University of Alabama

<p>Does anyone know if the university of Alabama-Tuscaloosa is a good school? Especially in the area of political science?</p>

<p>it's a pretty good law school, US top 50 you know. Other than that, it's pretty the run of the mill school(I'm from around that school.)</p>

<p>i'm applying there! what are your stats?</p>

<p>1420
4.0
and mucho extracurricular activities.<br>
The only thing that I am concerned with is the fact that I am from Texas and if UA has a lot of out of staters.</p>

<p>what about you, patientlywaiting? Are you from Alabama?</p>

<p>You should only really consider UA if you love football, football is your life, and you hate Auburn (big instate rival). They take it very seriosly I hear.</p>

<p>Dallasasian ,have you also looked at Ole Miss,South Carolina or Arkansas Honors colleges? With your stats you'd look good at any of them including Alabama honors and at least at Arkansas and Ole Miss they have several political science/international relations type programs. Croft at Ole Miss, Bumpers at Arkansas sounds right to me.At U of Ark, you can just about go for free.They have a good neighbor deal with Texas giving you instate rates which are dirt cheap, and substantial merit aid. The best bonus though is the gargantuan trove of cash they have to spend on enrichment,research,semester abroad programs. I'd look at all of them if I was interested in a southern flagship university.</p>

<p>i have a 3.5 GPA, 23 ACT, ohio residency, hispanic; it's a safety for me according to princetonreview.com, but i don't know how credible that is. anyways, if it's a safety for me, it most certainly is for you! they're average GPA is like a 3.3, but it is a good school. i'm actually going down there to visit this weekend, i'll let you know what i thought of it!</p>

<p>Go elsewhere, anywhere, just not Alabama. If you do, prepare to be an outsider.</p>

<p>I've been receiving mail from both South Carolina and Arkansas and I am interested, but I'm kind of iffy about going there. I visited the SC campus and something was off.</p>

<p>UA is not that great. Neither is Ole Miss. The best public southern schools are USC, UGA, UNC, UF and UVA.</p>

<p>actually, according to US News UA is ranked higher than university of s. carolina. glas989, why would people feel like outsiders? and does anyone know how the ppl are in alabama? one person told me they were really rich with southern mansions and another told me they were all white trash. which is it?</p>

<p>They are aristocratic snobs.</p>

<p>I am interested to know what are the stereotypes and what is the truth about alabama.</p>

<p>Dallasasian, you should go to Alabama and visit. My perception is that students divide themselves into very distinct groups, and the groups primarily interact at sports events. When you think about it, many large universities are probably like this, a sense of community is built among smaller groups, and it takes something big - like a football game - to bring the whole campus together. Remember, the %of out of state is relatively low, for many kids this is by far the largest entity they will ever be a part of.</p>

<p>So, OK - Greeks are very big, they are a minority, but because of their voting bloc power, traditionally dominate the student government, and other aspects of the campus scene. If I'm not mistaken frosh rush occurs BEFORE school starts, so many kids go to Alabama knowing which frat or sor they will want to join (often they are legacies). The largest group on campus are the independent commuting students, some of whom are independents who have left the dorms, others are adults, non-trad students, and sixth year seniors. There is a large African-American presence on campus, with one of the highest URM percentages of any Southern non-HBCU. Black frats & sors also have a political presence on campus.</p>

<p>The quality of the education is underrated, partly because of ongoing budget troubles, partly because of the level of preparation of the incoming students (20 on ACT and 2.0 for in-state is not exactly selective). However, for the motivated student, a good education can be had for a very reasonable price (my daughter's full tuition scholarship is less than $9000, R&B probably another 4-5K). Honors college, and the opportunity to live in the honors dorm, would help a good student meet others.
Pre-professional programs are the strengths of the university - business, pre-med science, pre-law, engineering (Auburn is the historical engineering school, but UA is pretty good, one of the best engineers I know is a UA grad who did an NSF fellowship at Stanford), nursing. People will be friendly, if not overly social (when you've got a big Greek presence, and >2/3rds live off campus, there's just not a lot of mixing) outside their groups. There is certainly racism and narrow-mindedness, but most of the "segregation" is due to the divided social life.</p>

<p>Truthfully, when I found out I was moving to Alabama... I cried. It was not NEARLY as horrible as I thought it'd be from all I'd heard. Yes.. There can be cliques (right and left), but if you don't have to be one of the "IN" crowd, the people in general are very friendly and it is easy to make friends. You have your aristocratic types and your redneck types.. it is a wide mix and it is up to you where you land. There are many positives about Alabama.. and it IS a football town.. Look out on game night! It is a PARTY town when it comes to football. Overall, not a bad experience, but not necessarily the tops academically.. Not the bottom of the heap either.</p>

<p>Hey SandyKC, are you going to UA?</p>

<p>Hey, guys, go easy on Alabama (the state and the school). I'm from 'Bama, and I love it. UA is my back-up school (I have a full ride, plus room and board, plus a laptop and the Honors school). Here's the lowdown: Alabama is all about football. If you don't like it, don't go. It's very jock dominated. Greek life is HUGE. HUGE. I repeat, HUGE. It controls just about everything. The campus itself is beautiful, and T-Town is purely a college town. If you're into the Honors program, they just built a brand new dorm, complete with a weight room, a starbucks, and a lazy river. I think each room has its own bathroom, as well.</p>

<p>And Hoo, they are NOT aristrocratic snobs. Just like anywhere, you have to find your niche. </p>

<p>Dallasasian, I don't think you should have any problem getting a good amount of scholarship money, if not a full ride. Though I'm from in-state, I have a 1420, and I was given a full-ride plus all the bonus goodies. </p>

<p>SandyKC, are you at UA now? If not, what part of the state are you in? I'm from Birmingham (Hoover).</p>

<p>WOW, marines4me how did you get such a great package? The goodies that you got is very generous. What other schools are you applying to?</p>

<p>Dallasasian...with those stats you ought to get in.....I live in Birmingham....went to UVA undergrad and Emory grad....have lived up and down the eastern seaboard....people here are no different than anywhere else....a bit more conservative but friendly and open to transplants.</p>