Why Bama ? It is ranked 170 and keeps dropping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a crap school, but it's notorious for Sorority Rush. In case you didn't know, that's a HUGE deal for a certain type of southern family whose goal in life is to get their daughters and sons married to other kids of well-to-do families of the south who are in sororities and fraternities in those types of institutions. They're the state politicians, business owners and company managers of the South, and their world is encompassed within those boundaries. The rest of the world does not exist. All blonde, all white, all Barbie, of course. Brunettes tolerated, POC need not apply.

Time for you to get off TikTok and go outdoors and play!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

They rely on their sorority TikToks to lure kids in. It's not about academics. In fact they're throwing money at just about anyone they can get from the DMV. No one from the area really picks it besides a few who are getting free tuition. Also there's a 55% graduation rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama doesn’t play the USNWR game. Their admission rates are high, and as a result retention low. Scholarships are public and the same standards for everyone. Professor to student ratio is less favorable because they let their professors focus on research and teach fewer classes than higher ranked schools (e.g., Yale requires profs teach 4 classes a semester, Alabama requires 1). Professors can avoid teaching lower level classes. The prestige of the faculty at Alabama way outweighs the general student body. They pay professors very well and research funding is high. Their research is excellent and their grad programs ranked high - med and increasingly law. It is undeniable the opportunities for motivated and academic kids at the school. Upper level classes are fantastic and rigorous and small. Med, grad and job placement is notably high among the program kids. For people focused on “rankings” or social prestige, probably not a good fit.

So Bama is becoming an institution that prioritizes research over undergraduate instruction? Cal and UCLA are described this way and the conclusion is nearly always negative, better for grads than undergrads.

No, it’s not better for grads. Alabama Phd programs are weaker than the schools you reference. PhD placement from Alabama is great. The opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research is a benefit from having less Phds. The teaching at Alabama is also fantastic in the higher level classes — which may include both undergrads and grad students.

There seems to be some wordsmithing here. “opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research”

“teaching . . . fantastic in the higher level classes”

A lot of schools have this, and what about everyone else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

They rely on their sorority TikToks to lure kids in. It's not about academics. In fact they're throwing money at just about anyone they can get from the DMV. No one from the area really picks it besides a few who are getting free tuition. Also there's a 55% graduation rate.

At the college level, academics is 90% what the kid puts in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life for these kids has been a joyless suck for much of their teen years.

Good for them for wanting to have a fun normal college experience.

You all are from the John Hughes through American Pie generations. How on earth are you shocked that young people are finally back to acting like young people who want a fun, rowdy college experience??

The past few years of judgy, puritanical, dogmatic, no fun thought police is NOT a normal college experience or developmentally appropriate for late teens and early 20s. Be happy that a big chunk of college kids are finally resetting back to normal.

+1

NP. Kids want to be in a place where they aren’t subject to struggle sessions run by psychotic thought police. Bama gives that. It’s just not a surprise kids want to go there.

And don’t worry about the rankings, OP. They are becoming increasingly irrelevant, and when schools become popular their reputation goes up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama doesn’t play the USNWR game. Their admission rates are high, and as a result retention low. Scholarships are public and the same standards for everyone. Professor to student ratio is less favorable because they let their professors focus on research and teach fewer classes than higher ranked schools (e.g., Yale requires profs teach 4 classes a semester, Alabama requires 1). Professors can avoid teaching lower level classes. The prestige of the faculty at Alabama way outweighs the general student body. They pay professors very well and research funding is high. Their research is excellent and their grad programs ranked high - med and increasingly law. It is undeniable the opportunities for motivated and academic kids at the school. Upper level classes are fantastic and rigorous and small. Med, grad and job placement is notably high among the program kids. For people focused on “rankings” or social prestige, probably not a good fit.

So Bama is becoming an institution that prioritizes research over undergraduate instruction? Cal and UCLA are described this way and the conclusion is nearly always negative, better for grads than undergrads.

No, it’s not better for grads. Alabama Phd programs are weaker than the schools you reference. PhD placement from Alabama is great. The opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research is a benefit from having less Phds. The teaching at Alabama is also fantastic in the higher level classes — which may include both undergrads and grad students.

There seems to be some wordsmithing here. “opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research”

“teaching . . . fantastic in the higher level classes”

A lot of schools have this, and what about everyone else?

No wordsmithing, the academics are there for students who want it. And if you want to work in a lab, there are opportunities, whereas in other schools these jobs can be cutthroat. The kids taking higher level classes tend to be in the special programs, but anyone can take them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

They rely on their sorority TikToks to lure kids in. It's not about academics. In fact they're throwing money at just about anyone they can get from the DMV. No one from the area really picks it besides a few who are getting free tuition. Also there's a 55% graduation rate.

You do not know anything about the school or the kids who go there. You’d obviously be surprised. Very impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alabama doesn’t play the USNWR game. Their admission rates are high, and as a result retention low. Scholarships are public and the same standards for everyone. Professor to student ratio is less favorable because they let their professors focus on research and teach fewer classes than higher ranked schools (e.g., Yale requires profs teach 4 classes a semester, Alabama requires 1). Professors can avoid teaching lower level classes. The prestige of the faculty at Alabama way outweighs the general student body. They pay professors very well and research funding is high. Their research is excellent and their grad programs ranked high - med and increasingly law. It is undeniable the opportunities for motivated and academic kids at the school. Upper level classes are fantastic and rigorous and small. Med, grad and job placement is notably high among the program kids. For people focused on “rankings” or social prestige, probably not a good fit.

So you are saying students are taught by TAs not Professors? And as for admissions rates, doesn’t UC Merced and Rutgers have pretty generous admission rates and are ranked much higher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

Their academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama doesn’t play the USNWR game. Their admission rates are high, and as a result retention low. Scholarships are public and the same standards for everyone. Professor to student ratio is less favorable because they let their professors focus on research and teach fewer classes than higher ranked schools (e.g., Yale requires profs teach 4 classes a semester, Alabama requires 1). Professors can avoid teaching lower level classes. The prestige of the faculty at Alabama way outweighs the general student body. They pay professors very well and research funding is high. Their research is excellent and their grad programs ranked high - med and increasingly law. It is undeniable the opportunities for motivated and academic kids at the school. Upper level classes are fantastic and rigorous and small. Med, grad and job placement is notably high among the program kids. For people focused on “rankings” or social prestige, probably not a good fit.

So Bama is becoming an institution that prioritizes research over undergraduate instruction? Cal and UCLA are described this way and the conclusion is nearly always negative, better for grads than undergrads.

No, it’s not better for grads. Alabama Phd programs are weaker than the schools you reference. PhD placement from Alabama is great. The opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research is a benefit from having less Phds. The teaching at Alabama is also fantastic in the higher level classes — which may include both undergrads and grad students.

There seems to be some wordsmithing here. “opportunities for high achieving undergrads in labs and other research”

“teaching . . . fantastic in the higher level classes”

A lot of schools have this, and what about everyone else?

No wordsmithing, the academics are there for students who want it. And if you want to work in a lab, there are opportunities, whereas in other schools these jobs can be cutthroat. The kids taking higher level classes tend to be in the special programs, but anyone can take them.

So you admit most of the kids aren't smart?

[Anonymous]

I have seen it with my own eyes with my DC who is eligible for one of their top merit scholarships. I was blown away (not trying to be dramatic) by the campus, the culture, the professors we met with (some randomly) and the opportunities for high stats kids. Way more impressed than I was as some of the “hot” schools often mentioned here, where the kids frankly seemed miserable and in a constant grind and opportunities were clearly limited for undergraduates. The sense of pride was undeniable. And there was in fact diversity on campus. Is it for everyone? Certainly not. But is it a bad place to spend four years? Doubtful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

It's free for kids with high stats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama isn't a good school, but that doesn't really matter if you get a hot wife and want to live in the South. They are a very fun, beautiful school and your frat brothers will get you a good job.

What specifically makes Alabama "not a good school"? I'm sincerely curious.

Their academics.

Care to elaborate, with data this time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen it with my own eyes with my DC who is eligible for one of their top merit scholarships. I was blown away (not trying to be dramatic) by the campus, the culture, the professors we met with (some randomly) and the opportunities for high stats kids. Way more impressed than I was as some of the “hot” schools often mentioned here, where the kids frankly seemed miserable and in a constant grind and opportunities were clearly limited for undergraduates. The sense of pride was undeniable. And there was in fact diversity on campus. Is it for everyone? Certainly not. But is it a bad place to spend four years? Doubtful.

+1

My kid went to visit for a weekend and loved it. I said absolutely not…because of stereotypes and bias. They got in and the school rolled out the red carpet when we went down together to meet with professors, etc. I gave in, and my kid is thriving.

The quality of life aspect of college should be just as important as the academics. And the quality of life in the college town is rather impressive.

The parents’ FB groups really opened my eyes to how diverse and impressive the students are. So many kids go on to impressive grad schools, law schools, med schools, etc. as well as impressive jobs across the country.

My kid doesn’t plan to stay in Tuscaloosa after graduation, but they are hoping to land in a southern city where housing is more affordable.