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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s not just the healthcare. It’s the sororities too, the whole ethos. If you took the same girl and sent her to BU or anyplace else not in the South it is much more likely she would be launched on a successful career path. [/quote]

This poster has no idea. Try to visit, [b]it is eye-opening[/b]. The school is impressive and the [b]opportunities amazing[/b]. All kinds of kids, with an energetic and happy vibe, not angry or tense like many northern schools.  [/quote]
Curious to know what's eye-opening and about the amazing opportunities. Thanks. [/quote]

For DD, it was access to labs and research.  Alabama is a very wealthy R1 university and undergrads get great experience — DD is running her lab, reporting to the professor and is a TA.  Her name will be high up on a publication, she has presented at conferences and has a job offer.  Pre med, labs and clinical are easy to get — Alabama placed 100% of its pre med program in med school, many in top programs. The thing is, the Blount and Randall kids support each other and tell each other about labs and opportunities.  There’s no elbowing or backstabbing for these jobs like there is at other schools (eg Michigan).

If you are in even considering — visit.  I guarantee the naysayers have never been here.  I’m down here now for homecoming, and Alabama is not the predominant license plate.  I am still in awe at the energy and pride of this place.[/quote]

It is not a very wealthy college…actually has a minimal endowment compared to other more prominent flagships.

They likely are comfortable borrowing heavily as their $1.2BN endowment isn’t paying for the new facilities.

They aren’t going bust so probably not a great concern.
[/quote]

Wrong. They are an extremely wealthy university and very well-managed.  Unlike WVU, Alabama did not take loans.  Their endowment is healthy, but they don’t hoard and have a very loyal and generous alumni along with 100s of millions from SEC sports.  Look into it.  [/quote]

You are arguing against facts.  A $1.2BN endowment pales against UT, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, UNC, etc. and of course nothing against the top private schools.

SEC sports revenue just helps the athletic department break even…again, a verifiable fact that shows inflows and outflows.[/quote]

Nope. It doesn’t appear you know much about this school. It is very financially healthy. They pay their professors well, are well capitalized and well-managed. UVA had significant financial problems and pay professors poorly. I don’t know about the others, but UMD is known to be poorly managed and Michigan just spent $250 million on DEI. Whereas Alabama has spent wisely and attracts considerable research money, professor talent and labs are well funded.  [/quote]

Nope what?  Again…I provided facts and you provided opinion and nonsense.

Michigan’s endowment is nearly 20x Alabama.  $250MM spent on DEI over several years is a rounding error.  Their professors are doing just fine and their research labs aren’t hurting for funding either.

UVA’s endowment is 14x larger…UT’s 40x larger.

Nobody is saying the school is financially troubled, but it’s not a school with lots of endowment to tap nor is it a “wealthy” school.[/quote]
To be fair, some of your statements are also opinions. Opinions: appears to be a rounding error, professors are doing fine, research labs aren't hurting.....[/quote]

Fair point…but endowments, sports revenue (and expenses) and basically all other financial metrics are public.

The school has a niche attracting OOS UMC kids where parents want a free ride.  Alabama doesn’t have the luxury that UNC, UVA, UC and UT have that can limit OOS to very low percentages.  Clearly they don’t receive enough qualified in-state applications as the overall acceptance rate is very high.[/quote]

That’s not really true.  Auburn is the “Alabama” school, much higher percentage of in-state kids there and they are “qualified”.  University of Alabama has a different focus and it’s intentional. They want the R1 money and they have gotten that by being attractive to professors and courting the high stats out of state kids. Not all these kids are there only for the scholarships, although they all receive them.  As a PP mentioned, the school caters to these kids in the special programs like Blount and the opportunities and grad placements are amazing. [/quote]

Everyone I know from this area at Alabama is there for either the money or they were intentionally seeking southern greek life. Everyone falls into one of those two categories. Not a single person went because "it’s such a great school."[/quote]

There are some at the school for those reasons. And they are valid — fun school and the scholarship is a great deal. But there are plenty of kids who go to take advantage of the opportunities, which are truly amazing. Even some from this area, although people find it tough to get past biases like yours. [/quote]

I have seen several posts from people about opportunities available to certain honors kids that sound very good…but nothing unique or truly amazing.

So, what are the truly amazing opportunities?[/quote]

Different poster, but I'll take a shot. My daughter picked being a Witt University Fellow at UA over being a Rodman Scholar at UVA or a Monroe Scholar at W&M because she felt that it would give her a superior experience. She did not go to make an abstract statement that UA is "such a good school" or to say anything about the relative merits of the three institutions, or even those three programs, overall. She went because the program at UA best served her needs and interests.

Trying to convince anyone on this board that a Witt Fellowship (or anything else) is "truly amazing"--again, not my word choice--is always going to be a losing battle, but it's an impressive program that a student could absolutely choose on the merits. The program selects a cohort of 20-25 students from each entering class, after receiving applications and going through two rounds of interviews, including a callback interview to campus. Fellows take a custom minor focusing on civics and leadership. The cohort gets mentoring and leadership from professors, students in older cohorts, and alumni. They are paired with a big sister, go to dinners at professors' houses, have regular check-ins  about applying for grad school and post-graduate scholarships, etc. Each cohort goes on two excursions tied to their curriculum. They spend their first year studying poverty, with a focus on Alabama's Black Belt, and come up with ideas to address specific problems in that location. Over the summer, they go to the Black Belt and work with the community to implement those programs. After the third year, when they've also spent two more years studying civics and government, they go to Cuba. The Fellows attend annual symposia and community events. They all write and present a "magnum opus"--essentially a thesis, though there's a lot of flexibility as to format. And they do tons of team-building events within their cohort, including excursions, intramural sports, and corporate-retreat-type obstacle course fun. That's all layered on top of the NMF scholarship, which essentially provides a 5-year full ride. The NMF kids generally have substantial AP or DE credits coming in, so 5 years can get them pretty far along the road to graduate school. Or they can study abroad or do a year of research on UA's dime.

None of this is unique, of course. UA is not Deep Springs, and the Witt Fellowship is pretty clearly modeled on existing programs like the Jefferson and Morehead-Cain Scholarships. But those are excellent programs! It makes perfect sense that UA would look to them as a way to attract high-stat students, and it's equally reasonable for high-stats students to take advantage of what Alabama has to offer.[/quote]

While these are great opportunities, much more is available to regular ivy and T10 admits. Furthermore the outlined list above does not allow for internships after sophomore or junior year. I just counted over a dozen international options that are fully funded summers including stipends that take 10-12 kids each at my kid's school. In addition are many dozen stipended summer research programs on campus that are only for undergrads who attend this school. In addition there is a slush fund that any student can apply for to get fudning for an unpaid off campus position. A large percent gets a funded summer program after freshman year due to the offerings at the school plus connections with other programs. These kids graduate in 4 years easily and go straight into med school or phD all the time, no 5th year or masters needed because they do graduate level classes as early as sophomore year with AP and IB waivers. The career center is always advertising internships that are meant for juniors nationally but the sophomores at this institution get them due to the course difficulty they take. Great that Alabama provides some flashy sounding stuff for free, but as with most things...you get what you pay for. None of it is close to the realm of options for a regular student at an ivy or similar[/quote]

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