A few weeks ago I made the hike from California to Alabama to visit the University of Alabama. In all honesty the initial reason was because I am eligible for their presidential scholarship. While there I was more than impressed by the campus, dorms, athletics, and social life. I was left with only a few doubts in my mind: would I benefit more from attending a university like USC that is better reputed for academics, and is there an intellectual community at Alabama?
Do any parents, alumnus, or current students have an opinion they’d like to share?
LOL, your question has been moved to a place where you will only get one opinion from a strong rolling tide. You might want to change the title and ask on the USC board also.
I have no idea whether you personally would benefit more from attending USC. A strong, motivated student can thrive anywhere; some will do better with more competition, while others do better if they’re the big fish in a small pond.
As for the intellectual community, there are plenty of strong students at Alabama. The generous scholarships have done their job in attracting plenty of high stats students. 25% of the freshman class had an ACT of 31 or higher in 2015-16 (it may have gone up for this year’s freshman class - I haven’t seen those numbers). That’s a couple points lower than the top 25% at USC, but it still gives you a critical mass of intelligent students. My daughter, who had very good stats, found plenty of competition and intellectual peers at UA. She had majors that tend to attract a lot of smart kids and found her major classes to be challenging. She had other classes (some gen eds and some of the lower level courses in the business school) that she didn’t find to be overly difficult, so it was a nice mix.
There are plenty of opportunities for top students at Alabama. There are honors programs like University Fellows and the Randall Research Scholars Program (CBH), research opportunities and the like, and UA students consistently win some of the nation’s top scholarships.
All of that said, it doesn’t mean Alabama is the right place for you. You may prefer a school with a better academic reputation and a stronger overall student body (while I’d put the top of the class at UA against the top of the class at USC, there’s no question that USC is stronger across the board). If you’re planning to settle in California, USC may provide a better springboard for employment there. But you will definitely find intellectual peers and a quality education at Alabama.
Seriously, why would you relocate a question like this to the UA forums? What next will we find here, “University of Alabama vs. Any Other School On the Planet”?
I had a post relocated once to the school-specific forum, completely shutting down the discussion. Sometimes I wonder if that was the purpose.
@Chardo I would call it a group of people with a strong academic background and future. While I was there I met a few kids that were really invested in their education at Alabama, but I also met quite a few that seemed to be there for football and parties. I’m nervous that if I attended I would see more kids like the second group and not as many in the first.
@Chardo That’s great to hear! Personally, I am an avid football fan and socialite, but I’m also a pretty competitive student. Glad students work hard and play hard.
I like to tell a story about my first Bama football game. Bounced around some tailgates with my son and his friends. Stopped at one that was total redneck, at least to this New Yorker. Guy working the grill, spitting tobacco, had bagged a deer with a crossbow the day before and and was grilling it up right there. My son and I started talking with a student he knew. Deer Hunter’s nephew, just as redneck, same chew. Typical rabid Bama fan, but this kid had a well thought plan to solve middle east peace through football. He broke down the details like an honors student presentation. I was fascinated having this absurdly intellectual discussion with the last guy on earth you would expect.
@shostelley, I have a work hard, play hard kind of kid. He’s in engineering and is no slouch. Nor are any of his friends. One of his roommates turned down Stanford (fully pay, mind you) for the Presidential at UA.
And USC, while a great school, isn’t exactly Caltech. I suspect quite a bit of partying goes on at USC. At one time, it was known as the “University of Spoiled Children.” Like Bama, it’s come a long way in the last decade.
Also, just a friendly suggestion: When you’re trying to compare two schools, a thread title like “University of Alabama vs well reputed schools” might be better titled “University of Alabama vs higher-ranked (or “better regarded”) schools.”
I’m sure it wasn’t your intention, but your original title suggests Bama has a bad reputation.
I’m a southern cal native, now living in Alabama. I have 3 siblings that are USC grads; I went to a UC. USC is a work and play school, and Bama is, too.
40% of Bama’s students have an ACT 30+ so certainly there is an “intellectual community”.
I’ve had two kids graduate from Bama. One was an math major and the other was a ChemE major.
First off i’m a big bama supporter. My father attended and my son may attend. Also I was born and raised in alabama.
With all that out of the way, assuming there are no financial issues, you don’t choose alabama over a world class university like usc. As public flagships go, alabama is a fine choice and i believe competitive with most public universities. However, alabama is not in the same academic and reputation strata as usc. It just isn’t.
Other than financial reasons or personal reasons like family tradition, “fit” or whatever else, there is simply no reason to choose alabama over a university like usc.