D is considering UA for her safety because of their OOS scholarship money, but is concerned about the quality of the classes. I have seen a lot of discussion here about STEM classes but D will probably be a political science major with her eye on law school in the future. We had a discussion last night about UA and these are the concerns that she has.
She is primarily concerned because she knows only two people who are going to UA and neither is a serious student. One is a cheer buddy of D’s who just finished her freshman year, and from her social media posts it appears she is majoring in partying, sororities, and sleeping in. The other was in D’s gym class this year and will be attending next year. She has a tattoo inside of her lip that says “Stay High” and got a C in gym because she would skip all the time. D is worried that these are typical UA students once you get away from STEM classes. I have told her there are probably people like this at all large state universities, and the presence of students like this will give her more of a chance to shine.
Can anyone add anything else to help calm her fears? Because of the distance, I don’t think we will be able to visit unless this is still a serious contender come decision time.
@momreads will probably weigh in here, her son graduated and is now in a highly respected and highly rated law school.
There are excellent liberal arts, social science, language, music, and arts professors and departments. I can’t speak to to the specifics of political science. Someone else?
Since Bama has a highly ranked law school, you can safely believe that Bama’s Poly Sci and similar majors are strong.
Yes, at all big schools, you’ll find less serious students. They’ll either end up in easy majors or drop out. They wouldn’t be able to handle serious subjects.
Call honors college at UA to find out the breakdown of incoming honors students - you will find a diversity of fields I am sure. Also, can inquire about the type of courses to take full advantage of what DD wants to study - they can give some great suggestions on what currents students are doing in DD’s areas of interest.
This will give a concept about how many serious students are at UA…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrV8g7kxJps
Poli sci major here. The classes are sweet. Professors are engaged, responsive, and often well-published. The opportunities to get involved in research are endless. If you want to have a good experience, you will. PM me if you have any specific questions about the program.
I seriously doubt that the two students the OP mentioned are on full scholarships (or if they are, they are probably having some difficulty maintaining them), honors college members, and taking advantage of the educational opportunities that UA offers (as opposed to merely the social ones). The campus is large enough that you will find all kinds of students here, from those barely making it (for whatever reasons) to those who are absolutely brilliant (and you will read about these some day in the future about what amazing things they are doing)…and everyone in between. This goes for STEM and non-STEM majors, IMO.
OP (and anyone seriously considering UA) MUST VISIT in order to make a decision if UA is the right fit for your student. I get that you are reluctant to do so without more information. So, I highly recommend taking time to read through ALL of the threads on this UA forum here - yup, there are 1000s - most of your questions have probably been asked before and I guarantee all of your concerns have been addressed by families and students in similar situations. You can easily get a good flavor of UA by doing so, and then make your decision to visit or not.
Thanks for the replies.
It is too bad that the only two students that my D knows that go to UA are both more interested in the partying aspects of college. I doubt either girl is on scholarship. D just told me that her cheer friend was afraid she was going to flunk out but sweet talked some of her professors into raising her grades. So she is living on the edge.
It is comforting to hear stories of serious students in areas other than STEM (so much of CC seems to be focused on STEM). I think D will probably apply early to get the acceptance and the honors college admit safely under her belt and then we may visit. It will help a lot to know that she is in the honors college and what that means for housing and classes. We need to research that more.
Hi @me29034, my son is a prospective history major who is interested in law school. We are considering The University of Alabama. I don’t know what other colleges your daughter is considering, so its difficult to make a one-on-one comparison; however, respecting your concerns above I thought I’d share some info:
- If you are concerned about the undergraduate experience for your liberal arts child at Bama, I strongly suggest you check-out the Blount Undergraduate Initiative. In short, this is a selective liberal arts college program at a public flagship university. You can learn more about the program at the following hyperlink: http://blount.as.ua.edu/ I also strongly suggest you check out this short video on Blount: http://youtube.as.ua.edu/blount.php
- I can't speak for the strength of Bama's undergrad history program; however, the law school is ranked #22 in the country according to US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
- If your child qualifies for the presidential scholarship (full tuition) then she will receive the benefits of that award for 8 consecutive semesters. Assuming she comes in with a lot AP/dual credit, it may be possible for your daughter to graduate faster than 8 semesters in which case the "remaining tuition scholarship semester(s) may utilize these monies... toward graduate/law school study at UA." http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html That's not a bad deal for a top 25 law school.
The preceding are amongst some of the reasons why my son is considering Bama. I actually followed an educational path similar to what your daughter proposes, govt undergrad degree and law degree from UT-Austin - a top 15 law school. I’m completely comfortable with my son attending UA because for us its all about eliminating any prospect for undergrad student loan debt. Bama kids go to top 20 law schools routinely as long as they have the requisite LSAT and GPA to make them competitive applicants. Moreover, as a practicing attorney, no one cares what undergrad school I attended, but they do want to know what law school I graduated from - even though the answer is the same for both.
Lastly, I think that if you were to compare the top 25% ACT/SAT test scores at Bama to many of the other schools you are considering, you likely would find to your surprise that Bama is very much academically competitive. Of course, it really comes down to whether you feel Bama is the appropriate “fit” for your daughter and that’s a subjective consideration you’ll have to make on your own - one my son is still trying to come to grips with himself.
Good luck to you and your daughter during this college search process.
My daughter isn’t a political science major, but she isn’t STEM, either - she’s in the business school. There are serious students, and there are students who are majoring in pharmaceuticals of the not quite legal kind, and there are students in between. Her high school friends who’ve gone to more prestigious schools have found a similar mix. There are plenty of students in all majors who are in the Honors College, and I don’t think a top student needs to worry about not finding peers at Alabama, even outside of the STEM majors. Definitely look into Blount, too.
@fatherof2boys Thank you for your detailed reply. This was very helpful and definitely makes my D feel more comfortable about UA. Blount sounds interesting. I followed the links but a lot of it didn’t work for me. I don’t know if its my browser or if they are working on the site but I couldn’t see a lot of information. I will have to try later from a different computer. But from the responses, it sounds like there really are a lot of serious students there and we just have had some bad luck with who D knows. I am actually surprised that more top students at our high school haven’t discovered it. I personally felt like I won the lottery when I stumbled onto the scholarship info. I think most people here are just unfamiliar with UA and think of it as only as big sports school.
There is a recent thread which includes a link for a speech given by Dr. Witt, who is now the current Chancellor (past president of The University of Alabama). In my opinion, he has been a true visionary, and has led UA down the path of growth and success. Hearing him speak should allay many fears about the quality of education.
Here is the link to Dr. Witt’s presentation; very informative - just realized I already posted on this thread, #4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrV8g7kxJps
@me29034, I’m sorry that the Blount Undergraduate Initiative video is not working properly. However, I believe that the main hyperlink to the Blount webpage is working. http://blount.as.ua.edu/
Moreover, if you click on the link below which plays the video respecting the Living Learning Communities, there is a discussion of Blount beginning at the 5:50 mark. During the video you’ll see a series of short statements by Blount program participants. One of the interesting things about these short blurbs is that the first 5-6 students are identified as being from various geographic locations - with many being from outside the southeast. In fact, the diversity of the program participants is alluded to in the video. After viewing this video my son first became excited about the possibility of attending UA; thereafter, he exchanged a series of emails with the program’s director who mailed him a packet of printed materials pertaining to Blount. Of potential interest to you, there were some statistics in the packet respecting the success that Blount participants having in gaining admission to the graduate/law schools.
http://youtube.as.ua.edu/llc.php
Also, if you type “Blount” in the magnifying glass search function at the top of this forum I believe there are a couple of threads regarding Blount with post from current/former participants.
Here’s a link to some of the special programs offered through the Honors College: http://honors.ua.edu/programs/campus-programs/
Keep in mind that the HC is comprised of several thousand students. Your daughter’s high school classmates aren’t likely among them. The ones we met are serious students.
Here’s a good book that offers an overview of UA and isn’t focused on STEM: Choosing the Right College, The Inside Scoop on Elite Schools and Outstanding Lesser-Known Institutions, 2014-2015.
me29034: Since robotbldmom mentioned me, I thought I should respond (BTW, hi robotbldmom!).
My son is a 2014 Bama graduate. He went there as a National Merit Scholar from Virginia. Was in the computer-based honors program, and over his four years, he was president of six different organizations. He was a Phi Beta Kappa with robotbldmom’s son. He also researched for three years with an economics professor. That strong background in economics impressed one of the UVA law professors so much that he spent part of his summer working as a research assistant for him.
My son has degrees in econ and political science as well as minors in CBHP and mathematics. As much as he enjoyed economics, he loved the poli sci department. In fact, as a senior, he wrote what his adviser called, “a masters-level thesis,” and it was not even required for graduation – he just loved researching this particular topic and had the full support of his professors.
Based on the experiences my son had at Alabama, I would tell your daughter not to worry about finding serious students. Just to give you an idea of what some of his friends are doing…
Earning her PhD in engineering at Stanford (she also took a bunch of history classes at Alabama, because she loves to learn)
Is working in the consulting business in DC after spending a year working for the British Embassy – he has a chem engineering as well as a poli sci degree
Has a degree in poli sci and is in his second year in law school in Houston
Is an engineer based out of Kansas City but currently working in Canada
Was a two-time Fulbright Scholar who now teaches in the Nashville area
Got her poli sci degree from Bama and will be in her third year of law school there
Hope that helps to calm her fears.
Sorry, I just feel the need to let out a hearty Roll Tide! after reading @momreads post!