<p>Chardo, thanks. I hope i can pick your brain when the time comes, unfortunately i cant PM you right now since i dont have the official 15 CC posts yet but working on it. Another NY CC mom offered to assist us so its nice to see many NYers are UA bound.</p>
<p>[UANYC's</a> VA Tech Rammer Jammer - YouTube](<a href=“UANYC's VA Tech Rammer Jammer - YouTube”>UANYC's VA Tech Rammer Jammer - YouTube) for an example of the alumni presence in NYC</p>
<p>I love NYC!</p>
<p>check out Rammer Jammer by Warren St. John, an Alabamian now living in NYC. I believe he works for the Times. Gay Talese went to Bama, as did Harper Lee and the former editor of the Times, Howell Raines. E.O. Wilson of Harvard also went to Bama.</p>
<p>Thanks Atlanta,
My DS was showing me yesterday the NYC area Alumni Group. He was searching for a NYC location that Alabama fans hang out in . We found 2 locations, The Ainsworth and The Hill.</p>
<p>One from Hawaii? We better get busy, Malanai! There was a pretty good turnout at The Willows in the spring, so hopefully this year we get a few more! Especially after they got to see my awesome slide show :)</p>
<p>NYBama, I had to laugh at your post about being so far… D went to NY for spring break because it was so close 
It’s all relative.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Relative indeed! As I’m fond of pointing out, London is closer to Tuscaloosa than Honolulu. And . . . it’s no big deal, given the speed of air travel and electronic communication. If UA is a great fit and you can afford the transportation, don’t let distance get in the way of an unforgettable, invaluable experience.</p>
<p>Aloha and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Malanai,
In my sons eyes he is already in Alabama mentally. The distance was never really an issue for him just for momma bear who is having separation anxiety already. I had to promise her that we can go visit him whenever she wants. DS’s eyes almost popped out of his head. I told him dont worry I’ll try and limit her to every other weekend…lol lol</p>
<p>Every other week should keep the lad in line, lol. :)</p>
<p>*Relative indeed! As I’m fond of pointing out, London is closer to Tuscaloosa than Honolulu. *</p>
<p>Wow…interesting. That does put things in perspective!</p>
<p>I’m amazed at the % of OOS. I’m thinking the Merit $$ offered is the biggest draw (at least in bumping UA up people’s list and then the visits seal the deal).</p>
<p>I shake my head when I think about us finding out about UA on a whim. Like everyone else we’ve heard from dozens of schools and just for curiosity’s sake looked closely at a card from UA about a local reception and decided to go. At that time my D had 30 schools on her list and UA was not one of them. There was a comment at the end of reception about the SITE program, D attended that and there she found out about additional Eng dept scholarships. UA has since vaulted up her choice list to 1-2 with UT-Austin. And, UT Austin will probably be more expensive as they have no auto merit $$.</p>
<p>The other thing all the OOS numbers make me think about is my 2nd D, class of '18 and worrying about what merit will be available then as UA moves over 60% OOS :)</p>
<p>Getting ahead of myself, I know.</p>
<p>Although the big merit offers often attract the top stats OOS kids, there are a very large number of full pay OOS students as well. </p>
<p>I was talking to someone in Admissions awhile last spring and she said the number of full-pay OOS kids is quite staggering. There are over 3000 OOS frosh this year, and only a fraction are getting significant merit money…most are getting no merit at all. </p>
<p>Out in the country, there must be enough affluent people whose kids have good-but-not top stats who can’t get into their own flagships, but want the big college, big sports experience and don’t qualify for any or much merit…so they come to Bama. Bama is certainly happy to accept a number full pay OOS students with sub-scholarship stats that will likely get rejected from schools like UIUC, Cal, UCLA, UCSD, UMich, UVA, UNC-CH, etc.</p>
<p>For us the generous scholarship allowed us to discount the Zell Miller and Hope scholarships without significantly increasing costs. Though my thoughts may not be shared by everyone, we feel the Hope has been detrimental to the quality of our in state schools. We visited most of them and our daughter did not feel any were a match for her. Bama’s recruitment efforts and the visit to campus sealed her decision. Everything fell into place for her at the UA…academics, a gorgeous campus, the community, amazing opportunities. After all was said and done, Bama just felt right to her. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>OOS prospective mama here. The merit definitely got DS13 attention. </p>
<p>For his younger siblings, assuming Bama’s costs do not out pace of state schools costs, my 2 younger kids will seriously consider Bama even without a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>The multiple daily flights and beautiful friendly campus hooked me!</p>
<p>One downside to the large number of OOS students…per my D who is from Chicago.<br>
Not as many students with the wonderful Southern accents as she would like! </p>
<p>She has friends from NY, Brooklyn, Philly, San Diego, TX, Phoenix, etc…and a few from TX and AL. She loves the Southern accent and is jokingly disappointed that it is not as prevelant as you would think.</p>
<p>Very happy to see a lot of kids from the NY area, particularly from our immediate area attending Bama. Another boy from my DS school just accepted to attend.</p>
<p>Not surprised to see Texas #2 on the list. There is a brain drain flowing out of Texas right now. Although I am quite upset at Gov. Perry and the Texas legislature, I am extremely grateful that there are places like the University of Alabama that welcome the smart kids from Texas. While my son did have some generous scholarship offers in his home state, Alabama was a much better opportunity and a better fit. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>*Not as many students with the wonderful Southern accents as she would like! </p>
<p>She has friends from NY, Brooklyn, Philly, San Diego, TX, Phoenix, etc…and a few from TX and AL. She loves the Southern accent and is jokingly disappointed that it is not as prevelant as you would think.*</p>
<p>Frankly, fewer city-kids from the South have much/any accents. They’ve been too influenced by TV, movies, teachers from elsewhere, parents from elsewhere, etc. When we had a young priest in our parish who was born and raised in Birmingham, I asked him why he and his sister didn’t have accents and he said it was because of TV and city-life.</p>
<p>When my kids were in school in the Huntsville area, I don’t think they had any classmates with southern accents.</p>
<p>However, I went to a specialist in Decatur recently (which is more rural), and the staff there had accents. The doctor, from NJ, had his own accent as well. lol</p>
<p>Holy moly, what’s with all the Yankees attending Bama? I thought Tulane had that market covered. Good for the State of Alabama, as it brings some much needed income to the area. Tulane and the City of New Orleans figured that out a long time ago.</p>
<p>I’m really glad to hear this, as I have been through some poverty stricken areas in the State of Alabama, and I hope the influx of OOS money will help these needy areas.</p>
<p>As for accents, wait until your kids come home after four years away in Alabama. They will have some kind of accent, a conglomeration of Yankee, Southern, Midwestern, and maybe even a bit of Texan in there, too. They’ll probably fit right in in Nawlins.</p>
<p>The OOS tuition money goes to the school. It doesn’t go to the state. That said, UA is a money-making enterprise for the state. Bama’s successes do have a positive affect on the state sales-tax wise, etc. </p>
<p>Yes, when kids return they’ll probably have picked up some regional expressions…y’all, tote, give me a holler (phone call), hey (instead of “hi”), etc.</p>
<p>I remember the first time I heard my grocery cart called a “buggy.”</p>
<p>For this northern Illinois family (originally from Texas), the high in-state tuition here was a factor, but so was the fact that U of I is basically being held together basically by duct tape. Dingy and in great need of repair is what I’ve heard from other families with students there. Contrasting that with a similar costing school that has what he wants to study, a gorgeous campus and no snow…easy decision.</p>