Of greater concern than the test scores of fellow students, when figuring out the quality of an education, are the following:
Faculty quality
Class sizes
Access to professors
Curricular setup
Available majors and classes
Academic support
In other words, it’s much more important to be able to hear and interact with a top-quality professor in a wide range of majors and classes set up to maximize breadth while also allowing you to “master” your major… and get help when you need it. Those are the things that, imo, comprise the bulk of a quality academic environment. Smart and engaged comrades help, but it’s more about what the school offers., IMO.
I agree with this and think that OP will find a quality education in either school. My comment regarding fellow students was in response to his original post.
@prezbucky great points! I think that having the honors college helps by limiting class sizes and offering more engaged and possibly better professors. Also, from what I can tell, Alabama is pretty good in regards to the other factors you mentioned, especially when it comes to my potential majors! Thank you!
Yeah – if you’re around distracted people in class, or have teammates who are less than enthusiastic in a team assignment, that can suck. Of course, those issues have more to do with discipline and motivation than knowledge.
I think discussion settings are where large differences in scholastic ability might come out. Another place is in the grading curve. (Though in that case, the kid with lower stats can work hard and achieve strong grades too. Dedication can make up some of that ability gap. But in discussions, sometimes you have to change on the fly, and the difference in ability can become apparent.)
If you do go to Alabama, be careful that you don’t let the social and sports side of the experience come before your studies. This is not high school. Work hard first, and if your classes/grades are in good shape, then you can play hard.
Sometimes you’ll have to say no to a party, especially if UA celebrates “TGIT” like UW (-Madison) does. After a while I learned not to schedule Friday morning classes or labs, but sometimes it just can’t be helped, and you don’t ever want to be hung-over in class.
@prezbucky ha! I think being hungover in class is probably something you do once and then immediately regret, then hopefully you never do it again (I personally wouldn’t know and hope I don’t have to find out). Also, I know a couple kids at Alabama and they have dutifully informed me that TGIT is a very real phenomenon, so I’ll do my best to be smart about it!
Finally, I just want to say that I appreciate you being mature and understanding about my desire to actually have some fun in college, which will in some way or another involve big sports games, alcohol, parties, or all of the above. I’ve seen some other threads where kids have talked about partying in college and then all of the sudden a bunch of anon parents start to question the kid’s integrity, wondering if he’s “really serious about school” and things like that.
I view it all as a part of the college experience. I think it’s actually the time to make some silly mistakes too before it REALLY counts. That way I can them all out of my system before I go into the real world
Wait, when you say full tuition for Fordham, do you mean you are getting a full tuition scholarship and are only responsible for room & board, etc? Or do you mean that you would be paying full tuition and full room board expenses etc? (because if it’s the latter, it’s more than $60k per year)
And when you say it would be $100k, do you mean over the course of your entire education at Fordham?
Just curious as my younger son plays baseball, did Fordham offer any baseball scholarship money? And at Alabama do you have an offer or would you be trying to get a walk on spot?
Good luck! Sounds like both options are good ones, even if they are different.
@5678abc oh wow! I wish I had made it clearer. I received a full tuition scholarship from Fordham! So I’d be on the hook for just room and board for all four years, but it’s around $15k-20k because it’s located in NYC. So after four years (because of some outside scholarships), I would be spending about $60k for Fordham as compared to $0 at Alabama.
Fordham did not offer me baseball money but I would have a spot on the team. I would not have a spot on the team at Alabama so I would have to try and walk on. It’s tough to figure out which one to choose!
Don’t make your decision based on the MBA possibility. If you do go for it right after undergrad, your MBA from a not top-rated school with zero work experience will not be worth much. If you are serious about getting an MBA, you’d be better off working for a couple of years and then applying to higher rated programs. Your employer may even pick up some of the costs.
@2more2go but essentially free law school is a good reason to choose Alabama right? I mean only having to pay for one year of law school from a top 25 school seems like a no brainer to me.
Alabama Law is not necessarily a good reason to choose Alabama Undergrad. Only go to Alabama law if you have modest goals (think small law firm, PD/DA) and want to practice law in Alabama or the neighboring region because that’s where the vast majority of UA Law grads end up.
Wildest dream brings up a good point . Do you see yourself living in the south or northeast after graduation? Not that you can’t move anywhere, but career services and alumni network will tend to be more strongly connected with compAnies in their area.
@WildestDream@5678abc fair point, although it will actually be two years of free law school, with the possibility of a third if they extend my scholarship (which can be requested from the school).
While I do recognize many alumni stay in the neighboring region (and over half stay in Alabama), I think that’s because most of them are already from the south. There are still many grads who go elsewhere, even if it’s a much smaller number. The nice thing is that over 22% of grads get into big law or receive a federal clerkship; while this number isn’t huge, it means that if I’m in the top 10% of my class then I will have many different appealing options.
Also, I’m not 100% deadset on being a lawyer; I do recognize the value of law school even without directly going to law. What I might do is go get my MBA from a top school in the northeast after a few years of working and then I’ll be able to network there if that’s where I want to end up. My point is that I think I will have options, especially with zero debt. And even though I understand that Alabama might be more concentrated, it’s a bonafide top 25 school and I don’t think I’d be limited if I go there and do well.
It sounds to me that you have done a great job of analyzing the pros and cons of both schools. And both options sound great. What is your gut telling you at this stage? Seems like maybe it’s leaning towards Alabama. Does Alabama also have club baseball? If so, if you weren’t able to walk on the baseball team you could still play quality ball. ( without as big a time commitment as D1 baseball which could leave more time for study abroad and internships etc)
@5678abc I’m definitely leaning toward Alabama… the one thing is still baseball, but I’ve kinda thought about it like this: if I am going to play college sports, if I’m going to sacrifice countless hours and let it take a toll on my body, I want to do it at the highest level possible. SEC baseball seems like the best option to do that! It will be a grind, and I might not even make it (it’s actually likely I won’t), but if it’s really worth it then I’ll be able to tell. Worst case scenario if I find out I want to continue baseball and can’t play at Alabama, then I could transfer to another school. I obviously don’t want to do that, but I think it’s something I’ll be able to figure out if I truly can’t live without baseball. I guess my point is that Alabama doesn’t limit me, and I really like that about it!
