University of Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Actually Oklahoma is OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

You do realize that those 2500+ include many regional private art institutes, lots of religious colleges that have <200 students and have been closing their doors, very small 4 year colleges that offer degrees like cosmetology and the like that are scattered around many towns. More relevant to consider where it stands relative to other national universities and colleges if you're considering attending out of state with qualifications like NMSF. And it's well in the lower half of those. It's not an awful school, but it doesn't have the academic quality of most other state flagships. People should just make their decision with their eyes open--the USNWR data has some positives and some negatives--but it points to the fact that Alabama has a lower academic caliber than most of the other OOS public flagships DCUM families typically are applying to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

JMU:
Overall ranking - 124
US News score - 61
Outcomes rank - 51

Seems like it's in a different league compared to Alabama!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

You do realize that those 2500+ include many regional private art institutes, lots of religious colleges that have <200 students and have been closing their doors, very small 4 year colleges that offer degrees like cosmetology and the like that are scattered around many towns. More relevant to consider where it stands relative to other national universities and colleges if you're considering attending out of state with qualifications like NMSF. And it's well in the lower half of those. It's not an awful school, but it doesn't have the academic quality of most other state flagships. People should just make their decision with their eyes open--the USNWR data has some positives and some negatives--but it points to the fact that Alabama has a lower academic caliber than most of the other OOS public flagships DCUM families typically are applying to.

US News national university category doesn’t include regional art schools. Even if it did, UA is still top 10%. Attending any flagship is a major accomplishment when compared to other struggling colleges as you pointed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of other schools that might be a better fit have similar financial aid programs. Check out U of Kansas, Iowa State, U of Nebraska, U of Oklahoma.

These are all great options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of other schools that might be a better fit have similar financial aid programs. Check out U of Kansas, Iowa State, U of Nebraska, U of Oklahoma.

These are all great options.

Let’s no go crazy …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

JMU:
Overall ranking - 124
US News score - 61
Outcomes rank - 51

Seems like it's in a different league compared to Alabama!

Not to me, ranked between 100 and 200. The us news score also similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

You do realize that those 2500+ include many regional private art institutes, lots of religious colleges that have <200 students and have been closing their doors, very small 4 year colleges that offer degrees like cosmetology and the like that are scattered around many towns. More relevant to consider where it stands relative to other national universities and colleges if you're considering attending out of state with qualifications like NMSF. And it's well in the lower half of those. It's not an awful school, but it doesn't have the academic quality of most other state flagships. People should just make their decision with their eyes open--the USNWR data has some positives and some negatives--but it points to the fact that Alabama has a lower academic caliber than most of the other OOS public flagships DCUM families typically are applying to.

US News national university category doesn’t include regional art schools. Even if it did, UA is still top 10%. Attending any flagship is a major accomplishment when compared to other struggling colleges as you pointed out.

Isn't Auburn the flagship anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

You do realize that those 2500+ include many regional private art institutes, lots of religious colleges that have <200 students and have been closing their doors, very small 4 year colleges that offer degrees like cosmetology and the like that are scattered around many towns. More relevant to consider where it stands relative to other national universities and colleges if you're considering attending out of state with qualifications like NMSF. And it's well in the lower half of those. It's not an awful school, but it doesn't have the academic quality of most other state flagships. People should just make their decision with their eyes open--the USNWR data has some positives and some negatives--but it points to the fact that Alabama has a lower academic caliber than most of the other OOS public flagships DCUM families typically are applying to.

US News national university category doesn’t include regional art schools. Even if it did, UA is still top 10%. Attending any flagship is a major accomplishment when compared to other struggling colleges as you pointed out.

Isn't Auburn the flagship anyway?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

JMU:
Overall ranking - 124
US News score - 61
Outcomes rank - 51

Seems like it's in a different league compared to Alabama!

JMU just this year switched from being a regional university to a national university. Better to compare to GMU--which is overall ranked at 105.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What’s wrong with being in the top 10% of all universities?

You do realize that those 2500+ include many regional private art institutes, lots of religious colleges that have <200 students and have been closing their doors, very small 4 year colleges that offer degrees like cosmetology and the like that are scattered around many towns. More relevant to consider where it stands relative to other national universities and colleges if you're considering attending out of state with qualifications like NMSF. And it's well in the lower half of those. It's not an awful school, but it doesn't have the academic quality of most other state flagships. People should just make their decision with their eyes open--the USNWR data has some positives and some negatives--but it points to the fact that Alabama has a lower academic caliber than most of the other OOS public flagships DCUM families typically are applying to.

US News national university category doesn’t include regional art schools. Even if it did, UA is still top 10%. Attending any flagship is a major accomplishment when compared to other struggling colleges as you pointed out.

Isn't Auburn the flagship anyway?

No

It's public and ranked 93 though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

JMU:
Overall ranking - 124
US News score - 61
Outcomes rank - 51

Seems like it's in a different league compared to Alabama!

JMU just this year switched from being a regional university to a national university. Better to compare to GMU--which is overall ranked at 105.

GMU overall ranking - 105
US News score - 63
Outcomes rank - 114

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of other schools that might be a better fit have similar financial aid programs. Check out U of Kansas, Iowa State, U of Nebraska, U of Oklahoma.

i

These are all great options.

Let’s no go crazy …

Says somebody who hasn’t been west of Pittsburgh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

JMU:
Overall ranking - 124
US News score - 61
Outcomes rank - 51

Seems like it's in a different league compared to Alabama!

Not to me, ranked between 100 and 200. The us news score also similar.

Wut? Alabama's numbers:

170 - About 50 ranks lower
55 - About 6 points higher
245 - About 200 ranks lower!