<p>I have two boys at UA, and a daughter (hs senior) who has been accepted there. She is a HUGE bama fan and would love to go there. She has been accepted, but her jr year grades, though close, fall short of the 3.5 needed for a scholarship. Full OOS price tag is a lot! We are visiting Ole Miss Monday with the hope that it would feel similar to bama. She will qualify for some scholarship money, so it would be equivalent to in state tuition at a TX school. I do think it will be hard for anything to come close to UA. We had another great visit there wo weeks ago. I would welcome any info on Ole Miss! I have posted on that forum, but it is barely active.</p>
<p>she does not make 3.5 with weighted grades? bummer!</p>
<p>i know a few kids who go there and love it. i would think it would be a similar culture.</p>
<p>Have you considered Mississippi State? I preferred it to Ole Miss.</p>
<p>Does she have a major in mind?</p>
<p>She has a 3.3 weighted. Unlike my boys, she has put us through the wringer! She chose to fail two major classes first semester sophomore year, and it really screwed up her gpa. She is full of spunk and determination and has had good grades since then, but not enough for a bama scholarship. I wish they would look at senior grades. She is doing great! She has not chosen a major, but she is interested in many things…criminal justice, nursing, psychology, and international studies are some possibilities. What’s good at Ole Miss?</p>
<p>I think it might depend on her desired major. Ole Miss is a fine school, but it is a little more specialized than a mega-school like Bama. </p>
<p>Like your daughter, DS was just short of honors and scholarship money. His counselor in HS encouraged him to apply to a few OOS schools with slightly more favorable scholarship thresholds. </p>
<p>Ultimately, we found a way to fund Bama, but every parent knows there are sacrifices…</p>
<p>I’ll share that we decided as a family not to use debt for undergraduate education. If we had to choose between DS’s dream school and a school that is very good and affordable, we would choose to be debt-free.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I personally didn’t find Ole Miss similar to UA. It’s a beautiful campus though. Don’t know about the majors you cited, but I wasn’t impressed by the CS dept. MSU is definitely better for engineering.</p>
<p>I have two engineer friends from Ole Miss (although I agree that MSU and Bama are stronger in science and engineering). Most of my Ole Miss friends are lawyers, english majors (writers or teachers), or business majors.</p>
<p>All are top notch in their chosen professions.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Ole Miss has an excellent nursing school. It’s a highly respected school in the South, that has a very strong alumni network. Strong football tradition as well, if she wants the SEC experience outside of Bama. Good luck!</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more with BillThePoet. My oldest considered a very expensive out of state school but chose a more affordable option. She did have a full tuition scholarship, so we were able to do extras like a study abroad semester and a summer spent backpacking through Europe. The middle child is a senior at an in state school. She didn’t have a large scholarship her freshman year, but has since been part of the honors college and has received a scholarship. So we have two (in May) college graduates with no debt. It feels great. I would encourage your daughter and you to look at all the options. It sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders and has grown a great deal - good for her and you! I haven’t been to Oxford - I know it’s smaller than Ttown but I would encourage a tour to compare the schools.</p>
<p>My older son, who is a Bama grad, encouraged his kid brother, a HS senior, to look at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, as options. He loved the campuses of the two schools, and along the way, he met several people who attended those schools. We’ve been to Mississippi State twice, and it’s definitely in the top 2 for my younger son, who is interested in math and econ/finance. He liked the campus, the people he met and the business school (where he met the department chair). As for Ole Miss, he has been accepted there and with some nice merit money (that could increase with a better SAT sitting). My husband just made airline reservations for the two of them to see the school in January.</p>
<p>Ole Miss is supposed to be great-much smaller - friends said MS State is not pretty compared to Bama… my S didn’t have the GPA either- it’s OK -she will do fine…</p>
<p>My D is in the Croft Institute for International Studies, honors college and other selective programs at Ole Miss. She is from the Midwest and has a very generous merit scholarship. She loves her programs. They are rigorous and well supported by the University. The school itself is a gorgeous walkable campus. She didn’t consider UA because it didn’t have the depth in Chinese or international studies but we appreciate the size of OM compared to our state flagship at double the size. More sections of honors classes are offered at OM than at our state flagship.</p>
<p>Our family has experience with BAMA & Ole Miss. The kiddos liked both schools when they visited. In the end, it came down to the strength of the departments they were interested in. I might have missed your daughter’s ACT score. That would have an effect on my comments. Though different, both schools have outstanding Honors Colleges. The size gives each a very different feel. </p>
<p>As far as majors, Ole Miss has a very highly ranked Accounting program. Yes, I believe nursing also has a great rep. But, IMHO, The Croft Institute for International Studies at Ole Miss is one of those hidden gems for students interested in IR. I will caution you that it is highly selective and extremely challenging. The language programs are also outstanding. DDs recently graduated from Ole Miss and are doing well in their careers.</p>
<p>OTOH, DS chose BAMA because of his major choice. We felt BAMA was much stronger in the sciences. The University also had special programs that he was very interested in.</p>
<p>So, for us, it came down to the strength of the majors. We are a house divided, yet we are thankful for the opportunities that each university has given our children.</p>
<p>We were very disapppinted with the CS building at MSU, but otherwise, the facilities were very nice. The honors dorms were nicer than UA and the staff cleans the bathroom. The only disadvantage is that the students have shared rooms. The rec center is new and is close to the honors dorms. The cafetetia is in a charming old building and the food was very good. When I visited cafetetias I observed how students interacted and I was much more impressed with MSU than Ole Miss. The Greek system seems to dominate the campus more at Ole Miss than MSU too. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about overall asthetics, it’s Ole Miss > UA > MSU. For honors dorms it’s MSU > UA > Ole Miss.</p>
<p>As far as being student centric, I thought that UA and MSU were similar and were better than Ole Miss.</p>
<p>For us, MSU would have been a better choice than Ole Miss. Neither are clones for UA. Ole Miss is closer as far as the campus, MSU is closer as far as the feel.</p>
<p>Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Based on the student distribution in and OOS, UA is probably like no other State school in this country.</p>
<p>With an OOS population over 50%, it is more like a large private school.</p>
<p>Have you considered Arkansas? I know a lot of Texas students migrate that way due to Arkansas giving in-state tuition (or a portion of the difference between IS & OOS) to Texas (and all border state) students. “Entering freshmen must have a 3.25 or higher cumulative high school GPA and ACT of at least 24 or 1090 SAT (combined math and critical reading).” [New</a> Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award Scholarship | Academic Scholarship Office | University of Arkansas](<a href=“http://nrta.uark.edu/]New”>http://nrta.uark.edu/) About 20% of the students are from Texas. [Where</a> Does Your Freshman Class Come From? - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=106397]Where”>http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=106397) </p>
<p>Fayetteville is similar in size to Tuscaloosa, although NWA as a whole is larger. The campus is hilly and the buildings are nowhere near as gorgeous as Alabama’s. They have some new dorms and have suites with shared baths in the suite, but not individual rooms (unless you pay extra!). They have a newly renovated Honors dorm with floor-wide shared baths. Lots of school spirit! Could be about the same distance from your home???</p>
<p>Arkansas is my DS’ safety at this point (he has several scholarships only available in-state). He has the Presidential at Alabama, just trying to figure out if we can swing the cost of room & board at 'Bama. :)</p>
<p>Agree with Arkansas as well. Son’s best friend toured MSU and Arkansas. He felt MSU was in the middle of the cornfield, but he loved Arkansas. It was not as challenging in engineering as Bama, and probably would have been a better choice for him, as he did not survive Bama engineering past the first year. Arkansas also a great business school. Although never visiting Ole Miss or State, as we call MSU, we are very familiar through family, Husband is from Mississippi, and Ole Miss is definitely known more for the liberal arts and State for the science and engineering. State has about half the student population of Bama, but don’t know about size of Ole Miss. I have heard that Ole Miss is very Greek, and that Greek affiliations are very influential in politics and business in the state. I have heard great things about the Chinese/International program through CC over the years. My niece is in an amazing international studies program at SMU in Dallas, but that’s a private school so may not be a consideration.</p>
<p>Yes, State is in the middle of nowhere so that could be an issue for some. Didn’t see Starkville so I have no idea what it is like. </p>
<p>They are expanding their football stadium. A CE student we spoke to lamented the money wasn’t spent on the CS building. Given that the CS dept is strong, it’s a shame about their facility.</p>
<p>Ole Miss has a very good (and rigorous) pharmacy school. Accounting is also well respected. Ole Miss is a very friendly campus where the students are quick to offer visitors directions or information. It is also much smaller than UA, and the town of Oxford is largely defined by the university. But where else can you find barbecue nachos and sweet tea as stadium food?!</p>