I’ve narrowed my college choices down to the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh. It’s a tough choice and I’m super stressed. I’ve started to make some pro/con lists for each school and I was wondering if anyone had anything to add for Alabama. Here’s what I have so far:
Pros:
—19K scholarship
—Bigger, suite-style dorms
—Newly rennovated rec center and library
—Received admission to the Honors College
—Football! (i’m a huge football fan)
—College-y feel (if that makes sense)
—Smaller class sizes as part of the honors college
Cons:
—My major would only be biology, whereas at Pitt it would be neuroscience
—What is there to do in Tuscaloosa? (I just visited campus, and while I loved the campus the city just seemed sort-of boring)
—It’s really far from where I live
I know that I’m the only person who can make this decision, but if anyone has any advice or knowledge based on what I wrote, or has anything to add, I would really appreciate it!
Do you plans to go to medical school (just wondering because of your major?) If so, I would also take into account that at UA you have a great opportunity to do undergraduate research through the Emerging Scholars program. I do not know what is available at Pitt, but I would look into that.
As far as a major, if you are thinking about medical school, it will not matter what you major in. In fact sometimes I think it is better to major in a non-science area (while still getting all the prerequisites of course!) or double major (history&biology, or a language&chemistry, etc). UA is very generous with AP credit/CLEP credit, etc which makes double majoring and finishing in 4 years possible. Just make sure you are not using AP/CLEP credit for prerequisites for med school.
Tuscaloosa is small, especially if you come from a bigger city. We come from a large city, but ds (a sophomore) loves UA. He does a lot of hiking and outdoor activities in the fall. He and his friends will also go to Birmingham to do other fun things (ice skating, laser tag, etc).
We live about 10 hours from Tuscaloosa, and one of ds’s roomate’s is from Michigan. Ds came home last year for all breaks except fall break. Last year he flew (from Birmingham), and this year he flew home for Thanksgiving and drove home at Christmas. Honestly, even if he were closer, I do not think he would come home more often. He is so busy with school and his friends that I don’t think he would have time. And he really loves the mild climate (compared to the snow covered north!)
I really don’t think you can go wrong with either choice. I would seriously consider which school has the better scholarship. Less debt is always better, especially if you like both schools and you are planning on going to grad school. Best of Luck!!
Everything above is true, I just wanted to add a few points. I’m a senior at UA and I will be going to an MD-PhD program next fall (maybe at Pittsburgh!). UA doesn’t have a neuroscience major, but the Caldwell Lab in the biology department does renowned work in neurobiology. They often produce some of UA’s Goldwater Scholars. You should look up the lab! Additionally, especially if you have some AP or CLEP credit, you will have time to minor or double major in psychology and create your own neuroscience major of sorts.
I’m originally from Los Angeles, so I know that Tuscaloosa can seem at first glance to be a small and quiet place. I really like the size as a college student, because it’s easy to walk to all the fun places (downtown, the Strip, campus, and the river are all within a 30 minute walk). You can always make trips with friends to hiking or lakes nearby, or weekend trips to one of the bigger cities in the south. If you just want to go out with friends and see music, you can find that in Tuscaloosa every weekend.
Feel free to PM me if I can help with your decision! I visited Pittsburgh on my college search and for my MD-PhD interview so I know a bit about that school as well.
I’d think the weather would be a pro or a con, depending on your preferences. Pitt would be more like Michigan.
Does anyone know when Alabama will finish their honors college admittance notifications? And how do they notify—mail or email? I’m pretty sure my son hasn’t heard yet.
@springy179 thanks for the info about that lab, I’ll definitely look into it! And you eased my nerves about Tuscaloosa!
I decided last night that I’m going to go to Bama. I can’t turn down the 19K, especially with med school in the picture
Assuming you live in Michigan, Pittsburgh out of state is VERY expensive. Is neither Michigan nor Michigan State an option? I would think it would make more sense to compare UA to your in-state options rather than an out-of-state public, unless you’re in the running for a big scholarship at Pitt.
ETA: I see you’ve made your decision. I don’t think you’ll regret it if med school is in your future.
@LucieTheLakie I was born and raised a true blue UofM football fan— I applied to the Ann Arbor campus, got in, was all excited, and hated it. It was just not a good fit, it didn’t feel right. I didn’t apply to MSU because my entire UofM-loving family would disown me
There were some other smaller in-state colleges I got into but I wanted to go somewhere big
@michigander1234, good for you for knowing the “dream school” wasn’t the best fit. I’ve never visited UofM, but Alabama is probably more like Penn State than Pitt in feel (Pitt being in the city and adjacent to Carnegie Mellon). One of my son’s best friends from home here in suburban Philadelphia chose Pitt after getting shut out of all the Ivies he applied to (and I think it’s a common choice for Ivy “rejects” because it is such an excellent school with a strong pre-professional student body), but it is not inexpensive, even for Pennsylvanians. Anyone planning on medical school needs to consider cost for undergraduate studies.
Alabama isn’t as prestigious as UofM, but if you’re ambitious and take advantage of all the opportunities that will be made available to you, I don’t think you’ll ever look back once you arrive in Tuscaloosa. Alabama also has good premedical advising, so get plugged into that right away and really focus on your studies that first semester. It’s okay to go to football games (my son hasn’t missed a home game in 3+ years and is doing well academically), but if you’re serious about medical school, you need to hit the ground running and not be distracted by those students who either don’t care about their grades or are kidding themselves that they can cram before exams and do well.
Big public universities are not the cakewalks that too many students imagine when it comes to prerequisite classes. (There’s a reason they’re called weeders!) We see it every year - top high school students flaming out and losing their scholarships. If you want to go to med school, you want grades that will keep you well above that danger zone (3.0 to keep your scholarship).
You mention that your major would “only be biology” at UA. Not sure if that’s because it’s the most common major for premeds (this is not an advantage; if anything, it’s a downside to biology), but if your passion is the neurosciences, check out the New College to see if you can design a major more in keeping with your interests and goals: https://nc.as.ua.edu/
There are lots of Michiganders at UA and many, many more coming from long distances. In that sense, it’s similar to many top private universities with students from all over the US. You travel when you can, but for the most part you won’t be alone if you remain over breaks.
Did you get a scholarship at Pitt? If not, I’d count the scholarship at Alabama multiple times in the pro column, particularly if you’re planning to go to medical school.
I’m also going to discount somewhat one of your Alabama pros, specifically the small class sizes in the Honors College. The class sizes WILL be small, and that’s a great thing. However, most of your classes will not be in the Honors College. If you take departmental honors classes, many will be smaller than the normal classes (and I think that’s the case in the sciences). In the business school (which is where my daughter was), that wasn’t always the case. When she took Accounting, the honors section had a couple students more than the regular section. You probably already realize this, but I wanted to make sure. Of course, even having a handful of the small Honors College classes is beneficial, as you’ll have the opportunity to develop relationships with those professors and have a “seminar” type, discussion class experience, which is a nice break from lecture classes.
I second the suggestion to look into the Emerging Scholars program. My daughter participated in CBHP (another research program) and it was a great experience. Even without a formal program, you can always approach a professor and ask to help with research.
Distance (which you mentioned as a con) and weather are a personal preference, but I’ll give you my daughter’s experience. When she was deciding on a college, she liked UA, and her only reservations at all were distance from home and the warm weather (we’re from northern Illinois and she said she hated heat and humidity and preferred the cold). She was deciding between Alabama and Wisconsin, which had her preferred climate and was only a couple hours away. Her feelings about the heat were so strong that I scheduled her visit in January so she wouldn’t rule the school out immediately. She ultimately chose Alabama, and to calm her down on the distance, I booked flights home for her for fall break and Thanksgiving right away. Those were the only times she came home for fall break and Thanksgiving! As it turned out, the distance that she feared so much wasn’t an issue at all (she ended up not wanting to come home often and when she did, she managed to do so easily). As for the weather, she spent three summers in the Tuscaloosa heat without incident, has graduated from UA and is now living in Alabama, loving the southern weather. Go figure.
My son was deciding between Alabama and Pitt. He received good scholarships from both however he decided on Alabama. He is currently a freshman and he absolutely loves it there. Part of the reason was the stem MBA program that he is currently enrolled in and likes it so far. He is applying to emerging scholars for sophomore year to get some research experience. The other pro was the generous AP credit. Pitt only allowed him to credit out of 2 pre reqs with AP. At Bama he credited out of all his gen ed classes as well as all of his freshman Chem, physics and math requirements. He has a ton of space in his schedule to take something fun, or double major etc.
Your list looks pretty good and personally I don’t think you can go wrong. My dd is a freshman and loving everything about Alabama. We are from PA. It is far away from UA.
Pitt was on her short list and we were certain that she would end up there. It was our first choice for her. She had family who lived nearby and had visiting the city of Pittsburgh often. We have family who are Pitt alums. The school is great. Ultimately she wanted a contained campus and not one that blurred with the city and she was really impressed with the personal attention from everyone at UA. I had warned her that it might just be a “sales” approach but every interaction since has been just as postive. We have been blown away by all aspects of the school, just overwhelmingly positive. She took 18 credits in the fall and loved most of her professors. She felt her classes were rigorous but engaging. Her class sizes are really small, some under 20. She is very involved in many campus activities already and has met wonderful people. She is enjoying the campus and feels that the town offers everything she needs. She has close friends at Pitt who are doing well. They have not become as involved with the school or made as many friends but that is likely because they went in knowing each other so did not branch out.
Congratulations on your decision to attend Alabama.
One difference that has not been highlighted in this thread is that the social life at Alabama is heavily influenced by sororities & fraternities, while only a small presence at Pitt. This may partially answer your “what is there to do in Tuscaloosa” question.
At Alabama, beautiful beaches are just a few hours away by car. Exploring The South is another adventure worth highlighting. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana & the Florida Panhandle are dramatically different from Michigan & Pittsburgh. While Birmingham tends to be a family oriented city, Atlanta is exciting–though not especially close. But road trips with college friends are fun. Plus, I love the charm & Southern flavor of Mobile.
I probably would have given a bit more weight to the availability of your desired major, but cost of attendance has to be a major factor for one planning on attending medical school.
bamamom2021 - Hello! We also live in PA and have a son who is a sophomore at Pitt, so Pitt was our first hope for our dd who will be a freshman this fall. Pitt did make her short list but she seems to have decided on UA. She wants a more true campus feel and sees herself settling in the south eventually so thought it would make sense to go to a southern school. I’m curious if your daughter is in a sorority? My dd doesn’t think she wants to rush, at least not this year, and I am quite ok with that but after reading through find my roommate profiles with her it seems like it will be tough to find roommates not rushing. UA says 1/3 of students are in fraternities/sororities but based on these profiles that seems to be low. Just wondering what your dd’s experience has been coming from PA. Thank you!
@m2msoccer I do not care for the Greek System. It was a concern for me also, although I have a son.
My son is a junior there & has a large group of friends, male & female, and none of them are Greek.
I know it is often suggested to do an early action at Bama. Kids can meet a smaller group of potential friends right from the start who are already sharing an interest. Many parents w/ kids who plan on rushing really push it & it often seems like it is the best route, but obviously there are large numbers of students who weren’t interested or didn’t make it.
@laralei thanks for the response! She did join the Bama class of 2022 FB page to look for roommates & I think she’s on an Instagram page too. I know Greek is bigger in the south but everything we read says that UA is about 1/3 Greek participation but reading through the FB posts of girls looking for roommates, that seems much lower than reality. But I guess some could change their mind or not make it so maybe that’s what brings the number down to 1/3. My only concern is if she chooses not to rush and all her roommates rush, then she’s going to be on her own while they go through the rush events. My son is in a fraternity at Pitt and while I wasn’t sure about it, we let him make the choice. However, they didn’t rush until spring of freshman year so it gave the kids time to get settled & look into other activities before making the Greek commitment & quite honestly Greek isn’t a huge thing at Pitt so it’s more of giving him a group of boys that he consistently volunteers with and plays intramural sports with. When you say early action, are you referring to the Camp 1831 I’ve read about. Thanks again!!
@m2msoccer if your daughter is not going to be rushing I recommend that she find roommates that will also not be rushing. It is not just the activities during rush that will keep those girls busy, they will be extremely busy all fall. There are plenty of girls that do not rush, she should not have a problem finding roommates from that category.
I gave my D19 the advice given here–if your roommates are rushing and you aren’t, they’ll be busy and you won’t bond with them. She responded, “so I get the suite to myself?”
I’m pretty sure she was joking and she does realize that the social aspect of college is important. But sometimes I worry . . .
@gusmahler LOL that might be the case, but the other scenario is that they bring all their sorority sisters over every night to pre-game. The best plan is to try and find like-minded roommates, but even then, it does not always work out.
@Roo17 thanks, that’s kinda what we thought but honestly as she’s looking through the Facebook roommate search, the majority of the girls’ profiles are stating that they’re definitely rushing. I don’t know if it’s because she missed the February 1st priority housing deadline and maybe a lot of people already found roommates? She’ll keep looking and our fingers are crossed. I’m sure it will work out but I tend to have no patience. Lol
@m2msoccer The priority housing deadline was extended to 2/14. If she paid her housing deposit before that she did not miss the deadline. Emails just went out this week with housing selection date assignments. Tell her to keep looking, there is no way that everyone found roommates yet since there are many kids who have not yet even committed to a school yet and many who will change their minds in the upcoming weeks/months. I have heard of kids changing their minds the week before school starts!
