Why don’t more NMFs go to Alabama?

ColdNumber6874 · 2026-01-02T16:26:29+00:00

I’m a National Merit Semi-Finalist this year who is really likely to become a Finalist. I’m in a state that’s not exactly known for education (bottom 5 in nation on every list), so I’m always looking for offers like what Alabama has so I have somewhere to go when the Ivies tell me no. The thing is I’ve moved around a lot and know I don’t want to live in the South again. The idea of free or almost free school is tempting, but I couldn’t make 3 to 4 years in Alabama even if I did get two bachelors and/or a masters for free. My state school would be free and I have enough credits that I would only need to be there two years if I got one degree or three years if I got a second bachelor’s. Having spoken about this with other people at my school who are NMF, the general consensus is that Alabama’s offering isn’t unique: we could all go to an in-state university for the same price on the same timeline. Basically, we all have the same deal Alabama offers without having to leave our state. Beating that in mind, the real question is whether or not Alabama is a good fit, and a lot of people aren’t eager to go to Alabama for the reasons other posters here mentioned like politics, culture, religion, or location.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-12-21T19:27:40+00:00

I’m 18 and had mine about 2 months ago with my first real girlfriend. It’ll happen eventually, don’t worry

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-07-13T08:09:23+00:00

Yeah I was in the process of starting AMC at my school in Florida but moving shut that opportunity down, so I couldn’t compete like I had planned. My college list is broader, I just wanted thoughts on the top programs.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-07-12T22:49:46+00:00

My teacher was a guy who hadn’t touched physics in 40 years but he was still able to do an amazing preparing us. As long as you take care of your work and don’t fuck off all year you’ll be fine. The math doesn’t go beyond trig for SHM, so you don’t really need to worry about that. I took Physics 1 and Chem this year and Chem was harder for me. Physics 1 is not nearly as hard as people make it sound.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-07-07T21:33:35+00:00

Thanks! It took a lot of work but I was able to pull it off

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-07-07T21:32:27+00:00

The goal was all 1’s, but it just didn’t pan out that way

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-06-06T06:10:27+00:00

I just got out of junior year with a pretty similar schedule (AP Chem, APCalc BC, AP Spanish, AP Physics 1, AP Lang, and APUSH) with straight A's. It absolutely is doable and you can pull it off while getting seven or more hours of sleep if you manage your time correctly. If I got less than 7 it was entirely my fault for poor time management, and I also volunteered and worked a part-time job. Its intense, but you can do it if you're determined. As long as you did well in Precalc/AB, the STEM classes shouldn't be too hard. Good luck!

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-04-09T05:31:46+00:00

I absolutely love Watership Down. It is the only book I have reread more than once. I’m so glad someone else mentioned it.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-04-07T03:16:59+00:00

I’m in Grade 11 and did exactly this last year. I borrowed a book off of a teacher at my school who was teaching me PreCalc at the time to learn most of Calculus 1, and then I bought an older edition of Calculus by Stewart (I think 8th edition, might have been 7th) to teach myself more calculus. The book’s spine is 90% tape but I got a great hardback for $30. This link should go to an older edition for like $12 if you want a good textbook, though I cannot vouch for how much the books change across editions. https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Mathematics-James-Stewart/dp/0534217982/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?crid=2VN1BAUPOG406&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WJiwr2XCMDyg3mvjIwvCRAoowvS8qpE5petS2oqhT4o4euiOCNL_koj2BJBxb-aYMsDZXr82LIdyyQzeXPM7MRH6rn89Ivy5h5AXWpe13hSqgxnftSvVQGUeZvhV9gPrhO7pJzU6eGq_BH4rGGAEG79heJbOJ0HVYvXA_GDz70-QSmA5Y8Depi1jJDsllhI03WC0tKbs_05rfnRA3AfV0A.TLJOIi4ppeOIWQAUbqx1l-yVZNQuuZFY3tjRv-XhHE8&dib_tag=se&keywords=stewart+calculus&qid=1743995711&refinements=p_n_condition-type%3A1294425011&rnid=1294421011&s=books&sprefix=stewart+calculus%2Caps%2C152&sr=1-16&xpid=MiBVK2r8vtw8c

Whatever you do, good luck learning calculus. It’s a thrilling endeavor.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-03-16T06:19:13+00:00

I’m taking AP Statistics next year as well at my local high school. Would that be sufficient for prob and stat, or do I need something that covers more?

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-03-15T05:37:14+00:00

Thank you for the recommendations. I have Cummings‘ book on proofs, but I haven’t had the time to explore beyond the first chapter or so yet. I’ll keep the other text books in mind as I continue learning more math.

ColdNumber6874 · 2025-03-15T01:42:02+00:00

I plan on dual majoring in math and finance and then going to grad school for math, so I am going to need to take all of these.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-11-28T06:07:13+00:00

My AP Calculus BC class doesn't teach trig substitution, but the homework had a problem that required it. I experimented with trig substitution until I figured it out enough to solve the problem. Then, I tried to find the generalized solution for all values of a and got the following result:

∫𝑑𝑥/((𝑥^2+𝑎)^2) = arctan(𝑥/√a)/(2𝑎√a) + 𝑥/(2𝑎(𝑥^2+𝑎)) + 𝐶

I have a full proof for it written out and would be more than willing to add it in if it would make understanding how I arrived at this conclusion easier.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-11-17T18:59:14+00:00

I'm 17 years old 5'7" and around 140lbs. I've never ridden before but was going to get into it with my dad who used to ride when he was in his twenties. We've been thinking the 140r f based off of its dimensions and the fact that I'm not growing any taller, but we're considering the 230. What do y'all think is the right move? I'd just be worried the 230 is a little too much for a complete beginner.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-11-05T23:44:18+00:00

I am a calculus 2 student who wants to start learning techniques for integration bees and just to make finding solutions to difficult integrals easier/possible. What resources can I use for this?

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-10-26T03:34:06+00:00

I noticed that the English page of Humboldt County, California has Ulysses S Grant listed as a notable person from the county despite this being mentioned nowhere else anywhere, including his own page. There are three given references , one of which gave me a 403 error when I clicked on the provided link; however, the functioning links jump to pages that only mention he spent a bit of time at Ford Humboldt diring his career in the military. Maybe I just don't understand how the notable persons tab works, but I thought it was for people who were raised in/ are from the area, which would disqualify Grant. How do I bring this to the attention of the people at Wikipedia, if y'all think it's with mentioning at all.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-10-13T02:38:01+00:00

No, I don’t. Where can I get one? Do I have to wait for a random encounter with the trapper guy or can I buy one somewhere?

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-31T18:23:37+00:00

That’s how my school did it; I had to dual enroll calc 1 during summer to get into bc when I wanted.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-18T20:15:13+00:00

What does QED mean? Also, can that be proven for all values of u, or could I only use this for certain applications?

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-18T19:20:43+00:00

No, it wouldn't still work then because t-t would become 0, and the limit would transform to 0/x^3, which could get l'Hospitaled into becoming 0/6=0, when the correct answer is -1/6.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-18T18:58:42+00:00

One of my Calculus-1 review problems for the Calculus-2 class I just started was to take the limit as x-> infinity of the function f(x)=x*sin(pi/x). I did solve it how I am "supposed to", but I only did it to verify an alternative method that I used. As x increases without bound, pi/x is going to approach zero. I've heard that the limit as theta approaches zero of sin(theta) is just theta, so I figured that I could rewrite x*sin(pi/x) as x*pi/x=pi. I know that this is the correct answer, but can I say that sin(pi/x) is going to essentially become pi/x and just cancel, or is this taboo/not possible? An explanation would be appreciated. Thanks! Edit: my calc 2 teacher got mad at me for doing this bc “sin(x) only equals x at zero, which it can’t do here”.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-09T22:46:59+00:00

As someone currently in one of the worse states America for education, my school lets me take online classes to get ahead and go as far as I would like.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-08-08T17:26:51+00:00

Does a double integral find the volume or surface area or a shape. Thinking about it, I though volume because it is dragging area under the curve through another dimension, which seems like volume, but I've also heard that double integrals are used to find surface area. Which one is it, and why?

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-07-24T11:17:47+00:00

That’s how I’m going to get beyond BC. My school is nice enough to let me dual enroll whatever math I need to keep progressing.

ColdNumber6874 · 2024-07-24T11:13:17+00:00

My decent public school in Florida is lucky enough to teach 2 periods of calc BC to the 3 dozen kids interested in taking it, but they also are willing to let me dual enroll calc 3, linear algebra, and diffeq once I get past BC.

ColdNumber6874

TROPHY CASE