Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama: Review

I recently published an article through associated content reviewing my MBA experience at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In that article, I referenced the fact that I completed my undergraduate degree at Samford University. As such, I decided it was only fair to share my thoughts on that experience as well! After all, I can't leave you all hanging!

I enrolled at Samford University in 1999 as your typical 18-year-old, who thought she already knew about life...yet was very excited about chasing after the college experience. At the time I enrolled, I was unsure whether to pursue journalism or physics as a major. Yep, that's right--physics. Thankfully, I came to my senses pretty quickly about that one! Funny thing...I graduated with a degree in business management. I suppose that means I'm one of those typical college stories where majors change frequently.

Samford is a smaller, private, Southern Baptist sponsored school. As I grew up in a fairly conservative, Christian household, embracing the rules and values that Samford held was no problem for me. However, I had several friends who viewed the rules as a bit too strict. Word to the wise...if you're looking for a party school, go ahead and check Samford off of the list. It's a dry campus, and there are rules in place for when it's appropriate--and when it's not--to have the opposite gender in your dorm rooms.

Moving on, however, as the point of this article was to give would-be students a look at the academics at the school. We might touch on morals and "life" at Samford in another article...so stay tuned!

I began working on a business minor my sophomore year. In that year, I took an accounting course. I've always been mathematically minded, but the course challenged me in ways that journalism never had. The professor I had was excellent (Kudos to you, Mrs. Jackson, if you're reading this), and somehow managed to make a topic like "t-accounts" and "credits and debits" interesting. I decided in that class that there had to be more opportunities to learn and spread my brain power around a bit in the business world, as opposed to the journalism world.

So, I switched majors. The business school at Samford boasted small class sizes, making it very easy to get to know professors individually. More over, you got to know your fellow classmates...several of whom I'm still in touch with in the business world today. Knowing professors on a one-on-one basis makes it easier to meet outside of class time in groups to go over information before exams or projects are due. Developing these relationships also proves helpful when sending off recommendations for potential employers. The relationships I developed here are some that I'm confident would not have come from larger classes at a state school. There's a level of caring and commitment from the professors at Samford that I never discovered at any other university I attended. (I've also taken classes at Middle Tennessee State University.)

Through my relationships with professors at Samford...and the help of the business school staff, I was able to land an internship with Merrill Lynch during my senior year. This internship on my resume sparked more questions in future job interviews than any of my other experiences to that point. This demonstrates just one of the many opportunities that Samford is able to offer its students. Samford has been around long enough to gain recognition and clout within the Birmingham community. As my supervisor at Merrill Lynch told me on my first day, he had never gotten a bad intern from Samford. At the time, I thought that added some serious pressure to my shoulders, to live up to his expectations.

Turns out, I didn't need to worry. My classes at Samford had prepared me for everything that I faced in that internship.

In addition to smaller class sizes, Samford also has a very well defined study-abroad program. The school has a separate campus in London, England, and offers trips across the Atlantic for each semester, summer, and "January term". I was fortunate enough to take a trip during January one year. Well...fortunate to of had the experience. A bit dumb for not having considered the cooler, gloomy weather I was heading into!

The School of Business offered an international capitalism course my junior year. Due to previously established relationships with our professors at Samford, we were able to tour some of the biggest financial names in London. I've walked through the London Metals Exchange, been in a board room at Lloyd's of London, spoke face-to-face with a finance executive at Goldman Sach's.

These experiences are such that I know I would not have received at any other school. Looking back, we all realize that when we move out of our parent's houses, we see life in brand new eyes. We get a new view of the world as we know it. I'm very thankful that my new view came from Samford University. The School of Business prepared me in ways I would have never dreamed possible for life after graduation. I graduated with an overall knowledge of how the business world functions...both at home, and abroad. Seminars at the Bank of England contributed to my overall education.

As I said in my previous article regarding UAB...yes, a degree is a degree regardless of which institution of higher learning grants it. And yes, Samford does require much more of a financial commitment than any state school would. However...basic business sense asks that you balance the risk and return of any potential investment. In evaluating that, I'm confident that the return I gained from my Samford education was worth the risk of the investment I made in tuition monies.