<p>I just got accepted for the Fall 2010 as a transfer. Right now I live in Florida and attend a community college. I’ve been at this community college for about a year and a half and it’s pretty lame. Every important class, like General Chemistry for example, has a prerequisite on it for the purpose of making money. Before last semester my GPA was about a 3.7, but last semester I had some stuff going on outside of school that helped me to drop my GPA.</p>
<p>The alternative to UofA is stay here at this community college for another year then try to transfer to somewhere like the UofTexas @ Austin or the University of Florida. I could also go somewhere like UCF/USF, both of which appear to have higher entrance standards than UofA. However, when ranked UCF and USF are lower overall than UofA. Additionally, I’m trying to avoid living in a major city.</p>
<p>***So I’m wondering what are some good reasons for going to UofA? Is the campus nice? How is the education? Is the school reputable - aside from its football team? I keep reading online that it’s a school for idiots (not that I’m a genius). I’m not much of a partier, I just want to meet some good people. How are the people? Apart from that I don’t really know what to expect out of a University…</p>
<p>Who says that it’s a school for idiots? The school has over 500 National merit scholars on campus and many, many others who have received high stats scholarships.</p>
<p>What is your major? That can have some influence on who your classmates will be. If you’re majoring in a challenging major, your classmates will be as smart or smarter than you are.</p>
<p>Did you apply for the honors college? If not, do so NOW.</p>
<p>^ @mom2collegekids, I was accepted to the College of Commerce and Business Administration… I plan to change my major, I’d like to do medical. I’ll likely switch over to the College of Arts and Sciences or College of Engineering.</p>
<p>My GPA is pretty low now, I actually included a letter in my application explaining my circumstances and how this past semester was not in my character. After a semester or two of retaking some classes I’m sure I can get into the honors college.</p>
<p>I assume that you have looked to make sure that you and your family can afford UA financially, especially if you will subject to OOS tuition charges. </p>
<p>If I may ask, what made you decide to apply as a transfer to UA compared to another school? I take it you’ve either visited campus or took the virtual tour, if not, then do so ASAP. It will give you a good idea of the UA campus. Tuscaloosa is not a large city and UA does have what I consider to be a traditional college campus.</p>
<p>When many people think of UA, they first think of the football team and that’s understandable. UA has been working hard to improve it’s academic image for quite awhile now and is succeeding beyond expectations. If anything, having an excellent football team is one of UA’s greatest assets, both culturally and for fundraising. It’s no secret that having a great athletics program is good for alumni donations that are in turn used for attracting the best and brightest students and faculty to campus. Unfortunately, many people do still think that the school is in some backwoods middle of nowhere place where education/research isn’t top priority and people act like it’s 1956. UA is nothing like that. In my experience as an OOS student who spends a good amount of time in other areas of the city in addition to the campus, I can honestly say that people in Alabama are some of the nicest, friendliest people I’ve ever met. I meet new people every day on campus that are very intelligent and want to succeed. Sure there are some people who really like to party, but there you will also find people who don’t like to party or party only a little bit. With almost 29,000 students, you are bound to find a group of people who share your interest(s) at UA.</p>
<p>I do recognize that UA might not be the best school for you, but assuming you could afford to complete a degree at UA, I would at least try it out. When possible, I highly suggest you apply to the honors college. In fact, when you start school in August, schedule a meeting with Dean Sharpe of the Honors College to discuss your college plans. He’s a really great guy who bends over backwards to help students not just succeed, but thrive in their college careers and in life.</p>
<p>Best of luck in the decision making process and feel free to post again or PM any of us with any questions you may have.</p>
<p>SEA_Tide brings up a good point. Will your family pay for Alabama?</p>
<p>If so, then do come. I have a son who is a Chem Engineering major who is also pre-med. </p>
<p>I think you can be very happy at Bama. Even if football isn’t your “bag,” do try to get some student tickets and go to a couple of home games. It can just be good fun.</p>
<p>Does a “school for idiots” reject 42.6 % of its applicants? I doubt the UCF and USF reject as high a percentage of its applicants as Bama. The truth is that UA enrolls some of the smartest kids in the nation, and accepts students from the state of Alabama with impressive and less than impressive test scores. Unlike at other schools, a very high proportion of the accepted students choose to enroll at UA. A class with a 24.9 ACT avg is not a class of idiots, but rather a diverse class to match the state’s diverse demographics (poor, moderate and rich classes, races, educational levels of parents, etc.). </p>
<p>Do UCF and USF have more National Merit Scholars than UA? Do they have honor programs that match UA’s? The answer to both is NO!</p>
<p>And how do their campuses compare? </p>
<p>Check out UA for UA for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my family does not have the money for my college. They can help out a little, and I mean very little. My parents make too much money for me too get financial aid, but they never really saved for my schooling either. I’ll mostly just be doing loans…Once I’ve been there and gotten my GPA back up I will definitely apply for some scholarships…</p>
<p>“If I may ask, what made you decide to apply as a transfer to UA compared to another school?”</p>
<p>I actually applied to several schools. Other schools told me I didn’t have enough credits. I applied to UofA because I’ve heard a few people mention it. Plus U of A is sort of close to Florida, it’s in that Southeastern region.</p>
<p>When I said “school for idiots” I was more or less summarizing opinions I’ve read on a few different websites. I personally don’t believe or really know if it’s a school for idiots and I didn’t mean to offend anyone - sorry</p>
<p>**What do people usually do to pay for college? Are there really that many people whose parents are paying for their OOS tuition? Are all OOS students either on academic or athletic scholarships?</p>
<p>In state tuition for UF, USF, and UCF for a whole year is about $18,500+. I’d only go to either UF or UCF. USF is a 45-60 minute drive from my house, so going there would be impractical…I’m not going to commute 2 hours everyday to go to school or pay to live in a dorm at a college that’s so close to my home.</p>
<p>UF is a great school but you need some 60+ credits to transfer there. Or an AA, so I’d most certainly spend another year at my community college, then whatever extra time I’d spend here waiting for an admission decision.</p>
<p>It makes more sense to me to go to UA then once I get more credits, maybe transfer back to Florida to UF or something…I don’t know?</p>
<p>There have been some long discussions on the CC’s parents forum about the feasibility of an OOS college eduction. From what I’ve gathered form them, unless you have the extra money coming in to pay the OOS fees, have a scholarship/tuition discount/financial aid, or are willing to take out extra loans, the most financially feasible option will probably be to attend a school in your home state. There are exceptions when one lives in a state with high tuition rates and/or one that makes it difficult to graduate in 4 years and in those cases, attending an OOS college may be a better idea. For example, UA currently has many Californians who decided that going to UA and graduating in 4 years was financially better than staying in CA and having it take 5+ years to get a bachelor’s degree. Historically, UA has also had a large contingent of Texans who, while bxcellent students, couldn’t get into to top Texas schools like UT-Austin due to the top 10% rule Texas had at the time for in-state students (this rule has since been modified). </p>
<p>A quick search of UF’s website and the College Board’s website shows the total cost of attendance being around $18.5k per year. By contrast , OOS tuition alone at UA is $20,500 for the upcoming year. As much as I think you could do well at UA, I don’t want you to graduate with thousands of dollars more in loans than if you attended a school in Florida. </p>
<p>If you want to eventually transfer to a Florida university, then it makes sense to stay in-state so your credits will (hopefully) all transfer and you can save on tuition. You do have the option to transfer to a different CC and live away from home, which might be a good idea.</p>
<p>I’ll end my post with some info commonly offered by CNBC’s Suze Orman. I assume that you plan to work on or near campus to help pay expenses. Living in Florida, you are not used to paying a state income tax. In Alabama, such a tax will take up to 5% of your gross wages, which can be a big chunk of change out of your budget. This fact caught a few people I know by surprise when they had to file and pay AL taxes on part of their NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my family does not have the money for my college. They can help out a little, and I mean very little. My parents make too much money for me too get financial aid, but they never really saved for my schooling either. I’ll mostly just be doing loans…Once I’ve been there and gotten my GPA back up I will definitely apply for some scholarships…</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be harsh, but if your parents can’t help you pay, why did you apply to a school that there’s no way that you can afford.</p>
<p>Scholarships for current students are not for large amounts of money. They aren’t like the big scholarships for incoming freshmen. Such scholarships would hardly make a dent in the costs to attend an OOS school.</p>
<p>I really doubt that you can afford Alabama or any out of state school. For an OOS student, it will cost about $30k per year at a minimum (since you won’t have to live in the dorm.)</p>
<p>The most you can borrow as a sophomore is $6500. The most you can borrow as a junior and senior is $7500 for each year. Those Stafford Direct student loans maximums are put there for a reason…because paying them back is too difficult for a young adult. </p>
<p>You need to ask your parents NOW how much they can pay for college. You need to ask if THEY will borrow for your college. Your parents - if their credit is good - can borrow more than you can. However, unless THEY are going to pay the parent loans back borrowing more than the Stafford limits is not the answer.</p>
<p>And, yes, most OOS students pay their tuition through either parents or scholarships (merit or athletic). Students just can’t qualify to borrow large amounts since they don’t have the income/assets/credit rating to qualify for large loans.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that almost no OOS publics give their own financial aid to OOS students (they reserve their very limited FA funds for instate students)- so even if your parents’ income was lower, you wouldn’t still wouldn’t get enough help to pay. Merit aid is different (comes from a different source) and is most given to incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>I talked to a friend I know who attends UCF, I was told that in-state tuition for UCF is actually at the most $14,000 a year. It says online that schools like UF and UCF are $19,000-$20,000 a year.</p>
<p>So do any of you know how much University of Alabama actually costs per year for an OOS student? It seems as though the estimated costs online are really higher than they actually are.</p>
<p>The COA figure is always higher than it really is to attend a school. That’s something I learned from an information session that our guidance director held a few years ago. They build in the cost of books (usually putting the figure at $1000 or more a year), the highest meal plan, travel to and from the school, and personal items (that gets me all the time – toilet paper just is not that expensive). </p>
<p>The tuition may be set, but you can go cheaper on housing or a meal plan. Books do not always need to be new. </p>
<p>Or you can be like my youngest son. He can live on cereal, mac and cheese, pancakes and eggs.</p>
<p>If I were you I would stay in Florida and attempt to gain admission to UF. UF tuition way cheaper than UA. $5,020 for UF vs $7900 for UA for a school year. There’s really no reason you would need to pass up the great schools in Florida to attend UA, unless you are a diehard UA fan or UA has a major/program that no school in Florida offers. You said you don’t want to stay at the community college for long - is it possible for you to increase the amount of classes you are taking? That may help you reach the required 60 hrs for UF sooner.</p>