Worried Student

I didn't think that the school was great academically and upon further research, I found out that it is relatively easy to get into. It seems like a solid state school, but should it really be ranked ahead of schools like Kansas, Oregon, Arizona, USD, and UMass? This is not a knock on Alabama, I'm just curious as to how their rankings work.

JaxSurf

do you go there?

Marsden

Check the "methodology" link on the rankings pages. It's a fairly clear explanation.

Worried Student

"The complete explanation is on the usnews.com site. Just read the methodology. Your answers will be there.."
Thanks, I didn't see that before. I was asking because a friend of mine lives and dies by these ratings. He applied to Alabama solely because of these rankings. After looking over their grading criteria, it appears very flawed. 30 % of their rating is based on how much money the school has. 25 % of the rating is based on what other teachers "think" about the school, which is very subjective.

I’m trying to convince my friend that he has better options than Alabama. We are both California residents, and I don’t believe that Alabama is worth its high out of state tuition. I can see someone going there from Alabama; you can get a quality education from a solid state school at an affordable price.

JaxSurf

because its alabama it cant possibly be a good school? what if they changed their name to Tuscaloosa University? Wow that removes that alabama red neck sting. i personally look at the undergraduate programs and how its cheaper than most other public state U's in the south. i mean have you looked up anything about the school?

warblersrule86

Calm down, JaxSurf. Not too many people head to California for OOS tuition either.

Worried Student, it can't hurt your friend to apply. For all you know, he could get a full ride scholarship. In any case, Alabama (and Auburn, Samford, and BSC) has a good reputation, particularly in English and the sciences. It would be silly to matriculate without knowing more about the school, though.

JaxSurf

thanks for calming me down, cool as ice warblersrule86, things were getting out of hand there

feenotype

But the OP is right. One get a great education in California for much less than i would cost to go to UA, assuming of course, that one can get into a UC (I don't think of any CSU as better than Alabama).

huskem55

and the usnews isnt exactly accurate (i'd go as far to say there should be a +/- 15 on many schools)

Garrity

Alabama is overflowing with resources, actively seeking strong out of state applicants, and has amazing facilities in addition to one of the best honors colleges in the U.S. containing three or four honors programs which offer opportunity to well qualified students and not just to ivy league type stats students.

Garrity

Alabama should rise in the US News rankings because, due to a new housing requirement, the first year attrition rate will improve.

LakeWashington

Nothwithstanding rankings or lack thereof, you'll find a solid overall program at U of Alabama at Birmingham and at U of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. The Life Sciences at UAB are very good in particular. Both of the major campuses are actively recruiting out-of-staters.

skibird

Worried Student

I am an Alabamian who currently lives in another southeastern state (FL), but was educated from K-college in the state of Alabama.

You are quite astute in your assessments of the academic value of the dollars spent for out of state tuition at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa in comparison to the quality of public universitites in California. When one looks at quality of education they are not in the same ballpark. If the academic programs you desire are available at public universities in your state and you can gain admission to these, take advantage of that opportunity!

The reason state universities across the nation are recruiting out of state students so heavily is to get those out of state tuition dollars. It is no secret that the economy is down in most areas nationwide. This in turn affects tax revenues. Public universities' funding comes largely from taxes; if tax revenues are off, their university budget will be adversely affected. So where can they make up some of the difference? Out of state students!

Since I have a daughter who is currently a high achieving senior in high school with high SAT/ACT scores, I have seen first hand how all of this recruiting from oos public and private universities is done. These schools purchase names and addresses of large blocks of students whose scores fall within certain levels. Once they have this information the marketing blizzard begins. (If they stopped all their mailings, we would never need to worry about trees ever again!)

Not only are you all students, you are customers. I encourage you all to shop wisely! Get the most education for the buck that you can. If you want to go out of state fine, but make a completely informed decision. Since most college students change their major several times in the course of their college career, look at the university as a whole - does it have a well rounded academic program? Are you planning on grad school? If so, where are their grads being accepted? Is a degree from this school respected or not?

Plus, if you are planning on a big name grad school you may want to take advantage of your state schools for your bachelor's degree since grad school doesn't come cheap!

Just some food for thought. Your post high school education is a big investment of time and money. Make sure the school is the right fit from all perspectives!

FLVADAD

Skibird, I thought the OOS public universities were recruiting so hard to help move up in the rankings rather than OOS tuition dollars. I was under that impression because the ones that have contacted us are all offering scholarships, including Alabama and Auburn. Has that not been your experience also?

DSC

I am seeing more of what you are talking abotu flvadad.

Lots of emphasis on scholarships, Bama certainly isn't coming out ahead if I attend(NMF).