University of Alabama Birmingham visit

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>We just returned from our visit to University of Alabama Birmingham, and really liked the school. Happily, we left with an acceptance in hand as well.</p>

<p>We drove the six hours from New Orleans to Birmingham. Stayed at a Springhill Suites Colonnade, only 80 bucks a night, Triple A. Nice room. King size bed with a sofa bed for son. Fridge, sink, microwave in room as well. Free breakfast in morning, muffins, bagels, English muffins, make your own waffle, as well as yogurt, biscuits and gravy, cereal, oatmeal. Juice and coffee as well. Desk also had mini market with snacks, sodas, frozen dinners. Less than half hour from college.</p>

<p>Arrived at school for program at 830. Held at the Stephens Center, a beautiful performing arts center, with various recital rooms as well. Two levels. Very nice facility.</p>

<p>Had general info talk, then went to various rooms for colleges you’re interested in. We went to the School of Engineering session. Talks by faculty, students, overview of the different programs and various ecs the kids were involved in, both eng related and not.</p>

<p>Then headed to the campus rec center. Wonderful reception with great food in a central area. Got some real sweet tea!</p>

<p>Then went on campus tour, which included housing. Saw freshman dorm, including a room, Blazer Hall. Talked about meal plan, housing rules and safety. Residence life building right next to it, which includes movie room, game room, study rooms.</p>

<p>Then on to an Open House for the Science and Technology Honors program. Refreshments there. Faculty and students there to greet you. An informal gathering. Got to talk to lots of professors, administrators.</p>

<p>Back to the Campus Rec center to receive our admission decision, which was happily a yes!, before we left. </p>

<p>Definitely a campus feel evolving. A large campus green. The university is not within the medical complex, as I feared, but the medical complex is walking distance, maybe the next block. Campus buildings in their own area, not mixed in with downtown businesses.</p>

<p>Not your pretty tree lined campus, at least not yet, but definitely a campus, not just a bunch of buildings, as we assumed it would be. </p>

<p>So glad we made the trip. Son really liked the school, and it’s great to have an acceptance under our belt for a school he would be happy to attend. </p>

<p>Saw the Vulcan statue afterwards. You can actually see it from the campus green. The “mountains” are amazing. This is, of course, coming from someone who lives below sea level. Birmingham appears to be a vibrant city, what we saw of it. There are some very nice suburbs. Drove by Samford, just to get a feel for its location, since some friends are interested in it. </p>

<p>We nixed our Auburn detour for the next day, since son was happy with UAB, had tons of homework left to do, and was not up for an eight hour trip home the next day. </p>

<p>The campus is changing very much from year to year, and if you haven’t visited it for a while and it’s on your radar, I would definitely check it out. </p>

<p>One plus that I really was surprised by was that the classes are relatively small for a state school, the largest being 250, and are taught by professors, not TAs. There are the weekly study sessions with TAs that lots of schools are now offering, but the professors are very accessible. Also, lots of opportunity for undergraduate research. There are also early acceptance programs for the med, optometry, and dental school. </p>

<p>Hope this visit report helps y’all. Definitely a good school to check out.</p>

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<p>Just an added note. UAB is only about an hour from Tuscaloosa. If you’re flying in to Birmingham, I would suggest renting a car and checking out both schools if you have time. UAB’s engineering school is very good, not just the BME program. There’s a fun EC called Baja car. There are athletics at UAB. They’re Conference USA and play such schools as Tulane and Rice. They are probably better known for their basketball team than their football team, but you can just drive an hour to Tuscaloosa for good football, or two hours to Auburn if you don’t roll with the Tide. And the students were happy to point out that admission is free to their athletic events. They do have lots of school spirit. There were tons of “ambassadors”, which I didn’t expect from what I thought was going to be a commuter school. Again, this may be a recent development as the campus is changing, so put aside any preconceived notions and give this school a look.</p>

3

<p>Glad to hear UAB exceeded your expectations. From your previous posts, I was under the impression were looking for more of a traditional campus like LSU or UA/Auburn. I didn’t realize you were under the impression that UAB was in the middle of downtown.</p>

<p>Did your son get admitted to the BME program or just UAB in general?</p>

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<p>Well, we’d like son to see a traditional campus. He just wants a place that has BME. Auburn has such a great reputation here, I really wanted him to see it. As for alternatives to BME, I think Auburn would be the better option than UA as far as programs offered. His best friend loved UA, and many boys take advantage of the free ride. Tuscaloosa looked like a big city, as we passed it on the interstate. Reminded me very much of Baton Rouge. As for LSU, that is not an option at all. No disrespect to the school, just not someplace son wants to go. Have yet to visit La Tech, which does have BME. </p>

<p>I was not under the impression that one has to get admitted specifically to BME. Thanks for the heads up on that. Will definitely check on that one. We let son open the letter, he said he was admitted, and we let him enjoy his moment in private. Have been in a whirlwind since the trip back, but will get to all the flyers and paperwork shortly, so don’t miss any important followups. I do know that separate application is required for the Sci Tech honors program, including an essay and two recs, because that was posted at the open house and I inquired about who could do his recs. For instance, son did research this summer at Loyola New Orleans, and I asked if his professor mentor could write a rec for him, and they said that would be fine. </p>

<p>Thanks for your help with info on UAB. We all really liked the school.</p>

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<p>Montegut, please read this page about admission into specific engineering programs. There’s no application process, but to declare a BME major you have to meet specific requirements as a pre-BME. I gotta admit: they sound like they mean business.</p>

<p>[UAB</a> School of Engineering](<a href=“http://main.uab.edu/soeng/Templates/Inner.aspx?pid=49477]UAB”>http://main.uab.edu/soeng/Templates/Inner.aspx?pid=49477)</p>

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<p>Tuscaloosa not that big of a city. It’s less than half as large at Baton Rouge in terms of population. Auburn (if you count it and Opelika as one) is about the same size. But, I’ve heard Baton Rouge is a densely populated city.</p>

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<p>Feenotype, thanks so much for that link. Son has good enough stats for direct admission, I believe, but this 3.2 requirement makes me want to rethink the honors programs. Will discuss it with son. There are departmental honors, which I believe can be taken later, and that may be the way to go. </p>

<p>As a matter of fact, we’d be well advised to look into this for all the schools we’re applying to. There are some we know for sure you have to apply to BME and there are limited spots, and we ruled those schools out based on that requirement, like UWisconsin, for instance. </p>

<p>Thanks also for the heads up on Auburn’s population. So it sounds like it’s not in a corn field, as some would lead you to believe. I guess everyone has a different definition of urban. I think of urban as in the middle of a city, but I think son thinks of urban as just a place where he can find a grocery store off campus. No, seriously. He’s very picky, and this is a big deal for him. </p>

<p>Getting a lot of pressure from the family to apply to Tulane, because it does have BME still, but as you know, kids change their majors, so an acceptable alternative is a must. No computer program, so to me, it’s not an option.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your help with our college search.</p>

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<p>If you want corn fields, go to Illinois. :wink: What you will find in Auburn are cow pastures and chicken farms (no joking - they have the state ag school).</p>

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<p>I have admired UAB for a long time. Its undergraduate Life Sciences departments are pretty darn good and the school brings in a lot of research grant money. The improvements to the campus physical plant are reportedly very attractive and I understand that the city has given permission for several streets that intersect the area to be permanently closed, enhancing the feel of a traditional college campus. I just wish that they had a Earth Science/Geology major so my child would give UAB more consideration.</p>

10

<p>Just got our official letter today of acceptance. Son was admitted as a “Pre-Biomedical Engineering” major. Sigh. It was too good to be true.</p>

11

<p>I have a few of my friends in school at UAB and they seem to love it. It’s not your traditional college campus, but they seem to be a young and growing university. I think it’s only 40 years old while Alabama and Auburn have 150+ years of experience. Could be a school to watch in the future…</p>

12

<p>My sons are at UA in Tuscaloosa, but my DS2’s girlfriend is at UAB. She loves it; she’s pre-pharm. She will have to go to another school for PharmD, since altho UAB has the big med school, it doesn’t have the pharm school. She chose UAB for 2 reasons…strong pre-health majors and great scholarships. She got all her tuition paid, plus $2k for housing each year. </p>

<p>DS2 wants to go to UAB for med school. It is well ranked and an excellent med school.</p>