Birmingham Southern College Admission
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The Facts

Birmingham-Southern College is a fantastic, rather small liberal arts college located in the town of Birmingham , Alabama . The school is affiliated with the Methodist church, and is considered to be one of the best private liberal arts colleges in the South. The school is home to approximately 1,275 undergraduate students and only about 85 graduate and part-time students. The school places a real emphasis on hands-on experience and preprofessional preparation for the “real-world.” The school is perhaps best known for its science programs, as well as for its small but excellent fine and performing arts programs.

The school offers a wide variety of majors for a school of such diminutive size, and some of the most popular with students include majors in psychology, English, biology, natural sciences, political science and social studies.

Admission to the school is not terrifically competitive, but the administration has recently upped its admissions standards, and the applicant pool is becoming more and more diverse and accomplished.

Last year, over 1,100 students applied for admission and about 955 were accepted. Eventually however, only about 355 of those admitted actually enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1090 to 1330, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 24 to 30. Furthermore, over 82% of those admitted were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of 3.35.

The school has a small student to faculty ratio of 12:1, and students say that their close relationships with their professors are the best part of their college experience. In fact, some professors actually live on campus. They are constantly available, and students say that they are always willing to help them out when they may need a bit of assistance. Students often foster their relationships with teachers beyond graduation, and many lead to eventual jobs.

The Social Scene

The city of Birmingham is quite large, and does offer students quite a bit of activity and excitement, including a civil rights museum, a zoo, botanical gardens, a Jazz Hall of Fame, and many area shopping centers and large malls. Many students own cars, and those who don't are able to hitch a ride with those who do.

The Greek scene is quite prominent at the college, and there are a large number of students who belong to either a fraternity or sorority. They are somewhat infamous for throwing some pretty rowdy parties on the weekends which are incredibly popular with most students on campus and off. The Greeks are also involved in many community service activities, and do a lot of very important charitable work.

The dating scene is pretty vibrant here; the old “Southern charm” applied to both sexes here, and you should expect a lot of door-opening and pulling-out of chairs.

What’s Good

“People are really friendly here. They are always willing to help someone out. It's really nice and comforting.”

“There is a real sense of pride for this school. You feel like you are a real part of the community.”

“The academics are amazing here, and it is usually quite easy to get into a good grad school once you leave BSC.”

What’s Bad

“The population here is pretty small, and people tend to get into one another's private affairs more than they should.”

“The Greeks are a bit obnoxious and overwhelming here. They think they rule the school, and in a sense, unfortunately, they do.”

“The school can be really uptight sometimes, and the administration tends to over react to mishaps.”

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