<p>Hi! So my #1 school has been Ole Miss for about six months now. I applied, have been accepted, have done extensive research and basically I'm totally in love with the school already. I also plan to major in Journalism. I'm flying out to visit it next week too (I live in California). My boyfriend is currently attending Texas A&M as a freshman, but doesn't like it and is planning on transferring to the University of Alabama this coming fall b/c its only 3 hours away from Ole Miss. We always jokingly tease eachother about who's school is better: Ole Miss or Alabama, and I was wondering what other people had to say about both schools as well. What are your thoughts/opinions?? I know how both are ranked and all that, but does anyone have personal experience with either Ole miss or Bama?? </p>
<p>Preferably Ole Miss considering thats where I'm planning on going...:) Thank you!!</p>
<p>I have no personal experience with the University of Mississippi or Alabama. However, I’m curious why a California resident would choose to attend either school instead of one in the University of California system. </p>
<p>I can see that cost must not be a factor (unless you got out-of-state merit scholarships). The total cost for UCSB (in state) is now about the same as the total cost for the University of Alabama (OOS).</p>
<p>There may not be an answer as to “which is better,” because it may depend on major. What is your BF’s major?</p>
<p>Bama is the higher ranked school. Bama is ranked #79 in the nation, while Ole Miss is ranked #141.</p>
<p>Bama also likely has more Calif students attending. </p>
<p>As to TK’s question…I’ve met a number of Calif families who send their kids to Bama. Some come for the scholarships and some come because their child wants the big rah rah Big Div I football experience and they didn’t get accepted to UCLA or Cal. </p>
<p>Calif is #5 in sending kids to Bama. It is behind Texas, Georgia, Florida, and I forget #4.</p>
<p>I looked at both universities when I constructed a list of potential safety transfer schools that offered geology. IMO Alabama has both better facilities for STEM majors and a more geographically/ intellectually diverse student body, due to their success on the grid iron and automatic merit scholarships. Ole Miss offers fairly comprehensive merit aid, but doesn’t seem to bring in the same caliber of students that Bama does. For Jewish life and political diversity, which are probably not criteria that the OP would need to consider, Bama is the clear winner. </p>
<p>That’s not to say Ole Miss is a bad school. It’s not. It offers the archetypal college experience. Beautiful buildings, rabid school spirit, in a small college town. I’ve heard great things about its English department, Croft Institute, and Chinese flagship program. I’m less familiar with its journalism department, but I assume it’s good.</p>
<p>Oh and TK, it’s very difficult to get into the mid to high tier UCs without excellent grades. UCSB’s average UC GPA is almost a 4.0! Most B/B- students can only get into UCR, UCM, so many wealthier students turn to OOS flagships like Oregon, UA/ASU, or in this case Ole Miss to get that quintessential college experience. It also doesn’t hurt that Ole Miss’ OOS costs are about as low as the UCs, and it offers automatic merit scholarships for students with just a 3.0 and slightly higher than average SAT/ACT scores. </p>
<p>To the OP, both schools are good. It depends what you want to study, what type of environment you’d like to be in, etc. You and your boyfriend will probably both have good college experiences, so don’t worry about what random strangers on the internet say.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Ole Miss’s size and culture make it feel like a private school. People who fit in well there are happier than college students almost anywhere. Just make sure you are confident about fitting in, because there are fewer options for being outside the mainstream than you can find at Bama.</p>
<p>To reply to TK’s original question, and for anyone else wondering, San Diego State University was actually my #1 almost all through highschool. So technically yes, I was the stereotypical Californian kid who was headed to a party school in California. It wasnt until about 8 months ago my very best friend convinced me to apply to Ole Miss with her just for fun, and because I hadn’t applied to any out of state schools. Well, it turns out I got in. and like I said before, with extensive research and talking to people who go/went there, I have basically fallen head over heels for the school. It just fits my personality so well, and quite frankly I feel I need to leave Cali for a little while & experience something totally new and different. Plus for those of you who were unaware, their journalism major is one of the best in the country. So that works out perfect for what I want to do too. My boyfriend is majoring in Polysci. No matter what I will be forced to become a Bama fan for his sake haha, and I know bama has a lot to offer as well. From the people I’ve talked to who have gone to Ole Miss & Bama, most say that Ole Miss offers that classic southern charm & beauty that either work for some people or dont. While bama is a little more typical-college in the city type.</p>
<p>also, does anyone have thoughts on Texas A&M?? My boyfriend is in the Corps of Cadets there and absolutely hates it. I havn’t gotten the chance to fly out and see the school yet for myself, but he is literally extatic to transfer to Alabama just to get out of A&M haha. Any thoughts are appreciated!</p>
<p>You debate this? Alabama is ranked #79 in the nation. Ole Miss is ranked #141. Neither is very good, but clearly Alabama is better. They’re good at football, just not academics (Obviously Alabama is better at football as well).</p>
<p>Informative…I never said I “debate” anything. I know both are good schools. I have friends who attend both Ole Miss & Bama, and I asked them what some of the differences are between the two. They both said the same thing- both have a lot of school spirit and good reputation. Ole Miss is generally just a smaller, more traditional, southern “charming” school. Which it is, ranked in the top 10 for most beautiful campus’s. I never said either wasn’t good academically. Ole Miss has an amazing journalism program that has produced many famous journalists/authors- and that is exactly what I want to do so it is a perfect fit for me. No need to be defensive here- like I said I’m also a bama fan as well.</p>
<p>As a current senior at Alabama whose been here for 4 years I can say that Alabama is the way to go for journalism. We have one of the top 5 communication schools in the country and our program is fabulous. Ole miss is a great public school with a private school feel. And the Greek program is smaller while Alabama’s Greek program is very much integrated in campus and is a major part of student life. Both are great schools but if you’re interested in communications and big Greek life then choose Alabama. If you want a smaller feel school and still a good program to be in them ole miss would be good.</p>
<p>Neither is very good, but clearly Alabama is better. They’re good at football, just not academics (Obviously Alabama is better at football as well).</p>
<p>Informative, you really don’t know anything about Alabama except football. One of my kids was accepted into an elite school’s PhD program and my other kid has been accepted to med school. Thankfully, those adcoms know more than you do.</p>
<p>My post above was not meant to be negative. It sounds like the OP is putting some thought into this, while having fun with the process. I hope she’ll report back on her visit.</p>
<p>@rilezb - answering your question about Texas A&M:</p>
<p>As a Texas resident, I’ve found that A&M seems to be a school that people either absolutely love or really hate (and the haters usually hate it because they’re fans of University of Texas). For those who love it, it has an almost cult-like following, and entire families send their students there generation after generation. There’s a lot of school spirit, tradition and sense of community. I know a lot of current and former A&M students, and they have all seemed to LOVE it… but they were probably “born” loving it. It does have a pretty conservative vibe, which might be a turnoff to some, and definitely a very “Texas-y” feel, which can be a bit of a culture shock for an out-of-stater. Personally, I think the campus is pretty drab looking, and that could also be a turnoff for someone who places a lot of importance on campus aesthetics. That’s not meant to sound shallow - a lot of people are really affected by the appearance of their surroundings. A&M is a great school, but if your BF isn’t happy there, there’s nothing wrong with transferring.</p>
<p>“the Greek program is smaller while Alabama’s Greek program is very much integrated in campus and is a major part of student life.”</p>
<p>The Ole Miss Greek community is smaller only in absolute numbers, since it is a smaller school. A higher percentage of Ole Miss undergrads go Greek as compared to Alabama. It is a bigger part of campus life at Ole Miss than at Bama (though it is a very big deal at both).</p>
<p>I took a virtual campus tour of A&M and thats exactly what I thought- “concrete jungle”. I, though, am someone who is really affected by their surroundings. Also another reason why I’m really into Ole Miss, because the campus is so lush and beautiful. Not to say A&M doesnt have great academics because I know it does, and a lot of tradition too. Doesn’t matter though because I’m not attending A&M haha, just wanted some other perspectives. Thanks!:)</p>
<p>OP:
I understand you’re trying to compare these two schools. They are both mediocre stat schools with sub-par reputations. Alabama is the better of the two schools academically.</p>
<p>mom2college kids:
What were the programs? I’d love to here what you consider elite.</p>
<p>Quakerstate:
We don’t do state schools in the northeast. We can afford to send our kids to good schools.</p>
<p>If you want to be a writer, they still have bookstores down south, which is nice. Also, a great tradition of southern authors comes out of Oxford. Be prepared for a very Greek dominated lifestyle down at Ole Miss. It is the southernest of southern style schools, and if you go there, you will want to make sure you know what this means.</p>
<p>UA is a very, very interesting school. They are doing some things which are rather fascinating to those of us not so myopic we can’t understand that things change. (for example un-informative).</p>
<p>There are a lot of actual jobs for UA graduates, which many students, in this day of high unemployment for recent grads, find very attractive. </p>
<p>Good luck. Either one is a very specific experience, but Ole Miss is moreso.</p>