<p>Just curious. They sound pretty similar. Wondering what the difference is. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Blount is kind of a set program for liberal arts majors. As frosh, they live and take classes in their Living/Learning building which has both dorms and classrooms. I’m not sure what happens after frosh year. </p>
<p>The Honors Program offers various courses that honors kids can pick and choose from…there aren’t specific courses that a student must take. Honors students can live where they want…in honors or non-honors. </p>
<p>There are probably some Blount kids in the Honors Program as well.</p>
<p>Thanks, mom2ck. Very interesting. Sounds like the Watauga Living / Learning Community at Appalachian State: Kids live in the same building where classes are held and come down to class in their pajamas, LOL!</p>
<p>M2CK: There are students who are in Blount as well as the other honors programs.</p>
<p>Dr Kim Caldwell recommended it very highly. I think she works with the Blount kids. She said they have a lot more reading and discussions of books, and most of them LOVE to debate. From reading your posts LadyDi, I think it might be something your son would enjoy. She said the faculty eats with them, and I think she said some of them (the faculty) even live there. Very Liberal Arts kind of feel.</p>
<p>Thanks, nicollec! I was wondering because DS has befriended a girl (via cyberspace) who plans to live at Blount. He and this girl have a lot in common – they’re both majoring in history, to begin with. Maybe, if he hangs out with her, he can get the Blount experience “by proxy,” LOL.</p>
<p>I wanted my S to look into Blount as he is a humanities major, but he said he wanted “the traditional college experience”. I think it sounded kind of “crunchy” to him. The same with the New College (I think that is what it is called). The first college we ever visited was an “alternative” type of NE LAC which he absolutely hated, so he has been kind of turned off by that ever since.
Plus Blount offered a several additional scholarships that he might have qualified for. Although what the criteria is, I have no idea.
I think once you see those super suites its hard to imagine yourself anywhere else.</p>
<p>*I think once you see those super suites its hard to imagine yourself anywhere else. *</p>
<p>I think you’re right! (And all I’ve seen so far is the floor plan – but that’s enough, LOL!)</p>
<p>Yes, I get the impression that Blount is pretty crunchy. Too much so for DS, I think. But it’s cool that there are options like that at Bama. It shows that the student body is far from homogeneous. And that’s a Good Thing!</p>
<p>That NE LAC – it wouldn’t be Hampshire, would it? I attended an alternative LAC myself, as an undergrad: New College of Florida. I really wouldn’t recommend it. Although I actually made good friends and had an OK time, it was really too limited. The library was pathetic…I assume it’s better now. One of my friends had a minor in Italian. The Italian professor left, and so did the minor. They never replaced the prof, and my friend was up a creek. That’s always the danger with a teeny LAC, unless it’s very well endowed and prestigious, like Amherst or Williams. 
I did have one great professor at New College, though, and I took most of my classes with him, including one-on-one tutorials, which were fantastic.</p>
<p>Idinct- During our visit in March, we met with Dr. Joseph Hornsby (Director of Blount Initiative). He indicated that Blount was operating under a specific endowment and the only scholarships available were need-based and very scarce. I didn’t dig any farther because we will not qualify for need-based. However, I did specifically ask about merit aid and he said that BI doesn’t have the funds because the program is non-fee. My DD loves to read and debate but she is very into social life and didn’t seem to be impressed by the fact that she would be required to live in Blount housing. We walked to Blount on our own, someone opened the door for us, we peeked around and that was it. Our findings: super quiet and maybe even a little boring, as my DD commented. The proximity to the other Honors housing is very good. It had a totally different feel. Personally, quiet and boring sounded nice to me but she wasn’t thrilled with the housing however she thought the program sounded very interesting.</p>
<p>Lady Di,
LOL that would be the one. I even felt out of place with the parents. It’s funny how we could feel that way so close to home while at Bama we felt that we fit right in.</p>
<p>One tip I had read somewhere(probably on cc) was to take your first trip close to home and go to a variety of size & types of schools before you started traveling all over the country. We visited Hampshire, Amherst & UMASS. UMASS was the only one that got a “maybe but probably not”. He had seen UCONN before and nixed that- in the middle of nowhere. We came home kind of discouraged but it did help narrow things down, after that I don’t think we looked at anything under 5000 students.</p>
<p>asaunmom, Thanks for the info on the Blount scholarships, that is good to know, as well as your d’s impression of the dorms. I think we can close the door on that opportunity.</p>
<p>FWIW, Blount (pronounced Blunt) and New College could be considered crunchy by Alabama standards, but are hardly so when you consider the more “alternative” colleges/programs in other states. New College is an excellent way to create your own major if said major is not already offered at UA. For example, I know a couple of students who are majoring in Linguistics via the New College. If one chose to take the New College route however, they are officially majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies.</p>
<p>Blount can be an awesome experience for who those interested in such a program. I agree that after seeing the honors dorms at UA, other types of dorms pale in comparison. I’ve stayed in traditional dorms and suite-style dorms where two double rooms share a bathroom and while they are certainly comfortable, I continue to pay the extra cost for a super suite dorm instead of choosing one of the other on-campus options.</p>
<p>Idinct – I’ve heard icky things about Hampshire, e.g., that the administration is utterly incompetent. Don’t know whether that’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me. </p>
<p>Almost everyone i knew in high school went to UMass. I probably should have gone, too – it would have saved my folks a bundle in air fare – but, well, I didn’t want to be in college with my entire high school class. Dumb reason…one really doesn’t know what the heck one is doing at age 18. :o</p>
<p>Basically, what it boils down to is that Blount is a living-learning community while Honors college is a academic path.</p>
<p>I’m a rising sophomore at UA, and while I have a lot of respect for Blount, I’ve found that it’s not for everyone, even if you’re in the Honors college. Personally, I’ve chosen to join the Mallet Assembly, which is one of the oldest honors programs in the university. If you feel that Blount is too stuffy or “crunchy” as some of you have said, I strongly encourage looking into Mallet - we are located in Palmer Hall on campus, across from Paty Hall. We are always happy to talk with new people.</p>