Hello, I am currently a high school junior from Illinois and I have been looking into the university of Alabama for its generous financial aid. I do, however, have a few questions/qualms about this school. First, what is it like an independent? Would you be looked down upon by the Greeks, would they ignore you, or would it not be an issue. Second, what are the academics like. I do love the fact that football is a way of life here, but is that all the school is known for? I am interested in Microbiology (or maybe being a bio teacher at a HS). And last, what is Tuscaloosa like and how is the party scene at this school? I would possibly like to go to a few parties during college, but I don’t really want to have to go to a bunch of frat parties, for I hear they are hard for guys to get into. Thank you all in advance.
Most UA students are independents. Those who complain the most about Greek life supposedly ruling campus social life are typically those who want to concern themselves with fraternity parties and such. One can have a very active social life without joining a fraternity or sorority. Greek life does not even have to be on your radar if you don’t want it to be.
Football helps bring a lot of money and media attention to UA, but it’s only one of many great things about UA.
If a student wants to find a party and isn’t terribly awkward, they’ll probably find a party or at least a group of students who want to hang out. Apart from a few fraternity parties, men won’t have a hard time getting into parties. Campus police generally take the approach that safety is the most important thing and aren’t going around busting private parties unless the party is too loud, people are doing stupid things while drunk, or people are drinking in public (tailgating is the sole exception to the latter rule). At the same time, it is easy to find groups and events where partying is not on the agenda.
I’m not very familiar with the Microbiology department other than having visited one of the labs on a few occasions.
Tuscaloosa is a smallish city of around 100,000 people and has everything you’d expect for a city of its size. Parts of T-Town do look like a built up rural area as Alabama is a predominately rural state. People complain about traffic, but it’s nothing like the big cities. Know your side streets and one can get almost anywhere in the area in less than 15 minutes of driving. On campus, most everything is within a 10-15 minute walk from your room. It’s a 3-4 minute walk from the honors dorms to the Ferguson Center (student union). One thing you might not be used to is the amount of school spirit Alabamians have for UA. It all starts when you get to the gate for your flight to Birmingham and half of the passengers are wearing crimson or houndstooth. Once you land, total strangers will come up to you and wish you good luck at UA. Stores have huge sections for UA merchandise.
I highly recommend that you visit campus; directions on how to schedule a campus visit can be found in other threads. Many people fall in love with UA after visiting campus. I was in the same situation as you where I first started looking at UA because of the scholarships as I knew it was a school my family could afford. I was willing to sacrifice a lot of what I wanted in a college so my family could afford for me to attend college, but at UA, I found everything I wanted and then some. I got a world class education and legendary college experience at a lower cost than what I would’ve paid if I stayed in-state. Plus, my family and I were able to become 100% debt free by the end of my junior year.
Most importantly, you’ll need to learn when to say Roll Tide. It’s an all purpose phrase and it’s appropriate to yell it when you’re in another state and see someone wearing Alabama-themed clothing. I’ve even gotten VIP service in a busy Las Vegas restaurant because my dad was wearing an Alabama t-shirt. As a graduate of the University of Alabama, you’ll always have a “home” in Tuscaloosa as you’re part of the UA family and in southern culture, family is extremely important.
Roll Tide!
@Spose4president In another thread, you mention your GPA which is right below the GPA needed for a big scholarship (you have an ACT 32)
Can you finish with A’s this semester so that your GPA will bump up to at least 3.5? If not, then UA won’t be affordable for you since you mention that you need the financial help.
You need that full tuition award for Bama to even be a consideration for you.
What is your weighted GPA? Are you taking any AP classes?
@mom2collegekids yeah, I so far have all a’s and if I can finish this semester with all a’s I can get a 3.5. I am in APUSH, AP bio, AP psych, AP physics, and then 3 honors classes. I don’t think my school does weighted GPA.
Well, you need to have a 3.5 on your transcript for grades 9-11…otherwise you won’t qualify for the full tuition award, which is what you need.
You’re on your way to “all As”…good ! a 4.0 for this semester may be enough to get your GPA to a 3.5.
Greek life is big at UA, no doubt about it. However 70-ish% of students are not Greek and not being Greek will not limit your social options at all. Even if you want to go to Greek parties, you will probably have Greek friends who can take you as a guest. The police are quite lenient in most regards. However they do crack down on Dorm Parties, so avoid those.
Academics are pretty standard for a big state school. Some giant classes, some tiny and everything in-between. Some very serious students and others who just want to pass.
Tuscaloosa isn’t bad. Beware of McFarland Blvd though. It wasn’t designed to handle the volume of traffic it gets.
I agree with everything Sea_tide said, except, just a point of correction. Most Alabamians live in urban areas, not rurral ones. Yes, there are still a lot of small towns, but most folks live in a city.
I’m sure someone will correct my math. But according to the data, roughly 3,600 girls were admitted to the class of 2018 and roughly 1980 girls accepted sorority bids. Isn’t that about 55% of the freshman girls?
@Bigdaddy88 where did you find this data at? Did it give the male %?
While it’s true that about half of frosh girls accept bids, the overall Greek numbers end up much lower because over a rather short period of time, a number of students decide not to continue in the Greek system for a variety of reasons. Some just go thru rush to meet people, get a bid, and soon quit. A number quit after the first semester. Going Greek is quite expensive and time consuming, so yield is affected.
The enrollment data came from UA’s common data set. The sorority # came from the Panhellenic page. The fraternities aren’t as organized so I’m not sure you’ll be able to find those stats.
I agree that many girls leave Greek life, but for incoming freshman it’s very high and that’s when the actual number matters most to the GDI girls.
^ #3 post: you don’t know if your HS weights AP grades?! ASK your GC!
^ #7 and #9 posts: both of these surprise me - that 55% of female students accept a bid (gulp), and that these students would actually drop out of the Greek system once they worked so hard to get into it…I’m wondering if the drops are more OOS students (who perhaps don’t know what they were getting into) or more local students or a mix of students. I always thought Greek was for life. Surely dropping out of Greek is frowned upon?
Dropping out is frowned upon. I have always thought the number of UA students in Greek life was much higher than what is reported. It’s a big deal on campus. Anyone who claims it’s not is dreaming…
Dropping out isn’t great, but it’s understood. No one likes it but to say that it’s “frowned upon” is too much.
Many quickly find out that they can’t AFFORD it.
Some have a budget that BARELY affords the dues, and then they find out that there’s all these other expenses.
It may be frowned on, but it happens. Sororities are really only a huge deal the first year…and really only the first semester of the first year. Is it a big deal? To a freshman, yes, To a girl, yes. After that…no. Yes, it’s visible because it’s organized and because of the houses. But overall, no.