What are the main differences of these two honors programs. Can someone who attends or had/has a child that attends Alabama explain the benefits of them. I have read the website but really want to hear it from those who have experience with these.
They are both elite programs.
CBH is a research program. My son was in it, and it was awesome.
There are other honors programs too - my DD is in the STEM MBA program. Also the Emerging Scholars program has students getting into research as freshmen - there are more students accepted into these two programs. Departmental Programs.
Look at the undergraduate catalog (use search feature on www.ua.edu) to look around at more info if you just looked under Honors College.
UA does an excellent job with offering so much, with great academic leaders.
Sounds interesting, do any of these elite honors programs offer additional merit scholarship to cover room/board?
Some of the participants in those programs may get additional scholarship money, but not all. I think the Academic Elite scholarship, which is given to select students in the University Fellows program (maybe 8 of them?), covers room for a year and has a stipend that would cover a good chunk of room and board in subsequent years. There are some CBH fellowships, as well, but I don’t think they’re large enough to cover housing.
The two programs are very different. CBH is a research program. I’m not as familiar with Fellows, but I think it’s a community service/leadership-type program that would appeal to a student who has an interest in, and a history of, community service and involvement.
My daughter is in CBH. She has enjoyed the program and found it to be worthwhile, but I wouldn’t say it’s the highlight of her Alabama experience (meaning that she would have had a wonderful experience and other research opportunities even without it).
UA has updated its Quick Facts http://viewbook.ua.edu/quick-facts/
There are sharp contrasts between the two programs. First, Computer Based Honors is a group of high performing academically minded students that learn to use computer program as a basis for their undergraduate research experience. The program is classroom based, requires a lot of work, has excellent resources for their students, and lots of opportunities in internships and other programs. The CBH team is research intensive and trained to do research in multiple areas of interest. There are 40 CBH’ers in each class.
University Fellows Experience is the high performing group of academically minded students that are focused on servant leadership, and giving back to the community. These students are considered to be one of the groups that are the “face of UA.” They are responsible for a class each semester, as well as specific projects and an annual large scale project in the month of May. (So while others have left campus, the Fellows are conducting their May project in the Black Belt of Alabama or other locations.) There are 30 Fellows in each class. Of the 30 Fellows, there are 8 students selected as Academic Elite scholarship recipients that get the additional funding outside of the Presidential Scholarship. These are typically those that UA really wants to attract to the University for some reason.
Both are prestigious groups with very different interest levels. Both have the advantage of meeting and getting to know their respective group prior to the start of classes in the Fall semester, so you come into school with a set group of friends. Both are highly competitive.
However, if you are not eligible for one of these two programs, there are a myriad of other leadership opportunities on campus, as well as research opportunities. Programs like Emerging Scholars, Freshman Experience, Freshman Forum,
@swim4school Thank you for the detailed explanation of both programs, it was most helpful.
Research Opportunities – Even if a student doesn’t get CBH or Emerging Scholars (which has a small $500 stipend), there are still opportunities to begin research as a freshman. It requires more work seeking it out on the student’s part, but most Professor welcome the help.