During my junior year in high school, over spring break, my mom and I went on a road trip to tour Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, The University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS, and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL. The second we set foot on the Alabama campus we fell in love with it. Every person we met was so accommodating, they made it seem like they really wanted you to be a student here; the campus was absolutely beautiful, you never got tired of looking at it; and overall, it had impressive credentials. I almost immediately decided that was where I wanted to go. I applied to seven schools, but there was only ever one true choice. But I, like many students I know, got lots of hate for their decision to come here. In fact, after being here for three months, I still sometimes get lots of questions or puzzled sentiments. Below, is my list of things that you should really stop saying to students at the University of Alabama.
1. What does "Roll Tide" mean anyway?
Just like "Hotty Toddy," "Woo Pig Sooie," "War Eagle," "Gig 'Em," "Rocky Top," "Sko Buffs" and so many others, "Roll Tide" is a beloved battle cry, and it comes with a great story too. The original nickname of the football team was "the thin red line," but in a particularly rainy game against Auburn in 1907, the uniforms were stained with red mud and one sports editor declared that the football team looked like a tide of crimson, rolling towards their opponents. And thus, "Roll Tide" and "The Crimson Tide" were born.
2. Why would you go to a school that is so easy to get into and so bad at academics?
Let's start by looking at a few quick statistics. The University of Colorado Boulder's acceptance rate is 84.2 percent, The University of Michigan at Flint's is 74 percent, The University of Kansas is 93 percent. Cornell's acceptance rate is 15 percent and Vanderbilt's is 8.8 percent. The lowest acceptance rate in the country is Stanford University at 4.8 percent. The University of Alabama stands at 51 percent, highly competitive compared to its counterparts in other parts of the country.
Similarly, the four-year graduation rate at The University of Colorado Boulder is 46 percent, while Alabama's is 66 percent.
The average ACT score at The University of Kansas is a 21.9 while at The University of Alabama it is a 26.1 and over 2,100 of our freshman class (that's over 40 percent of us) scored a 30 or above on the ACT placing those students in the top 5 percent of all students who take the ACT. Our freshman class also includes 135 National Merit Scholars, compared to Harvard's 391.
We may not be the best of the best, but as far as public universities go, we're untouchable. With our incredible out-of-state scholarships, unbelievable law, nursing, engineering, dance, and business programs (to name a few), a sky-high retention rate and graduation rate, and extremely competitive ACT and SAT scores and GPA's, no other public university in the country even holds a candle to us.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed the acceptance rate of The University of Michigan at Flint to The University of Michigan.
3. Do you have indoor plumbing there?/Do people wear shoes there?
Nope.
You do realize we live in a different state, not a different century... right? We don't use outhouses and we do indeed wear shoes here. I guess. If you count Chacos and Birkenstocks as shoes.
4. When you come back for Christmas Break are you going to be racist?
The University of Alabama, like many other schools in America (especially in the SEC) have histories that were darkly tainted with racism. Unfortunately, America's history has been polluted by slavery, segregation and overall racism since the beginning of its conception. The majority of students here are not proud of this part of our history, and are very accepting and loving of all of their peers. However, it seems that we can't go more than a few years without having one ignorant student ruining that for the rest of us. We did have an incident towards the beginning of the year and the perpetrator is no longer a student at the University. Students like him are not the norm, but, unfortunately, that's what the media chooses to focus on, skewing people's views of what is otherwise an outstanding university.
5. So all people do there is watch football and hang out at the frat houses?
Football and Greek Life are two amazing parts of being a student here at the University of Alabama. With a consistently, nationally ranked football team, and the biggest Greek Life in the country, we are truly blessed to have access to these as students. But they aren't everything. As a member of one of the 22 sororities on campus, I find that though I devote tons of time to it, much of my day is taken up by ensuring that I am doing my best in all of my classes, I am also at church several times a week, and take part in several other organizations on campus. I adore my sorority and think it's one of the best parts of being a student here, but only about 34% of the campus is Greek. I also love going to the football games and cheering on the Tide, but not every student here attends the football games, or even knows much about our rankings. With some of the best academics in the country, and over 500 non-Greek letter organizations on campus, there are so many things that you can get involved with! That's one of the great things about going to school here, is that we have students from all walks of life, and every state in the country, so everyone really does find their niche, whether it's football or not.
6. Have you ever met a football player?/Have you ever met Nick Saban?
Short answer to the first question: yes. Short answer to the second question: gosh, I wish.
The football players are students here. When they aren't in practice or at a game, they are eating at Bryant, going to classes, and hanging out at church, at parties, or with friends, just like every other student here. It isn't unusual to have a football player in one of your classes, or run into them at Fried Friday, or be sitting behind one at church. They are people, after all.
I have not personally met Nick Saban, but I know a lot of people who have. Just like his players, he is just a person, and he goes out in public just like you and I.
7. You're probably going to be obese when you come back at Christmas Break.
Yeah, probably.
The South knows how to do food. And I'm constantly surrounded by barbecue, burgers, steak, etc. Friday's on sorority row are even known as "Fried Friday" and they're a day when the sorority houses serve all things fried to us (for those of you wondering how many fried foods could possibly exist. Lots. Chicken fingers, french fries, fried okra, fried pickles, fried mac and cheese balls, and corn dogs are some of the things my house serves weekly). However, I do have self-control and it isn't impossible to not eat badly every day. Especially in the sorority house. I can have fruit and a salad with every meal, and I don't have to eat carbs and sugar all the time. All it takes is a little bit of willpower.
8. Your sibling/friend/whoever is only considering applying to 'Bama so that they don't hurt your feelings.
I thought this article would disprove that, but just in case it didn't, here we go:
The school is so warm and welcoming, you will always feel like you fit in here.
The campus is very safe, we have our own police force, the UAPD that is assigned to different parts of campus, each residential area has their own officer, sorority row and fraternity row both have their own officers as well.
The staff is very friendly and approachable, if you aren't doing well in a class they will bend over backwards for you to make sure you start doing better.
The campus is absolutely gorgeous, you can't help but grin when walking past the amazing buildings, the beautiful, green quad and the omnipotent Bryant-Denny Stadium looming in the distance.
The academics are amazing (see number two).
There are more out-of-state students here than there are in-state students. So you will still experience the southern culture, and southern hospitality, but you won't lose the diversity that you likely experienced living in other states. You will pick up on words like "y'all" and "ma'am" and "sir" but you won't lose your sense of wonder as you encounter many other cultures and discrepancies between you and your friends as you form a friend group from all over the country. I know in my friend group alone we have people from Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Arizona, Colorado, California, Washington, New York, Chicago and New Jersey, and I love talking to them about their own high school experiences and seeing how they differ from mine.
The Greek life is the best in the country; if you're interested in joining a lifelong brotherhood or sisterhood, there is no better place in the country to do so than bama. There is nothing better than the day before the first game when your sorority hangs up their "(ADPi, Chi O, KD, or whoever else) loves the Tide" banner. Every day you can't wait to get to your house to eat and see all of your sisters, when you leave for breaks you feel sad that you aren't going to be in your house for a whole week, or see any of your sisters for that long. Every day is another opportunity for you to meet someone from somewhere interesting, or meet someone with an interesting story. You will meet your best friends and your bridesmaids in your four years in a sorority at Alabama. You will constantly feel rewarded for the work that you put in towards a philanthropy that is dear to you. And you will be pressured by your older sisters to do well in all of your classes, and in the end, will graduate with a higher GPA because of their help.
Football. I think football is fun to watch from anywhere in the country, but there's just something special about being nationally ranked and constantly winning. Being a part of the audience cheering on the Tide, regardless of whether we're playing Western Kentucky or Auburn, is just a feeling that's beyond compare. It feels as if you're the one down there on the field winning. When we win, we will as a whole school and you can feel the energy surging through the entire student body and our eyes fill with tears and the band starts up Rammer Jammer.
You will never be ashamed of your school. I have met so many adults who don't like to admit to people what their alma mater is. You will never feel that way here. 40 years from now when someone asks you where you got your undergraduate you will be able to beam and tell them confidently "I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama. Roll Tide!" Even with all of the misconceptions and sometimes negative portrayal in the media, I feel a surge of electricity go through me when someone asks me about college and I get to tell them proudly that I go to the best school in the country.
If my friends or family members choose to apply to school here, it's because they saw how happy the University made all of it's students and they felt a similar sense of pride and familiarity while they were on campus. Them applying here has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with the fact that they fell in love with it, just like I did.
So with that, I will leave you with a loving Rammer Jammer and an ever so proud, Roll Tide!
