<p>Why would people who are not from the above states feel strongly about one over the other? Is there something I should know as a Northerner? Both schools seem good but they each have different strengths and programs. I would think a person would choose based on fit not passion but that may just be my Northern attitude. Is there anything I should know?</p>
<p>With daughters at Ole Miss and a son at Bama, I smiled when I was this title. We are from the Midwest. Each school was chosen for different reasons in this house. </p>
<p>Similarities:
Both are beautiful campuses. Both have excellent honors colleges and endless opportunties for those who are willing to go the extra mile. Both have supportive professors and administrators will to do what it takes to help motivated students acheive their goals and dreams. Both have generous scholarship support.</p>
<p>Differences:</p>
<p>Sure, there is a size difference. And I would say that Ole Miss tends to feel a bit more “southern” overall. (The University of Alabama has a very large OOS population)
But, for my kiddos, it really came down to the strengths of the programs they were interested in. I think they would have “fit” at either school, if needed. However, the special programs that both universities offer, guided them home.</p>
<p>My DD’13 is considering both schools and we have visited both. </p>
<p>I concur with seekingknowledge. Both campuses are beautiful, have great honors colleges & opportunities, and awesome scholarships for out of state students (including full tuition for ACT=32+).</p>
<p>Ole Miss is about half the size of Alabama. Another big difference is in cost of housing. Alabama’s suite style dorms are about twice the cost of those at Ole Miss (and both are building new dorms). </p>
<p>I would encourage you if at all possible to visit both campuses. Yes, examine the programs of your intended major at both schools. But I strongly believe you need to get a feel for the school you’re going to spend four years of your life. We’ve had the opportunity to visit 5 schools with my daughter and I can tell you that while websites and webtours are a good introduction, they don’t present the full picture. You get a good vibe from walking on campus, talking to students and professors, and eating in the union. </p>
<p>In the end, both are great schools. You can’t go wrong at either one. It may end up coming down to your gut reaction from a campus visit, along with the specifics of your intended major. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My son and I visited Ole Miss the week students were moving in and both of us fell in love with the campus and Oxford. We’ve looked at several Texas schools, but none except SMU and TCU have had the campus or southern feel he was looking for. I so glad that they have academic excellence scholoarships based on GPA and tuition for out of staters. He’s also considering Arkansas and Alabama so we’ll see which ones he gets into and how much $ in scholarships he can get.</p>
<p>My oldest son is in his senior year at Alabama. He loves the place and all the opportunities that he has had. His younger brother is hoping for big merit money to attend Alabama. He could have a tough choice, though, because he liked Mississippi State when we visited about 18 months ago. His older brother also encouraged him to visit Ole Miss, as he loved that campus.</p>
<p>We visited both and DS chose Ole Miss for its Center for Manufacturing Excellence. We knew up front he’d have free tuition at Alabama but he ended up with several scholarships adding up to free tuition at Ole Miss.</p>
<p>We both felt that Ole Miss had a warmer, friendlier feel to it. Smaller.</p>
<p>Definitely fewer out of state students and we felt there was definitely more of a Deep South feel at Ole Miss than there was at Alabama.</p>
<p>Wow this was just the thread I was looking for! Thanks Apollo6 for posing the question, and thanks everyone for the great responses. I had read Ole Miss for oos girls from the northeast was not entirely welcoming so I started looking at Bama because of the larger oos population, even though a friend of ours couldn’t say enough about Ole Miss…don’t know anyone that went to Bama though…so I had been comparing them in my mind to see if we should apply…then visit based on app responses bc we are soooo far, with no time for visits currently. Oh and thanks Seekingknowledge…great to hear experience from both sides of the fence!</p>
<p>If you are seriously considering either school, I highly recommend visiting. Do you have an idea of what you might want to major in? Both universities have strengths in different areas. Both have excellent automatic merit scholarships. Both offer additional competitive scholarships, though the qualifications may be different. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about “how welcoming” each school is for OOS students. If you have a good attitude and want to experience life away from your home state, both universities have very large OOS student populations.</p>
<p>@seekingknowledge, there is out of state and then there is Yankee. If you come from Atlanta, you are out of state. If you come from Chicago or New York, you are a Yankee. </p>
<p>My daughter went to UT in Austin where out of state just meant out of state, but based on my observations from visits of Alabama and Ole Miss, there is a difference (at both schools) between what the general thoughts are of being out of state and what the general thoughts are of being “out of South”</p>
<p>My kiddos are definitely attending as “out of the south” students at both universitities. It has been fun watching them through the years. I do believe the vast majority of the adjustment really depends on the attitude of the OOS student. The ability to embrace regional differences, the curiousity to understand and realistic expectations that you will not be accepted into all social circles seems to be key to falling in love with either University. Shoot, I think that can be said for a student that is only a few hours away from home at his or her state flagship university.</p>
<p>The only time I’ve noticed OOS being a barrier was during Greek recruitment. SOME fraternities and sororities do favor well connected instate students. However, there is still plenty of opportunity to be involved in greek life if a OOS student chooses. As long as the student understands that, life is good!</p>
<p>How about differences between the honors colleges? SK, You have kids at both, don’t you? Dh and I were very impressed during junior visit day at Ole Miss. We were given the impression that a student could choose to take virtually any required course as an honor’s course. That may be a little exaggerated, but what has been your experience? Our state flagship doesn’t seem to have nearly as many honors college course options. It is more selective than either of these schools and would offer our D as much merit as either but dear daughter says the last place she is going to school is with anyone she knew from in-state high school…</p>
<p>Apollo6: DDs are senior at Ole Miss, DS is a freshman at Bama. So, we have a longer exposure to the HC at Ole Miss. However, we really tried to drill down and understand each HC during the searches. First of all, let me say that the Dean at both are some of the most impressive individuals I have ever met. Reponding to the individual goals of my children, they have helped to facilitate amazing educational and enrichment opportunities. They care.</p>
<p>The biggest difference would have to be size. Ole Miss welcomed 357 freshman this year. I don’t have the size of the honors college handy, but I’m thinking it is around 1000 maybe. Ole Miss does loose quite a few uperclassmen. DDs say it is due to the thesis requirement to graduate from the HC. Bama does not have this requirement, but offers it as an option.</p>
<p>As far as being able to take any class as honors, that might be a stretch at Ole Miss. Definitely most of the “required liberal arts courses” have honors sections. And a generous amount of upper level courses offer sections. But I do think I remember someone saying it was difficult to get some of the STEM upper level couses as honors. I don’t know if that was a scheduling issue or what. BAMA seems to have a generous selection of honors courses too. Like Ole Miss, they offer honors courses through the departments as well has some amazingly interesting courses developed and taught through the HC.
So, to recap, two differences off the top of my head:
- Thesis requirement at Ole Miss and optional thesis at BAMA.<br>
- HC at Ole Miss is much smaller than the HC at BAMA.</p>
<p>I’ll keep thinking, but please feel free to ask more questions.</p>