DaDobester While I agree with much of what you have stated, you do realize that in order to qualify for the Generous Merit Scholarships at the University of Alabama that one needs to score very high on the SAT/ACT. In fact, UA values high scorers over lower scorers as dictated by the amount of merit money one can receive based upon standardized test scores.
High scoring students are generally considered high achieving students and whatever you may think about standardized tests, I would prefer that my child attend a school that has good number of high achieving students who can challenge him. For me that is a part of determining the value of an education.
If UA had all the aspects stated by ProudPapaBear but all of its students consisted of those that scored below the 50% percentile on the ACT/SAT, I would not send my son to such an institution. Because I do not believe he would be challenged. But because UA as outlined in my prior posts has a very significant number of high achieving/scoring students and with all the opportunities outlined by ProudPapa it was a rather easy decision for my son to attend Alabama over Cornell.
There is a reason why ALL the top colleges use SAT/ACT in the admission process and why generally the top scorers get accepted.