<p>*I’m just curious if there are any other parents out there that have struggled with the same issue? *</p>
<p>Ohhhhh yessss! DS is about as non-Greek / non-party-animal as it gets!</p>
<p>NMx – is your son currently at UA, or will he be entering in Fall 2011? (I know you’ve mentioned this before, but I forget what you said…sorry!)</p>
<p>DS’s background is kind of Great Booksy, too, and he plans to minor in Classics.</p>
<p>My D was sure she wanted to go to a small elite East or West coast school. She is a 35 ACT, NMF 4.0 UW GPA. After having sticker shock, and finding most of these schools only offer scholarships on a needs basis (which we supposedly don’t have, but that is a topic for another thread and time.) I began to research MERIT based aid, and stumbled upon UA. </p>
<p>We visited in October, with zero expectations. D LOVED the campus, LOVED the honors college people (Dr Sharp and others,) loved the dorms, and the warmer weather. She also met with a professor for a one on one conversation, and LOVED what she heard about her prospective department, not to mention the new Science center is AWESOME! The scholarship offer is AMAZING, but overall you have to go where you are happy.</p>
<p>D is still getting TONS of push back from classmates, about going to some “backwards Southern school” but in my mind UA has so much to offer including many other NMF"s and high scoring kids that are either going, or thinking about going, which she will be surrounded by. As long as Alabama continues to spend money on research and great professors, how can you go wrong? </p>
<p>Perhaps with all these super high performers attending, they can change the perspective of “outsiders”. If not, the outsiders must be the small minded, “backward” people LOL!</p>
<p>(For what it’s worth, I’m adding some additional numbers relating to previous post)
According to the honors college office, Auburn entering 2010 frosh. honors college class: just over 1000; current ACT is over 31 per previous commenter. It really jumped up in the past 2 years.</p>
<p>They also stated they most likely may have to limit the 2011 incoming class to less than the 1000 they had in 2010.</p>
<p>This time last year I did not know about UA and had never seriously looked at a state school for D. D was always that brainy, driven, loves a challenge, lets form a study group kid in high school and frankly we thought she would probably end up at WASHU or Vandy.<br>
Turns out WASHU/VANDY had enough white, female NMF’s from TN last year so D was waitlisted. About that time I started posting (whining) on CC, found out about UA, visited and never looked back.<br>
If you visit UA you will understand why the Bama boards are so active and the community so enthusiastic. In our experience the campus is fabulous, friendly and as D says, it has everything she needs. Yes, you will have some large classes - 200 plus for freshman math. But you’ll also have course offerings you won’t find at a smaller school D is taking Swahili - one of 8 in the class. The honors classes are all smaller, and the honors college has a “community” feel . The study abroad options are overwhelming, the dorms are hands down the best we’ve seen, and Tuscaloosa is a great city.
We, too, had reservations about UA being the right fit for D since she had no interest in going greek and was not a football fan. She has had no problem making friends and finding activities that interest her. She is having a GREAT freshman year.
Go! Visit!! I guarantee you will be impressed!</p>
<p>"Ohhhhh yessss! DS is about as non-Greek / non-party-animal as it gets! "</p>
<p>Change that to “DD” and you’ve just described my kid. As she says, there is always a party somewhere if you are looking for one, but it’s no problem avoiding the party scene.</p>
<p>Lady Di, my son will be entering Fall 2011. I have PM’ed you.</p>
<p>As an NMF with great stats and some nice EC’s (like everyone else here LOL), DS received a lot of interest from a lot of ‘name’ schools. However, when he saw the money they wanted… and thought about how much grad school tuition would be… he saw the light. Then we looked at places where he could get a respected engineering degree without a lot of debt - and hoped to find some that also cared about learning (and maybe even about him). He’s decided that, for him, Bama is that place.</p>
<p>Of course, the warm weather, Southern hospitality and fab dorms are some rich gravy:-)</p>
<p>Wow, wow, wow–thank you all!!</p>
<p>We had been leaning toward NC publics and small Catholic colleges before Mom2CK told me about UA. We, too, had sticker shock: There is only so much a small Catholic college can do, merit-aid-wise, even if it wants to do more; and the in-state NC schools do not seem very interested in recruiting (or at least rewarding!!) NMFs. (You’d think NMFs were beating down their doors…but somehow I doubt that’s true even at the mighty Chapel Hill.) </p>
<p>I find it interesting that the UA Honors College SAT average is higher than that of UNC Chapel Hill (which has an honors program but not an honors college per se). The UA CBHP SAT average is Ivy-level! (Not that I worship SAT scores by any stretch…but the way some NC folks talk about UNC, you’d think it made Harvard look like Podunk Community College; whereas the reality is that UNC’s average SAT CR & M scores hover around 1300: quite good but not intimidatingly, breathtakingly spectacular.)</p>
<p>Several colleagues (and CC-ers!!) do think we’re nuts to be seriously considering rejecting UNC Chapel Hill in favor of UA. But they’re not the ones footing OUR tuition bill. You can’t eat prestige, and it’s pretty dang hard to beat FREE!</p>
<p>I can say that my daughter LOVES it at Auburn. We are from out of state, and have been there four times. Every time we visit, the people there are incredibly friendly and kind. Also, every single time I have sent Auburn an e-mail or called, I get a polite and timely reply. You really do feel like you are part of a “family” like they claim.
I love the small town atmosphere and the location of the college. It is really a walking campus unlike some others we visited. The Village has the nicest living arrangements of any college we visited. My daughter is not into the Greek thing, and that is no problem. It is also nice for her to be surrounded by other students who take their education seriously.
My daughter is a Presidential Scholar and is in the Honor’s College. She struggled making a college choice, but the cost of the Northwesterns, Dukes, were very hard to swallow. Being able to go to school debt free is going to really look great when graduation rolls around or graduate school is begun. She does not regret her decision one bit, but some of her friends attending private schools are already going to transfer because of the debt. (not sure why they didn’t figure this out last year) Audell mom, I’d love to see your Daughter be “all in” next year and hear her say War Eagle!</p>
<p>Can I just say I am loving the reponses on this thread. We are from Oregon. But going far away isn’t the issue. My daughter has ALWAYS wanted to go far away to school. And we are getting the same comments. When you tell people your daughter has applied to Stanford and Northwestern and then mention UA - people just don’t get it… But even if she gets into those other schools I’ve done my research, I know our EFC, and I know our “actual” EFC. She would have to take on some substantial debt to go. She is a very practical girl - she doesn’t want debt - and I agree with her. BUT I also want her to be happy and challenged her four years at college - not miserable because she made a choice based purely on financial reasons.</p>
<p>I have e-mailed Jami Gates to see if when we visit in March we can get some personalized tours. We are only there for one day so time is limited. If I had it to do over I would have planned more time for UA in this college visit trip - but flights are booked so we are going to try to get as much out of the time we have there as we can. </p>
<p>You have made me feel much better about UA as an option…</p>
<p>PMers, I am not ignoring y’all! Will answer PMs tonight – and THANK YOU!!</p>
<p>Mustang – do all Honors students live in the Village dorms? (And BTW, thank you for your input!)</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I can answer that…no…Auburn only has 298 beds dedicated to honors in The Village (per Auburn housing). It’s an issue for those who want to be in honors Super Suites. Only a very limited number of frosh can be in The Village honors super suites. Also, Auburn charges it’s NMF freshmen about $1300 per year “upcharge” to be in The Village (again, per Auburn housing office)</p>
<p>Bama has over 2500 beds in honors Super Suites.</p>
<p>Bama has refused to limit the number of students who can be in honors. If you have the stats, you can be admitted. Dr. Witt has told Dr. Sharpe that he is committed to spending the money to continue this practice. Doing so is expensive since those honors classes are expensive since they are limited to 15 kids per class. Dr. Witt does not want to raise the minimum (currently ACT 28 (91st percentile) because it would limit access to a number of URMs.</p>
<p>If Bama resorted to subjective means, that would cause other problems.</p>
<p>Yeah, M2CK is right – unfortunately, not everyone can live in the honors hall in the Village. They can however, live in the quad honors dorms. These are not suites though, they are more traditional rooms where two rooms share a bathroom. There is also an honors dorm on the hill, but I would rather live off campus than in those dorms – they need work. Supposedly, a number of the hill r-halls are to be renovated. With the 2010 frosh honors college numbers at 1000, I have no idea where they all could live, since some upperclassmen remain in on-campus housing.</p>
<p>Our path to Alabama began in October when we started to be deluged with mail after DS was named a NMSF. One letter stood head and shoulders above the rest - Dean Sharpe’s. Personable and well-reasoned, the letter seemed to focus on what would be best for the student rather than attempting to persuade him to come to Alabama. That alone would not be enough to lure DS from pursuing all his options, but, it sure has stuck in his father’s mind. DS will be heading to Tuscaloosa next weekend and I suspect when he returns it won’t be long until we’re putting down our deposits.</p>
<p>D is a current first year student at UA (with sophomore standing due to APs) and an NMF. She decided not to go Greek & hasn’t regretted it. She thought about it and went to Panhellenic Preview but it’s just not her thing. She has no trouble finding things to do; her social life is not limited at all. I think because she’s in the Honors dorms it doesn’t seem to be a factor.</p>
<p>She loves her honors seminars (small 10-15 students) and while she has had a couple of larger survey classes, you can make any class small by sitting in the front by the instructor. </p>
<p>She also loves the fact that via the University Scholars program, she can begin working on her Masters as an undergrad. Since the NMF package is for 8 semesters, and since many of the kids come in with a lot of AP/Dual enrollment credits, it is very easy to complete double majors with minors and some graduate credits to boot. </p>
<p>We had told her that if she went to school somewhere that was offering her a generous NMF package, that it would make us able to finance additional opportunities. She is taking part in a study abroad program this summer that I guarantee you wouldn’t have happened if we had to pay our EFC at another school. </p>
<p>The reality for D is that the NMF package made us take a hard look at the school, but the first time she stepped foot on campus she loved it. It’s a great combo when the school you love most gives you the best merit aid ;)</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>The letter from Dr. Sharpe stood out for us, as well. We were impressed enough that we mentioned it during our meeting with him. If the rest of the Bama contacts, tours, and classes had not measured up, the letter wouldn’t have sold DS… but since everything else lived up to that standard, here we are.</p>
<p>Lady Di, your PM box is full, and can’t accept any replies:-(</p>
<p>NMx – I am so sorry! I was off the computer all of yesterday. (Yes, I suffered withdrawal pains!) We have Verizon broadband, and it is refusing to connect. (Spent an hour last night on the phone with a very nice tech support guy, to no avail.)</p>
<p>Anywy, am on backup dial-up now…will go clean out my inbox toot-sweet! :)</p>
<p>*We had told her that if she went to school somewhere that was offering her a generous NMF package, that it would make us able to finance additional opportunities. She is taking part in a study abroad program this summer that I guarantee you wouldn’t have happened if we had to pay our EFC at another school. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>That the thing…those who are paying full freight or nearly so at pricey schools can often not afford any of the other things kids like to do in college…such as study abroads and such. And, certainly, these families are often unable then to help with any grad/med school costs.</p>
<p>BTW…those who are pre-med…it can cost $10k+ just to do your apps and travel costs for inteviews during your senior year as an undergrad.</p>
<p>My daughter is an Auburn Tiger and she lives in the Village Dorms. It is limited, but those honors students who paid their housing deposit early had no problem getting a room. And yes, the Village Dorms exceed the standard housing by $1300, so the NMF housing scholarship doesn’t cover the entire price of a Village Dorm. Now my daughter did receive a generous Department scholarship based on her NMF status, which covers the additional housing costs, her meal plan, books and more. </p>
<p>We never looked at UA so I can’t compare, but I do know she has made some friends who grew up in die-hard UA families but chose Auburn because they felt, based on local perceptions, that they would get a better education at Auburn. This seems especially true for those pursuing engineering. I can not validate these perceptions, but I did think it important to mention it. One friend of her’s really had a tough time at home during Thanksgiving (Iron Bowl).</p>