<p>I have read so many glowing reports about UA, I decided to look into it. D thinks she wants a small/mid sized school, but also likes research opportunities. The Blount initiative sounds interesting. It seems there is some crossover between honors students and Blount students, but I can’t figure out if Blount IS part of an honors program.
I know that UA has great scholarships for NMF, but that ship has sailed (waving good bye) and I see some great scholarships listed based on stats. Are those scholarships really offered to everyone meeting the stats criteria, or are there a limited number of each of those scholarships?
On the website, I saw 2 ‘red flags’: On a photo of an interactive classroom, the students looked anything but engaged…they looked bored/confused (can’t believe they posted that pic), and only one student was sitting up front…Is this typical for a UA class? High on D’s list is a school that has academically engaged students.
The other red flag was a pic of a math class, described as a math technology learning center…the description notes that this replaces the standard lecture and blackboard type classes. Does this mean that some classes at UA are actually online courses?<br>
I see that about 1/2 of the students are from OOS. Are a good number of those from the north and the west, or are most from other southern states?</p>
<p>Math classes that are “pre college level” are taught online. So, if a student comes in, is tested, and is placed into a pre-college level math class and those are taught online.</p>
<p>What level is your D? </p>
<p>Where is that pic.</p>
<p>Of course it’s not “typical” for only one student to be sitting in the front. lol</p>
<p>Yes, those scholarships are available to all who have the stats and apply by the deadline.</p>
<p>Blount is part of honors.</p>
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<p>Bama has students from all 50 states. Of course, Bama draws heavily from Florida, Georgia, and Texas, but other states, such as California (ranked #5) and Illinois (ranked around 6) send a good number of students. </p>
<p>All schools will tend to pull a good number of OOS from the “region” since often kids don’t want to go toooo far from home. But, Bama has been very successful at recruiting kids from NY, Conn, PA, Ohio, VA, and the rest of the 50 states. </p>
<p>First, Welcome to this forum Shoboemom</p>
<p>I am presuming that your daughter is a junior, because scholarship deadlines have passed for this year’s Fall 2014 class.
What are your daughter’s statistics? Has she taken both the SAT and the ACT? What is her freshman to Junior year GPA. These statistics will determine the scholarships that are available to her.
Your daughter will be able to apply for Fall 2015 as early as the application opens sometime in August, if she has the statistics that are required for that year’s scholarship, then she will qualify and get that scholarship. The University of Alabama has had guaranteed scholarship levels with no limit on the number of scholarships given out.
If your daughter is not a NMF, then she can qualify for one of the other academic scholarships based on her SAT/ACT scores along with her GPA.
The levels of scholarships that are currently available are listed on UA’s website and they will publish the updated requirements for Fall 2015.</p>
<p>I am curious, can you post a link to those photos? Seems like it might have been a bad photo shoot. Ever had a bad photo taken, I normally do.
I can tell you from my student’s perspective that classes are engaging and generally very small so you can’t sit in the back of the classroom or hide, there are too few students 
Of course, some of the intro classes have a larger class size but that is to expected. I can tell you from my own school days that students tend to gravitate to the back rows not for any other reason then to not be the one up front.</p>
<p>Have you had a chance to take a look at “UA’s Viewbook”? The link is on the main website page. Take the interactive tour and watch some of the online videos, I think this will help you can get a much better sense of the college. Also if you read this forum regularly, the parents and students who are posting here are posting real life information as opposed to just a few snap shot pictures. The testimonials that you read here are accurate and impressive…</p>
<p>There are online courses in the catalog, but I can tell you that my student has never been required to take an online class nor has he taken one. I don’t know if there are any required classes that are internet only, I personally have not come across any. Having said this, many students like online classes due to scheduling and some students even prefer this type of instruction. That is what is so great about a large university…options, there are plenty of options.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the Blount living/learning comminity except what I have heard from one student who I know was a member during her freshman year. I recall her saying that she really enjoyed the interactive class discussions and also enjoyed living in the Blount community. She has since graduated and is having much success in her life.</p>
<p>There are many more OOS students than there used to be, over 53% in llast year’s freshman class. Those students hail from all over the contiguous states as well as from Hawaii. It seems that good news is traveling fast about the quality of Bama’s education and about the scholarship opportunities.</p>
<p>Mostly however, the best way to get to know The University of Alabama is by coming down for a visit. Take a tour, meet with a student ambassador, have lunch and engage with current students, enjoy the hospitality and hopefully come away as impressed as we all were.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Thank you.
Yes, she is currently a junior. She only has one SAT test sore so far, that she took ‘cold’. That,along with her gpa should put her at least into one of the scholarships. I’d have to look again to see which one. But if they base the scholarship SAT /ACT score on superscores, or best scores, then I think she’d have a good chance at a higher level scholarship. (Do they?)
The pictures I was talking about were on the virtual tour online. If you find the one about the interactive classroom, I think you will see what I mean.
It is good to hear that it’s just the pre-college math courses that are taught online. I don’t think she’d fall into that category. I just hear that some schools (here in Florida) are having to offer more classes as online only because they are so full. I don’t know the details…that’s just what I have heard. </p>
<p>The University of Alabama is growing, they are constantly updating their infrastructure, the grounds and buildings are beautiful, but more importantly they are continuing to hire faculty. Many colleges today are at a hiring freeze or firing instructors, that is not the case at UA. </p>
<p>Your daughter needs to study for the SAT and the ACT tests in order to raise her scores if they are not at the level she needs to qualify for the scholarship she wants. There are books and classes that will help her raise her scores. Try for at least one point higher than the current scholarship level requirements, just in case they raise the the future requirements. This way she will be safe. That’s my advice. Also have her try taking both tests, some kids do better on one than on the other. In addition to her test scores, her GPA must meet at least the minimum requirement from freshman to junior year.
See the scholarship FAQS page about “super scoring”.</p>
<p>UA does not superscore the ACT test results across different tests. They take the best overall composite only. They will take the best score up until the deadline they state on their reqs/scholarship info pages (currently Dec national test date). There’s a fiddly thing about writing if you previously didn’t take it as part of ACT…see here: <a href=“http://gobama.ua.edu/faq/writing-faq/”>http://gobama.ua.edu/faq/writing-faq/</a>. And, for reference, here is the FAQS page, mentioned above: <a href=“Frequently Asked Questions – Scholarships | The University of Alabama”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/faq/</a> .</p>
<p>That particular picture of an ‘interactive’ classroom is apparently taken during a lesson about Autism (so says the screen). Interesting. <has anyone=“” done=“” a=“” study=“” on=“” the=“” correlation=“” between=“” where=“” people=“” sit=“” disperse=“” in=“” room=“” vs=“” what=“” subject=“” matter=“” is?=“”> My S always claims to sit in the very front row in every single class. How else would he be able to fully understand a non-native speaker who is droning on about low Reynolds number flyers and aeroelasticity of composite wing structures…JUST KIDDING PEOPLE!!!..He seriously really does sit in the front row precisely to hear that sort of stuff and be otherwise academically engaged with his really interesting aero profs, which he loves! ;)</has></p>
<p><a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;
Graves Hall Interactive Classroom
Here is where I saw the picture I was referring to. I know it’s just one moment in time and is very likely not indicative of the student body as a whole, but it did give me pause. lol</p>
<p>The percentage of OOS freshman in last year’s class was actually 60 %. </p>
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<p>Then you’d really have pause if you saw some pics from my son’s med school class. Students sleeping, reading other texts, and what have you. lol</p>
<p>Come on, in that particular photo I count at least 16 arms/hands raised! ;)</p>
<p><a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=100751”>http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=100751</a></p>
<p>This is a little dated (2010), but you can see where students come from. </p>
<p>The Crimson White featured a similar map/graph about 18 months ago showing where OOS came from. Someone with more time than me will dig it out, I’m sure…it was probably based off the same data.</p>
<p>@beadymom, That link is a great resource! Thank you!</p>
<p>It also isn’t necessarily accurate to say that the classes taught in the math technology learning center are only"pre-college" level classes. The math technology learning center is an element of all math classes below the first calculus class for math, science and engineering majors (Math 125). Students taking business calculus (Math 121) or below have some interaction with the math technology learning center. Note that all math classes at UA above Math 100 are considered college level classes that satisfy the math requirement for programs that are not math intensive. (So math phobics have no fear – you don’t have to take calculus to satisfy your “college” level math requirement at UA!)</p>
<p>It also isn’t completely accurate to call the math classes taught via the math technology learning center “online” – the program is actually more of a self paced program than an online program. Students attend an in person class with a live professor once a week. Students take all their tests in the math technology learning center at a time that they schedule to fit with their own personal schedule. Students can typically move at their own pace as long as they take their tests by the deadline for each test. (This is a particularly good option for those students who have strong math preparation in high school who are taking a lower level math course that covers material they already know to satisfy the core math requirement.) If the student scores below a 75 on any assignment, quiz or test during the week, the student is also required to log a center number of hours in person at the math technology learning center to work on concepts. If the student keeps his grade above 75, the only required interaction with the math technology learning center is for testing. In many classes, once the the student has completed all the required assignments/quizzes/ tests, the student is done with the class and can stop attending the in person class even if the semester is not yet over. </p>
<p>@momtocollegekids,
I’m sure that’s true at many places, but I bet your son’s school doesn’t post a picture of it on their website. 
lol<br>
@payingforcollegex4, Thank you for clarifying the info on the math classes. Interesting. The details really can make a difference between it being a good idea, or a terrible idea (IMHO). </p>
<p>I found this while trying to verify another thread/poster’s comments about a ‘smart ranking’. When I googled, I came up with this: <a href=“http://blog.lumosity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Lumositys-Smartest-Colleges.pdf”>http://blog.lumosity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Lumositys-Smartest-Colleges.pdf</a> . For the data junkies on this CC forum, this ought to keep you busy for awhile. Use the Ctrl-F key to find ‘Alabama’…it’s there somewhere. It’s an interesting study for those who want intellectual stimulation in college as their criterion for choosing a college… The Forbes article introducing the study is here: <a href=“The 25 Colleges With The Smartest Students”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2013/04/07/the-25-colleges-with-the-smartest-students/</a></p>
<p>FindtheBest is one of the sites we’ve used to compare colleges at first… <a href=“http://colleges.findthebest.com/”>http://colleges.findthebest.com/</a> </p>
<p>Smart Rank, according to their site, is “combined statistical information about each college (such as the strength of admissions standards and student retention rates) with a weighted average of rankings such as USNews, Forbes Magazine, and ARWU.”</p>