<p>As many Southern kids attend Alabama because of the generous scholarships, I’m curious as to what academic program the school is best known for?</p>
<p>I know they’re known for their athletics, but what course of study attracts kids to Alabama rather than another university?</p>
<p>For instance, Mizzou has a well known journalism program, and kids come from all over for that school, even though it’s a state school. Is there an analagous program at Alabama?</p>
<p>That’s a good question. As many people are aware, UA offers fairly generous scholarships for National Merit Finalists, yet I can’t think of any field for which it is particularly well-known.</p>
<p>Other flagship publics that offer generous scholarships to NMFs, Oklahoma and Arizona State are at least known for some fields (in the case of OU, e.g., Meteorology, Native American Studies —very much known via its university press, and, Petroleum Engineering, and in Optics, Anthropology in the case of ASU). Even the other large public in Alabama, Auburn University, had a write-up in the New York Times last year for its Philosophy Dept. Alabama’s neighbor state, Mississippi, is even better known in some fields (English via the Faulkner connection, American History, Southern Culture studies).</p>
<p>I, too, would be curious to learn if UA is notable in any particular fields (maybe, Space Sciences at the UA-Huntsville campus?).</p>
<p>The chemistry and biology departments are strong and well-recognized. The business school is ranked nationally, as are some of its programs.</p>
<p>Business - specifically, accounting and MIS</p>
<p>I’m speaking specifically of the Tuscaloosa campus. Birmingham seems to be known for its medical studies and Huntsville for the space connection, but what of Tuscaloosa? </p>
<p>Hate to ask this question, but loyalties aside, if one wanted to study engineering or computer science, which would be better, Alabama-Tuscaloosa or Auburn? </p>
<p>Don’t throw free ride NMF in there, as not a sure thing for son. But, on that subject, is it only Tuscaloosa that gives all this generous aid, or do all Alabama state schools offer the same merit aid package, ie, Birmingham, Huntsville? I’m not going to throw Auburn in there, although I think it’s a state school as well.</p>
<p>I don’t have the complete answer, but from what I know, Communications, and Accounting are very highly regarded across the country and are probably the highest ranked programs at UA. Other well regarded fields include Creative Writing, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, Business, Social Work, and Music. Chemistry is probably the Science program which has advanced the most in the last ten years… Of the Engineering programs, Construction Engineering is a new field and UA has one of the few Depts. in the nation. Look for the prestige of UA Science and Engineering programs to increase with the construction of the 900,000 square foot Shelby Hall Science and Engineering complex (halfway completed). </p>
<p>UA’s Honors Program is one of the largest in the Southeast, and is an excellent opportunity for undergrads to receive the kind of instruction available at private schools, and to conduct research with professors in their field of study.</p>
<p>Auburn has the higher ranked Engineering programs, but as I said in the above post, that could change with the new Science and Engineering complex.</p>
<p>There are probably more out-of-state students with scholarships than in-state. Alabama has had a HUGE influx of non-Alabama and non-Southern students thanks to the university’s drive to increase enrollment. Yes, Auburn is a state school.</p>
<p>Atlanta68 is right, overall Auburn is stronger in engineering; however, Alabama has always had a highly regarded chemical engineering department (my orthopaedic surgeon has his BS in chemical engineering). Alabama has a very strong business school, and its writing, journalism, music, and education programs are well known. Journalism is not as strong as at Columbia (at Missouri), but it is one of the better programs. However, that entire business is suffering right now.</p>
<p>I’ll just repeat what’s been said. I know our telecommunications department is excellent (journalism, communications, etc). Our business school is good, particularly our accounting program. </p>
<p>As far as engineering, as a chemical engineering student at UA I would say Auburn overall has a better engineering program. I came to UA b/c of the scholarships mentioned and Auburn at the time did not offer anything nearly as good for their National Merit students as UA did. Now however, Auburn offers pretty much the same package that UA offers for National Merit and National Achievement students. I will say this though, our metallurgical engineering department was recently ranked number 1 in the nation. It also has a 100% job placement rate. I know two girls who graduated in 08 and 09 and are now working together with Exxon Mobil making bank and traveling all over the world. </p>
<p>Strangely enough I don’t know any recent che graduates personally. I guess I’ll be finding out just how strong our program is when I graduate next year.</p>
<p>Very important: our engineering program is rising and working tremendously to provide us with a world class education. Our new science and engineering complex is a testament to the investments that UA is making into its science and engineering departments. Our co-op program is excellent and you can interview for co-ops your freshman year. Work experience is vital in the engineering world, especially if you find your grades slipping lol.</p>
<p>Do you know which Engineering departments at UA will move into the third Shelby complex building once its completed in 2011? What impact do you think the recently completed second Shelby complex building will have on the prestige of UA Engineering?</p>
<p>I don’t think prestige really matters in engineering. All engineers are paid the same whether or not you graduated from a non-ranked school or Georgia Tech (since the professors do a good job of limiting graduation rates and ensuring quality). I think I read somewhere that only 1/5 students that start in engineering graduate. </p>
<p>It’s much more important in engineering to get the degree than where you actually went to school.</p>