University of Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

The question is whether the academics are up to par--and the impact of that on the reputation of the degree. Especially if your kid doesn't stay in Alabama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

You can be confident that top employers will also consider where your degree was obtained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

The question is whether the academics are up to par--and the impact of that on the reputation of the degree. Especially if your kid doesn't stay in Alabama.

I think graduate schools and employers can understand the difference between honors programs and regular college. The efforts Alabama is making to bring in top students and the success they are having is not a secret, I know a good number of very smart kids there for the free ride who are happy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

You can be confident that top employers will also consider where your degree was obtained.

So you wouldn’t send your kid to JMU because it isn’t in the top 100? Just want to see where we are drawing lines here.

[Anonymous]

Is your daughter looking at usc? That sounds like a much better fit. They offer half tuition scholarships for nmf scholars and you can’t beat LA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

The question is whether the academics are up to par--and the impact of that on the reputation of the degree. Especially if your kid doesn't stay in Alabama.

I think graduate schools and employers can understand the difference between honors programs and regular college. The efforts Alabama is making to bring in top students and the success they are having is not a secret, I know a good number of very smart kids there for the free ride who are happy there.

I wouldn't overestimate what people would know about it. Depends on what your career goals/graduate school goals are and how much you need the merit money. There are a ton of fluffy honors colleges--they just mean you can register early, etc. don't really shape the academic quality at all. At least the actual National Merit Scholars can put that on their CV and it adds a little context, but everyone else, I don't know--I think it will be a hindrance. I'm not saying this as an Alabama-basher or anything--just as people start to look afield to colleges to get merit money they should know that there are big differences across state flagships in terms of academic quality, outcomes etc. and it doesn't have much to do with students' partying or not. Graduate schools and hirers care if your students are well-prepared and they do that in part based on their knowledge of the institution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In strictly academic terms, it's just a terrible school.

Where is your evidence?

I'm a professor at a R1 university. But go ahead and choose any field at random and see where UofA is ranked in that field. This isn't hard.

Example?

DP. Here you go (from US News). Depending on your perspective, these can be good or bad. Now pls. shut up so the discussion can turn constructive.. A lot of parents (including me) want to hear honest feedback on the school. Their overall ranking is 170, but the rank that really matters (outcomes rank) is 245. Wish they had a ranking for post-grad income to complete the picture, but that's likely asking for too much.. If you don't trust US News, you are welcome to google other rankings yourself.

The University of Alabama Rankings

#170 in National Universities (tie)
#91 in Top Public Schools (tie)
#153 in Best Value Schools
#90 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (tie)
At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate
#47 in Business Programs (tie)
#28 in Accounting (tie)
#40 in Marketing (tie)
#82 in Computer Science (tie)
#31 in Nursing (tie)
#118 in Psychology Programs (tie)
#99 in Economics (tie)
#118 in Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
#410 in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie)

U.S. News Overall Score - Score (out of 100) 55
Outcomes (52%)
Outcomes rank 245
Average 6-year graduation rate (16%) 72%

Average first-year student retention rate (5%) 88%
Social Mobility Rank 410
6-year graduation rate of students who received a Pell Grant (3%) 59%
6-year graduation rate of students who did not receive a Pell Grant (3%) 76%
6-year graduation rate of first generation students (2.5%) 56%
6-year graduation rate of non-first generation students (2.5%) 69%
Predicted graduation rate (10%) 77%
Overperformance(+)/Underperformance(-) -4
Median federal loan debt for borrowers (5%) $22,750
College grads earning more than a HS grad (5%) 82%

All of which shows how many decent colleges there are in the country.

I’m quite certain that even if you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can go to Alabama to learn about philosophy, chemistry, marketing, or mechanical engineering & you can graduate 4 years later having learned a lot about philosophy, chemistry, marketing, or mechanical engineering.

That’s all most people want.

If you want to meet people who summer in the Hamptons, or think you need a Nobel laureate to teach you Intro to Macroeconomics, or if your high school kid is already on a first-name basis at your local Planned Parenthood, then go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your daughter looking at usc? That sounds like a much better fit. They offer half tuition scholarships for nmf scholars and you can’t beat LA

USC has a 9 percent acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

You can be confident that top employers will also consider where your degree was obtained.

So you wouldn’t send your kid to JMU because it isn’t in the top 100? Just want to see where we are drawing lines here.

Bumping because I am still waiting for an answer to this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your daughter looking at usc? That sounds like a much better fit. They offer half tuition scholarships for nmf scholars and you can’t beat LA

USC has a 9 percent acceptance rate.

Also a half scholarship leaves price at $45,000 a year plus travel costs to California. For someone hung up on prestige, math skills are lacking.

[Anonymous]

I think it's great for the school to use merit aid to try and attract strong OOS students, but it's got a long way to go before it has a solid academic reputation.

It looks like they're reshuffling & renaming their scholarships - National Merit's still there but there seems to be more AL local offerings than national - so make sure you confirm this before applying and spending time to visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite confident the experience of the 1100 plusnational merit semifinalists in the honor college is quite different than for the rest of the student body. There are also kids there just to party, no one is disputing that.

You can be confident that top employers will also consider where your degree was obtained.

So you wouldn’t send your kid to JMU because it isn’t in the top 100? Just want to see where we are drawing lines here.

Depends on the career. JMU is a good teaching college and a value. Alabama has a medical school and a
law school so you could technically stay there if you had trouble getting into graduate school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In strictly academic terms, it's just a terrible school.

Where is your evidence?

I'm a professor at a R1 university. But go ahead and choose any field at random and see where UofA is ranked in that field. This isn't hard.

Example?

DP. Here you go (from US News). Depending on your perspective, these can be good or bad. Now pls. shut up so the discussion can turn constructive.. A lot of parents (including me) want to hear honest feedback on the school. Their overall ranking is 170, but the rank that really matters (outcomes rank) is 245. Wish they had a ranking for post-grad income to complete the picture, but that's likely asking for too much.. If you don't trust US News, you are welcome to google other rankings yourself.

The University of Alabama Rankings

#170 in National Universities (tie)
#91 in Top Public Schools (tie)
#153 in Best Value Schools
#90 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (tie)
At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate
#47 in Business Programs (tie)
#28 in Accounting (tie)
#40 in Marketing (tie)
#82 in Computer Science (tie)
#31 in Nursing (tie)
#118 in Psychology Programs (tie)
#99 in Economics (tie)
#118 in Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
#410 in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie)

U.S. News Overall Score - Score (out of 100) 55
Outcomes (52%)
Outcomes rank 245
Average 6-year graduation rate (16%) 72%

Average first-year student retention rate (5%) 88%
Social Mobility Rank 410
6-year graduation rate of students who received a Pell Grant (3%) 59%
6-year graduation rate of students who did not receive a Pell Grant (3%) 76%
6-year graduation rate of first generation students (2.5%) 56%
6-year graduation rate of non-first generation students (2.5%) 69%
Predicted graduation rate (10%) 77%
Overperformance(+)/Underperformance(-) -4
Median federal loan debt for borrowers (5%) $22,750
College grads earning more than a HS grad (5%) 82%

Out of over 2,500 four year colleges in the US. Nice try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In strictly academic terms, it's just a terrible school.

Where is your evidence?

I'm a professor at a R1 university. But go ahead and choose any field at random and see where UofA is ranked in that field. This isn't hard.

Example?

DP. Here you go (from US News). Depending on your perspective, these can be good or bad. Now pls. shut up so the discussion can turn constructive.. A lot of parents (including me) want to hear honest feedback on the school. Their overall ranking is 170, but the rank that really matters (outcomes rank) is 245. Wish they had a ranking for post-grad income to complete the picture, but that's likely asking for too much.. If you don't trust US News, you are welcome to google other rankings yourself.

The University of Alabama Rankings

#170 in National Universities (tie)
#91 in Top Public Schools (tie)
#153 in Best Value Schools
#90 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (tie)
At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate
#47 in Business Programs (tie)
#28 in Accounting (tie)
#40 in Marketing (tie)
#82 in Computer Science (tie)
#31 in Nursing (tie)
#118 in Psychology Programs (tie)
#99 in Economics (tie)
#118 in Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
#410 in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie)

U.S. News Overall Score - Score (out of 100) 55
Outcomes (52%)
Outcomes rank 245
Average 6-year graduation rate (16%) 72%

Average first-year student retention rate (5%) 88%
Social Mobility Rank 410
6-year graduation rate of students who received a Pell Grant (3%) 59%
6-year graduation rate of students who did not receive a Pell Grant (3%) 76%
6-year graduation rate of first generation students (2.5%) 56%
6-year graduation rate of non-first generation students (2.5%) 69%
Predicted graduation rate (10%) 77%
Overperformance(+)/Underperformance(-) -4
Median federal loan debt for borrowers (5%) $22,750
College grads earning more than a HS grad (5%) 82%

Out of over 2,500 four year colleges in the US. Nice try.

DP: This post provided real data and context. A 55 overall score for a state flagship is meaningful information to consider. Otherwise you might just assume state flagship=must be fine. There are only about 75 or so state universities considered the "flagship" and Alabama is falling far out of the rankings for those. You can look at the data and interpret it differently, but to have the sardonic "nice try" when someone lays it out is obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Most honors programs aren’t that good. You might get priority registration and to live with other honors kids but most put you in regular classes and just add extra work.

Alabama is okay. And if you’re going to law or medical school, going there with a lot of merit aid makes a lot of sense.