We have some relentless BAMA supporters. We are all happy your children had a great experience there and it’s important to share your thoughts. But BAMA is not for everyone and the more you push, push, push the less credible you become.
All these Bama boosters act like their beloved school is UC Berkeley. Newsflash, it’s not. Not even close. Nor will it ever be close. Call me egotistical all you want, I don’t care. I at least know that my school isn’t on the level of UNC Chapel Hill, thoughtless of a UVA or a Berkeley or a UCLA. And I certainly don’t pretend that it is.
This mob mentality is ugly.
^^ Strawman argument. Provide proof anyone has ever compared Bama to UVA, UCB, or UCLA, except you.
@NoVADad99 I didn’t even compare it. It’s just the way that they push it on students who may want to go elsewhere is more than a bit excessive.
I guide, not push.
But you said there was the direct comparison.
“All these Bama boosters act like their beloved school is UC Berkeley.”
The only thing that has been compared on this thread is the full tuition scholarship at UA vs. the partial scholarship at Kelly, and whether it is a good strategy to incur $80k of debt before even entering the workforce.
It’s a personal choice, but a student with the OP’s credentials will do well at both schools. I’ve been around the block long enough to know that nobody cares about where you went for your undergrad degree within a year after your graduation. I’ve worked with people who went to Ivys and podunk local colleges, and it’s not about their school but their own skills and drive.
I’m glad you’re impressed with your credentials. Most here are not. My point is, based on your very ordinary resume and lack of any experience whatsoever with competitive colleges, why should anyone take your word as authoritative? Why should this OP, an elite candidate at major universities, care about the opinions of someone who knows nothing about that?
This thread has nothing to do with UNCW. Deleting all posts involving such comments.
Post # 71 by @Zinhead is a great post and you should do exactly that!! (or it into a 529 plan). I am a huge Kelley fan. But the lesson in life should be to maximize you’re opportunity.
If the money situation was reverse on the two schools, I would recommend going to IU.
As a parent it is a very good feeling to have the college costs covered with scholarship and savings. Coming out of school debt free. My kids have a little money left for graduate school even - which DD at BAMA is doing with STEM MBA program.
First of all, unless the parents sign a parent plus loan, or fabulous additional $$ comes from Kelley, OP doesn’t have the $$ to attend Kelley because student loans are limited to below what he/she will need to attend Kelley.
When a student goes to where he/she can achieve and puts forth great effort, and takes advantage of opportunities, then at graduation, being debt free is very freeing to what one can choose to do from there.
There are some posters here that have only one child, high income, and desire to have their child be in ‘the best, most exclusive’ program. That is their choice, because they have the $$.
There is a lot of Bama envy out there. There are other schools that offer OOS scholarships to their public schools, but UA has built up to be able to do so with a lot of vision, coordination with the board, state and federal resources, and the financial support of alum and positive cash flow athletics.
There is a lot of business growth and development in the south, but I don’t think one would be ‘snubbed’ going to UA if one has high stats through UG. My nephew is in a pretty decently ranked law school in the mid-west and is #2 in his law class - a 500+ NY law firm has hired #1 and #2 for summer internships and future employment. The cream rises to the top, and many big firms do want diversity to a certain extent with their recruiting.
My DD’s room-mate’s parents could afford a different school, but told DD that the cost difference was not worth the other school - so her attitude shifted to being happy with having the opportunity where she does with her scholarships (Presidential and Engineering, just like her older brother). By the way, brother has his new job (graduated at ME) training in Chicago. Parents had gone to a state school in TN, and UA had a whole lot more going for it than their home state choices for their S/D, and the UA scholarships for the high stat kids actually made UA less out of pocket for them.
H and I grew up in WI, and have kept up with nieces/nephews in colleges in WI, IA, MN. We have been fortunate to have DDs be able to take advantage of UA system scholarships in their chosen fields with very comprehensive education available - and good college life experiences too.
How will the OP pay $20k/year if he/she can’t borrow more than $5500-7500/year?
OP, I don’t know much about either school, but it looks like you don’t even have a choice. No, you won’t graduate with $80k in debt -because you literally can’t.
“There is a lot of Bama envy out there.”
Really?
Lol…Bama envy is just an absurd accusation.
I love my school but if my kid has better opportunity (considering financial, academic, geographical, et al) I would definitely tell him to go say, UCLA, harvard, Oxford, etc etc. The only exception would be pre-meds because the only acceptable grade is A(how unfortunate), and grad schools don’t care what undergrad you went, and people don’t care what grad school you went…meaning all med schools are goood
I think that’s pretty silly. I personally have no Bama envy, and I can’t imagine why people would envy the school - I totally agree with paul2752.
Honestly there is Bama envy - during football season, other schools wish they had UA’s winning trend, even as a SEC school - where many of the teams are super competitive. The football commentators seem to have more to say about the other teams, except ‘when the fat lady sang.’ It is like being happy for any team but UA. And the UA football team had to work very hard for the National Championship.
Many schools would like to attract high stat kids from OOS with Presidential scholarship, but are limited due to financial constraints.
Even within UA System, UA, UAB, UAH - there can be a little envy. When I worked for UAH in a staff position, I didn’t receive the same pay/benefits as UA and UAB employees - all UAB employees had TIAA Cref 3% matching; at my time at UAH they only had that for faculty (so no TIAA Cref for non-faculty employees, which was a labor violation, later corrected). I know because a friend was a staff person at UAB during the time.
It is just like going to a smaller state school for affordability, but desiring to go to the flagship school - gotta have a little envy for some missed opportunities be it with academics, social, campus recruiting, etc.
Don’t worry - UA is now working on developing/improving their graduate school programs, so only OOS kids with ACT 32+/SAT equiv. after fall will get full tuition scholarship.
Many schools have a lot of alum spirit - some are more at a national level than others.
I also do think there is a little snobbery about UA being a school in the south, versus the north or the northeast. Vanderbilt is respected for numerous good reasons, and Emory to a lesser extent.
I do think some schools have transformed themselves better over the years than others. A new paradigm.
Wasn’t vanderbilt like UA in the past? Not trying to compare the qualities, but just the snobbism toward South, you know
<<< @LucieTheLakie
serious question: How much debt will you have when you complete your degree at UNCW? I think, given that you’re a college freshman, it would be helpful to the OP to know, so he has some context about the advice you’re offering.
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I’m glad that you asked this question AND made the age point.
At one point, LBad indicated that he had a college fund that would pay for his choice of school.
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my parents had high-paying jobs when I was a toddler, so I have a huge college fund as a result. Therefore, I will be full pay ANYWHERE.<<
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Now it sounds like he is having to borrow some, and will end up with about $30k in debt…not a huge amount.
However, since he is only a freshman, and hasn’t yet had to earn a living while paying back debt, the jury is still out and he doesn’t have experience to be able to properly advise in this situation. It’s just too easy for someone else to say, “it’s worth the money” when “the money” will be debt.
This discussion is pointless if the OP does not even have a real choice.
What’s the plan to cover the additional ~$80K it would take to attend IU?
It would be a stretch to cover even half that from “self help” (federal student loans and work-study)
Are his parents able and willing to borrow $40K or more against home equity?
Can his grandparents help?
If not, will he commute 4 hours from home?
I had to laugh at the comment that there is BAMA envy, seriously now…lol
No. Not envy. But many here go to a lot of trouble to bash Bama. Why is that? if you have nothing good to say, then don’t say anything, as the old saying goes. If UM, OSU, TAMU or UT hands out scholarships like UA does, I’m sure there won’t be this type of hate about them spreading on CC.
I’m am LSU fan, so I have plenty of reason for Bama hate. :). But I can’t deny that they’ve done a smart thing with their scholarships and there are a lot of things to recommend the school. My D would have qualified for their big scholarship and I’d have been fine with her going there if she’d wanted to. In fact I told her that if she wanted the experience of going OOS that Bama should be on her list.