in Tuscaloosa is great and there’s something for everyone. And financially, the NMF package is as good as it gets.</p>
<p>Why is the mention of UA- Birmingham cause to pipe in and say how awesome 'Bama is? They are not the same school. They happen to both be state schools of Alabama, but there is no competition between the 2. They both have their own things to offer. I just haven’t seen anyone mention Huntsville, but undoubtedly they offer a similar package and too have their own things to offer, but no need to chime in with the competitive UA is great… </p>
<p>Frankly it was m2ck’s promotion about UA that lead us to finding UAB, so for that I am thankful, but beyond that… we all got the point, UA offers good merit awards :-).</p>
<p>Crazymom…</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Tommy didn’t pipe in with the Bama mention after the UaB mention. You need to read the thread. Bama was mentioned upthread…it was mentioned before UaB was mentioned. And, the OP mentioned Bama in post 21.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s often the other way around. Bama gets mentioned and then UAB gets mentioned.</p>
<p>'bama gets mentioned at least 100 times to UAB’s one time :-). </p>
<p>That’s all I’m frustrated about. It seems like there needs to be a 'bama board, so that discussion can happen there without every scholarship/merit award thread being all about 'bama. </p>
<p>It is awesome that there are options out there for those with high stats. 'bama isn’t the only option however.</p>
<p>I’m a likely NMSF/NMF who’s looking into UAB (not a college rep, I swear). It seems like a great school, esp. for those on the Med school track (like yours truly). I really hate that it gets mentioned 1/10 of the number of times Bama does. Bama’s okay… but I think UAB is far better than it gets credit for. </p>
<p>UAB would is an environment more conducive to studying in my opinion (opposed to Bama). It’s an entirely different atmosphere, even to the causal passerby… visited both. I felt small and out of place walking on Bama’s campus… it was quite overwhelmingly southern, especially to a girl who has felt out-of-place in the state’s culture (football, sports, food, lingo, etc.) her whole life. All the students looked the same to me, like the “Southern Belle” types who gave me grief in middle school. </p>
<p>UAB was radically different. Although located in AL, it was not decidedly southern. It was just… a small-ish college, unassumingly academic. The campus was nice,comfortable, and not overwhelmingly big. It was certainly not overshadowed by a giant football stadium, as was its counterpart in Tuscaloosa. Additionally, if you look up stats and achievements (non football-related, naturally), you will find that UAB has far outpaced Bama in most areas. </p>
<p>Additionally, all our guides had to say at Bama was about the great rec center and football. At UAB, the reps actually spoke on academics and scholastic opportunities–which really resonated with me.</p>
<p>I’ll be visiting the latter again this weekend. Very excited. It would be all the more thrilling, though, if I could one day attend sans student loans! 
Crossing my fingers for a letter this September!!!</p>
<p>Are you an AL resident? Here’s a link for scholarships that are for US residents, there are others for AL. <a href=“Error 404 | Not Found”>Error 404 | Not Found;
<p>If you don’t make SF/F, then there are other scholarships, such as: </p>
<p>Blazer Elite Scholarship</p>
<p>•$15,000
•Based on academic achievement (28-36 ACT and at least 3.0 GPA)</p>
<p>these go down to 24 ACT and 3.0 for a $5000 scholarship</p>
<p>leisha… my S2 attends uab …feel free to pm me with questions about their sciences, dorms, honors colleges, merit , courses etc. anything you would like to know…or start a new thread so we dont derail this one… …perhaps we could arrange for you to speak with my son while you are visiting.,</p>
<p>Leisha…I hope UAB works out very well for you, it sounds like a good fit. It sounds like you’d do well on a smaller campus.</p>
<p>Since it sounds like you’re instate, then UAB may be the best thing for you. :)</p>
<p>I must take exception with a few of your statements though. </p>
<p>UAB does not outrank Bama in most areas…absolutely not. You may have been looking at a couple of areas where it does, but that is a wrong assumption. If your statement were true, then Bama wouldn’t be ranked #75 and UAB ranked #143. </p>
<p>UAB does have some health-related areas where it ranks higher because the School of Medicine is on the campus…but do not assume that that applies across the university in academic strength. </p>
<p>Here are a few examples…</p>
<p>Bama #75 National U
B-school #82 (Grad B-school #63)
Accounting #26
Engineering #95 (and Bama outranks UAB in every eng’g discipline that both schools have)
Grad Education #83
Grad English #94
Grad Econ #79
Top Public Univ #35
Grad bio #115
Grad chem #94</p>
<p>UAB #143 National U
B-school #97 (grad B-school unranked)
Accounting unranked
Engineering #129
grad Education #100
grad English unranked
grad Econ unranked
Top Public #73
grad bio #34
grad chem #123</p>
<p>Also… </p>
<p>Since Bama has a high number of OOS students, it really doesn’t have a southern or “southern belle” culture at all. UAB is 90% instate, so it’s going to have a more southern feel. If you’re talking about the very pretty girls at Bama…yes, the school does have beautiful girls…probably could rival any campus in the US. However, that doesn’t make these young ladies “southern belles”…especially since many of them aren’t even from the south. lol</p>
<p>Since it sounds like you experienced some horrible mean-girl bullying in middle school, I can understand how a large school might feel overwhelming… a small school may be the best fit. :)</p>
<p>UAB is a very good school, no doubt about it…especially for health related majors.</p>
<p>Since it sounds like you’re a girl, if you plan on being on campus on weekends, then you’d might consider rushing. There’s no avoiding the fact that UAB is a commuter/suitcase school since nearly all its students are from Alabama. My son’s GF goes to UAB (she’s a junior). She resisted pledging her frosh year, but found herself to be quite lonely on weekends, so she pledged her soph year. Altho, overall many of the students aren’t “greek,” many of the girls who stay on campus on weekends are. There are more sororities than frats, so looking at raw numbers can be confusing. </p>
<p>As for what your tour guide talked about at Bama, as you can guess, that’s going to vary from guide to guide. I’m sorry that your guide was all about football and such…that’s maybe where that person’s head was at. Since tours are given by students, each tour guide will bring his/her own bias to what he/she talks about. </p>
<p>It’s unfortunate that you didn’t go on an honors tour at Bama because you would have clearly seen how academic it is. The basic campus tour hasn’t been updated to include touring the new Science and Engineering Complex, which is truly a top academic center. </p>
<p>Best wishes for you at UAB…sounds like you’ve found your school. :)</p>
<p>well i was going to ignore the above post… but… i dont think your son’s gf is necessarily the official source of what uab is like… sorry…my son hardly ever comes home (think except for holidays he has come home twice just to pick up stuff he left at home, most of his friends stay on campus on the weekends, and they have plenty to do, and plenty of people to do it with. the dorm capacity is 2200 for 11k undergrads (70%of freshman live on campus and they have a new dorm planned as they are at full capacity) and UA is 7700 for 30K undergrads… fairly close percentage (obviously gross numbers are larger)… so many kids dont live on campus at ua either. A lot of kids live just off campus in houses and apartments There is certainly no need to go greek to have a life (only 6% of students are greek)</p>
<p>UAB does have a wonderful award winning rec center…however its football team sucks. they dont have a stadium on campus (point of contention as it is bear bryants son that heads the uasystem board of trustees who will not put it on the agenda)</p>
<p>it is a very different school from ua and attracts a different kind of student.</p>
<p>^Just wanted to add that I had a friend whose wife was studying medicine at UAB. I loved visiting them. Birmingham was a fun city. There seemed to be a lot of young professionals in the downtown area. The roll tide spirit seemed alive and well in Birmingham. I did not sense any rivalry between the campuses. I will say that since the school of Medicine is very good, the students seemed older and mature compared to most undergraduate campuses that I have seen. I have not visisted Tuscaloosa, so cannot speak to what the town is like. However, each campus probably has it’s own flavor, so students should visit and decide which suits them best.</p>
<p>While I am at it, I should also point out, that I was visiting from the northeast and I am not white. I found the people friendly and hospitable. So, any fears of living in the south would be misguided and unjustified.</p>
<p>perraziman… glad you saw that vibe on campus… princeton review ranks uab 3rd for class/racial interactions and 11th for happiest students. (if it was such a bad school for students on the weekends etc… i dont think it would get that ranking somehow) it is 26% AA. Birmingham is fun and there is alot to do, totally separate from a “college town”. </p>
<p>from wikipedia the rankings in some areas including business and accounting :
Rankings
University rankings (overall)
National
Forbes[25] 204
U.S. News & World Report[26] 143
Washington Monthly[27] 219
Global
ARWU[28] 151-200
The 2011 US News & World Report Top United States Universities and Colleges ranks UAB overall as the 143rd best national university.[29]
UAB ranks among Top-20 nationally in federal research and development funding and 1st in the state of Alabama, receiving more funding than all other Alabama universities combined. UAB received over $416 million in external grants and contracts in fiscal 2007–2008.[20]
As of 2009, UAB is 4th in the Southeast for NIH research funding behind only Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University.[30]
In the Taiwanese Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers in World Universities, UAB ranked 94th in the world in 2011.[31]
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is nationally ranked among Top-20 in total federal research funding and key areas of health sciences receiving more than $433 million dollars in funding.[32] The Scientist magazine recently ranked UAB No. 24 on its Top 40 “Best Places to Work as a Postdoctoral Fellow” list, up from its No. 56 ranking in 2008.[33] In the 2010 Princeton Review College Rankings, UAB is listed as one of the “Best Southeastern Colleges” and one of the top 371 colleges/universities in the US. In addition, out of the 371 Best College Rankings, UAB was ranked #3 in race/class interaction, #11 for happiest students, and #14 for best athletic facilities.[34] In the 2011 US News and World Report, UAB is listed as a “more selective” institution and 151st overall (public or private) among 572 universities in USA.[35] In 2009, the Scientist Magazine ranked UAB as 5th in the Top 15 U.S. Academic Institutions and up from 47th in 2007.[36]</p>
<p>UAB School of Nursing
In the most recent ranking of graduate programs by the US News & World Report, several UAB programs in the health and natural sciences were highly ranked. The School of Medicine is ranked 30th in the research category and 10th in the primary care category. Four medical specialties at UAB are ranked in the top 20 nationally by the magazine: AIDS, 6th; geriatrics, 12th; rural medicine, 15th; and internal medicine 20th. The School of Nursing is ranked 21st. Programs within the nursing school ranked highly as well: nurse practitioner (adult) program, 10th; nursing service administration program, 10th; nurse practitioner (family) program, 12th. The School of Public Health ranks 16th.
In graduate science programs, UAB ranked 34th in biological science,[37] 123rd in chemistry,[38] 111th in mathematics,[39] and 133rd in physics.[40]
In the School of Health Professions, the Master of Science in Health Administration program is currently ranked 5th, the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program is ranked 17th, the Doctor of Physical Therapy program is ranked 29th, the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program is ranked 25th and is one of only two programs in the nation that has a surgical focus. The School of Health Professions is #1 in the nation in research funding from the National Institutes of Health and holds the record for 26 consecutive years in either first or second place. The UAB Medical Scientist Training Program has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Health since 1992. According to NRC rankings, Department of Biostatistics is ranked 55th among all Statistics and Biostatistics departments in the nation. The Section on Statistical Genetics (SSG) in the Department of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health is “one of the largest” in United States.[41]</p>
<p>UAB Business-Engineering Complex
The UAB School of Business was ranked 7th in metropolitan state business schools by US News and World Report in 2004 and is accredited by AACSB International. The UAB MBA program is recognized by The Princeton Review in its 2010 edition of “Best 296 Business Schools” as one of the best in the nation.[42] The UAB accounting program graduates first-time pass rates on the CPA exam that are 30% higher than the national average.[citation needed] During the past 11 years, a UAB graduate has achieved the highest score in Alabama on the CPA Exam 9 times.[43] UAB School of Business finance graduates pass the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam at a rate 20% higher than the national average.[citation needed]
The biomedical engineering program is ranked 40th in the nation by US News and is the only biomedical engineering program in the state. A UAB School of Engineering student has been named by the ASPE (Alabama Society of Professional Engineers) as the state of Alabama’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student of the Year from 2004–2009 and 9 of the past 12 years.[44]
[edit]</p>
<p>I should also point out, that I was visiting from the northeast and I am not white. I found the people friendly and hospitable. So, any fears of living in the south would be misguided and unjustified.</p>
<p>======</p>
<p>This is very true. People sometimes wrongly assume that people of color will somehow be mistreated here in the South. While certainly there are racist people in every region of the country (and shame on them!), racial relations here are much better than what I experienced in Calif or what my H experienced in the Midwest. </p>
<p>=====</p>
<p>Parent56…</p>
<p>The main gist of my post was to correct some things that Leisha wrote…such as her mistaken belief that UaB outranked Bama in most areas.</p>
<p>Furthermore…I didn’t say that my son’s GF is the “official source of what UAB is like”. I just stated what her experience has been. Your son’s experience isn’t an “official source,” yet you share his experience to provide his insights. </p>
<p>And, since my son’s GF is a girl, and the poster is a girl, my son’s GF’s experience could be more relevant for her. My son’s GF is not one to exaggerate. She is not dramatic…she’s a serious, quiet, pre-med chemistry-major student. When she stayed on campus on weekends the year before she pledged, she felt that most of the other girls who also stayed were in sororities. Since there are more sororities than frats and few pledge as junior transfers, the bare Greek numbers don’t tell the whole story as to what a frosh girl on campus on weekends would experience.</p>
<p>The number of dorm rooms is not relevant to my statement about kids going home on weekends. A non-flagship school that has 90% instate kids will have a large number going home on weekends (as well as a large number who commute). The term “suitcase school” describes that scenario…kids stay in their dorms during the week, and more frequently go home on weekends…because they can.</p>
<p>Since it sounds like the poster is instate, it doesn’t sound like any of this will be an issue for her. It sounds like a smaller schools is better for her.</p>
<p>^^^we’ll just have to disagree about uab, what you seem to think of the school is very different from our experience and the experience of my son’s friends and classmates. Maybe your son’s gf should transfer to ua. UA is a wonderful school, no one denies that, and has alot to offer a student that wants that type of school. So is uab! dont think we need to keep this up as it derails the thread</p>