<p>Hi CC'ers-
I have been reading your wonderful posts about all the high-achieving kids who, for various reasons, decided to go to Alabama on the National Merit full-ride scholarship.
I would love to hear how GRADUATES are doing now...did going to U of A help you achieve what you wanted in college? How respected is your degree...did the fact that you were in the honors college matter? Thanks in advance for your replies. (As you can probably guess I have a high test score kiddo and Alabama is on our list.)</p>
<p>Good post Momochan. I’m in your same shoes and wondering the same thing</p>
<p>I don’t know if any graduates are posting on CC.</p>
<p>My son is a senior at Bama, and he’s done very well so far. He took his GRE and scored super well, so he’s getting contacted by all the elite schools requesting that he apply to their grad schools…which he’s doing.</p>
<p>I do know that when we were at honors day last April, many of the May grads were going to top schools for grad schools.</p>
<p>Bama pre-med grads also have a high admittance to med schools.</p>
<p>BTW…Bama is tied for ranking with Mich State, Baylor and American U. Do you have the same concern about people who graduate from those schools?</p>
<p>My son is also a NM at Alabama but in his second year. He has had friends go into some excellent graduate school programs in their respective fields. He also has met grad students who chose Alabama because of the opportunities that they have at the school.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to diminish the educational experience of Alabama…it’s just an enormous school that is not very familiar to me here in SoCal (other than the awesome sports tradition), and fairly or unfairly, it has a reputation of being a party school. The posts I have read here on CC seem to show that bright, ambitious students can do very well there, esp in the honors/computer-based honors programs. However, I have no idea how hard it is to get into the classes you want, what kind of guidance/resources are truly available, etc, and whether it’s a place that would help my very bright ADD kid blossom or cause him to flounder/get lost in the crowd. If he is fortunate enough to qualify for one of the NMF scholarships and is accepted, we would of course visit…just trying to get an idea ahead of time of what it’s really like, whether it lives up to the glossy guidebook pictures.
BTW Baylor is on my son’s list, but less unfamiliar as two of his cousins graduated from there and each had an amazing experience.</p>
<p>.it’s just an enormous school</p>
<p>I’m from southern Calif…I went to Calif schools. My entire family graduated from UCs or Cal states. Many of the publics in Calif are similar in size or larger. I wouldn’t call Alabama enormous. It’s a big school, but it’s not like UMich, Penn St, Ohio St, or some of those huge Cal States. Those are enormous!</p>
<p>Alabama is similar in size to UCI (where I went to school.) :)</p>
<p>*and fairly or unfairly, it has a reputation of being a party school. *</p>
<p>Virtually every school with big sports is going to have that label. However, that label is meaningless. Who cares what some kid in some easy major in a building across campus has time to do on weekends? It has no effect on my kids or their classmates who are in serious majors. And, honors housing is pretty quiet…even on weekends.</p>
<p>*However, I have no idea how hard it is to get into the classes you want, *</p>
<p>Getting the classes you want are a breeze compared to what’s going on in Calif. My kids have never had any trouble getting the courses they need. :)</p>
<p>*
what kind of guidance/resources are truly available, etc, and whether it’s a place that would help my very bright ADD kid blossom or cause him to flounder/get lost in the crowd. *</p>
<p>Bama offers all sorts of resources from counseling to free tutoring. What is your child’s likely major? For some majors, like engineering, the courses are sequenced so students pretty much follow a set curriculum. </p>
<p>Bama tries very hard to keep a “small school feel” even though it’s a big school. By offering 4 different honors programs (plus Blount), it has 5 different ways of keeping that small school feel within a big school.</p>
<p>The faculty of the honors college are truly amazing. They really care about these kids. </p>
<p>Dr. Witt (the president) told a group of Connecticut parents last week, that although we can’t be your child’s parent, we will do everything we can to help your child. </p>
<p>One month after school starts, the school checks to see which freshmen have not joined any clubs. Then Bama contacts those kids to find out why and to get those kids involved in some things that fit their personalities. </p>
<p>I would say that Bama is a very personable university…far more personable than Calif publics…far more! </p>
<p>*
If he is fortunate enough to qualify for one of the NMF scholarships and is accepted, we would of course visit…just trying to get an idea ahead of time of what it’s really like, whether it lives up to the glossy guidebook pictures.*</p>
<p>If your child has good grades, has good SAT scores and sent them to NMCorp, did the NMSF paperwork appropriately, and is not a discipline problem at school, then I can pretty much promise that your child will make NMF. </p>
<p>If your child has no above-mentioned issues to prevent him from becoming NMF, don’t let that final notification get in the way of visiting. </p>
<p>Besides, to get a choice in honors housing, deposits need to be made within a couple of months.</p>
<p>You should visit the Alabama forum. There are people who post there that are Calif families. Bama has a good number of kids from Calif.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/</a></p>
<p>Bama gives full tuition and reduced housing just for being a Semifinalist, in case you didn’t know.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>correction…for being a NMSF (those who don’t make finalist), Bama gives full tuition (not reduced housing).</p>
<p>If you make finalist, then you get housing (including the super suites) and other goodies.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,</p>
<p>Sound like you are a big fan of Bama.
I am not sure that you can compare Bama to UC schools. There is a lot more admission requirements for UC schools than Bama.</p>
<p>I am from Southern Cal, I am very sure my son will make NMF. He is heading for USC with half of the tuition scholarship. He prefers UC schools or USC only. He does want to go anywhere beside stay in California.</p>
<p>Gongho…I don’t know what your point is.</p>
<p>I am a UC grad, and I’m very familiar with the current UC app process. I have several nieces and nephews in the UC system.</p>
<p>No one was saying that the app process between UC and Bama are anything similar. Everyone knows that the UC app process is different.</p>
<p>I was comparing the size of various UCs to the size of Bama. And, I made the point that Bama is more personable…which it is.</p>
<p>My post was for momochan, who asked the questions.</p>
<p>*
I am from Southern Cal, I am very sure my son will make NMF. He is heading for USC with half of the tuition scholarship. He prefers UC schools or USC only. He does want to go anywhere beside stay in California. * </p>
<p>Good for him…best wishes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat, although my son is a junior so we still have almost a year to go until applications go out. And for us anyway, yes - I have these same questions about any school my son applies to. He wants to major in pure math (as compared to applied maths) and he and I will be trying to figure out how the sales pitch to high school seniors compares to the actual experience in college, how good math departments are, how graduates are doing with placement into grad schools, etc, etc, at every school he considers. So if anyone out there has specific knowledge about the math department, let me know!</p>
<p>I sure do appreciate and am impressed with the strong supporters U of A has in parents of NMF’s who go there. I will keep reading for at least the next year, and who knows - i may be posting here in a couple years!</p>
<p>My senior son is an Applied Math major. He is applying to grad schools now. Has a very strong GRE score and straight As. </p>
<p>He has been very impressed with the math profs…particularly with Bruce Trace, Cecelia Laurie (recently retired), Jim Gleason, Layachi Hadji, David Halpern, Shan Zhao, Zhijian Wu, Martin Evans, Sam Evers, Wei Hsia, and some others that I can’t think of right now.</p>
<p>If you want to see the current req’t for the Pure Math track, you can click on the course links on the link below.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Alabama Undergraduate Catalog 2010-12](<a href=“http://catalogs.ua.edu/catalog10/501471.html#1]University”>http://catalogs.ua.edu/catalog10/501471.html#1)</p>
<p>Core Mathematics Courses
The following courses must be completed by all mathematics majors:</p>
<p>Courses Hours
MATH 125 or MATH 145 4
MATH 126 or MATH 146 4
MATH 227 or MATH 247 4
MATH 237 3
MATH 238 3
MATH 301 3
Total 21</p>
<p>Pure Mathematics Track</p>
<p>Courses Hours
Core mathematics courses 21
MATH 470 3
MATH 485 3
MATH 486 3
MATH 371, MATH 465, MATH 471, MATH 487, or MATH 499 6
Total 36</p>
<p>My Junior daughter is in love with Alabama. She wants to major in Communication Disorders or Classics. We are eagerly awaiting PSAT scores to see if she will be NMSF. Two weeks away. I’m so nervous, she’s not. She toured over the summer and said this is my school. She’s seen NYU, Vanderbilt, Brown. St. John’s, Anapolis and CU Boulder. Alabama is by far her favorite, although St. John’s got her thinking Classics. </p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, do you know anything about those majors at UA?</p>
<p>Mom2kids - thanks for the info! I didn’t know your son was a math major, that’s great - now I really feel like I have the inside scoop! For now, we’re just compiling our list and making spreadsheets (which I have an absurd affection for - no joke!). I’m sure once he gets his PSAT scores back at the end of December, as long as he really does score high enough to qualify, U of A will be on his final list of schools. We have a friend at his high school whose son is a freshman NMF there right now, and he (and his mom) has nothing but great things to say about it.</p>
<p>So, if my son is a junior now, what’s the normal time line? PSAT scores received by us in December, then…? Does Alabama magically find out his scores and start sending info? If we only make one visit before he applies to schools next fall, when should we go to U of A?</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughtful insights mom2! Don’t know if i mentioned my son is a junior so we have some time. Can’t wait to find out about the PSAT…</p>
<p>I can vouch for the full tuition/full housing for NMF at Bama. My D is a freshman and for first semester we paid only for her meal plan and a lab fee. I think our total out of pocket after the NMF $500 scholarship also posted was around $950. Subsequent semesters will be cheaper still, since we will be downgrading to a smaller meal plan.
Momochan, we also found the size of UA daunting - on paper, that is. Once we visited campus we found that it did not feel crowded or unmanageable. Also, with D in the honors college she benefits from early registration and small honors classes. She does have a calculus class with over 150 this semester, but she also has one class with 8 and another with 13 total students.
Overall, we’ve found that a large university has it’s benefits, especially in the wealth of opportunities available. D had a difficult time at first whittling down the number of clubs she would join. Bama turned out to have everything d needed and then some. I have no doubt she will be well prepared for her future goals.</p>
<p>*My Junior daughter is in love with Alabama. She wants to major in Communication Disorders or Classics. We are eagerly awaiting PSAT scores to see if she will be NMSF. Two weeks away. I’m so nervous, she’s not. She toured over the summer and said this is my school. She’s seen NYU, Vanderbilt, Brown. St. John’s, Anapolis and CU Boulder. Alabama is by far her favorite, although St. John’s got her thinking Classics.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, do you know anything about those majors at UA? *</p>
<p>Fingers-crossed for your D’s PSAT scores. 
(Isn’t it just awful waiting for those scores!!! LOL)</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Communicative Disorders major, except that I do know that there are research opportunities in CD (autism, aphasia, hearing disorders, etc). [Communicative</a> Disorders](<a href=“http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/]Communicative”>Communicative Disorders – University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences) </p>
<p>But, I do know a little bit about the Classics major. … </p>
<p>I believe that Classics majors have to take Latin and/or Greek and they take study abroad courses in Greece and Italy. (I don’t know if the study abroad part is required) </p>
<p>There are two different Classics tracks…</p>
<p>1) Classics track with an emphasis on languages, literature, and Greek</p>
<p>2) Classical Studies track that has an emphasis on culture and classical civilization.</p>
<p>Each track requires 33 credits in Classics. Both also require Greek and/or Latin. I think both tracks requires students to take both Greek and Latin. But I’m not sure if both are needed. </p>
<p>It’s not necessary to have taken Latin or Greek in high school, but if the student has, he/she can test out of the lower levels.</p>
<p>This is an interesting tidbit about Bama Classics majors…</p>
<p>*Our majors who have applied for law school or medical school have had a 100% acceptance rate. *</p>
<p>Wow…I didn’t know that. :)</p>
<p>*Mom2kids - thanks for the info! I didn’t know your son was a math major, that’s great - now I really feel like I have the inside scoop! For now, we’re just compiling our list and making spreadsheets (which I have an absurd affection for - no joke!). I’m sure once he gets his PSAT scores back at the end of December, as long as he really does score high enough to qualify, U of A will be on his final list of schools. We have a friend at his high school whose son is a freshman NMF there right now, and he (and his mom) has nothing but great things to say about it.</p>
<p>So, if my son is a junior now, what’s the normal time line? PSAT scores received by us in December, then…? Does Alabama magically find out his scores and start sending info? If we only make one visit before he applies to schools next fall, when should we go to U of A? *</p>
<p>Yes, I have 2 sons at Bama, so it can be confusing…One is an Applied Math major and the other is a Chemical Engineering major who is also pre-med. </p>
<p>your child will find out his PSAT scores in Dec or Jan (depending on your high school). Bama is given some list of who makes NMSF sometime in the late summer I believe. I believe that colleges are notified before students are notified in Aug/Sept.
My own son received a congrats letter from a college in August before his school told him. </p>
<p>If for some reason, you don’t receive info from Bama, feel free to contact them and they will gladly put you on their mailing list. </p>
<p>*If we only make one visit before he applies to schools next fall, when should we go to U of A? *</p>
<p>Maybe in the Spring. Check your child’s school calendar with Bama’s school calendar to see if your child has a day off that you could visit while Bama is in session.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Mom2collegekids. Our guidance counselor sent them home right after Thanksgiving break last year. She missed by four points as a sophomore, so hoping she did better this year. The waiting is killing me. </p>
<p>I will look into another tour in the spring. Thank you for all the information.</p>