<p>Hi, the Ole Miss v 'bama thread received some decent response. I was just wondering whether any of you visited the other two and what your feeling was since I don’t think we’ll get a chance to visit this fall. Info on honors college, merit scholarships and general feeling & reputation would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Clemson was high on my list as a parent. Son never was interested, and it was very difficult to visit. I was thrilled when he was not only accepted, but also offered OOS waiver, making it affordable. It has a very good reputation in the south. Many employers recruit there. I have met many alumnae with excellent jobs. They say a tiger paw on a diploma is your ticket into a job. If you have an opportunity, I would visit and see how you like it. Pierre on the Clemson board is very helpful and will answer any question you pose. I am hoping son will look at it for grad school, since it has the specific field he wants to pursue, biomedical engineering. But I have heard it is located in a “village”, so again, if you’re looking for an urban environment, may not be a good choice. We usually have one boy a year attend from our high school, although not this year, and I’ve never met anyone who has been unhappy there.</p>
<p>South Carolina has been in the lead with friends of ours who ultimately chose College of Charleston. If you’re looking in that area, you might want to check out that school as well. Another one everyone I know whose child has attended has loved.</p>
<p>I must say, though, I’ve never myself even been to the Carolinas, so this is all just word of mouth info I’m passing on.</p>
<p>DS and I visited South Carolina - it eventually came down to SC Honors vs. UA Honors. The USC vs. UA visit made it a lock.
He liked the layout, organization and professionalism of UA much more. The Honors dorms smoked the SC ones (suites, but doubles). There were far more organized programs and classes for Honors at UA, vs. a “we just let the Honors kids come up with the ideas” approach at USC. The UA campus was much more walkable. There was major talk of financial issues at USC as far as state support etc., shortages of space for Engineering, classes being held in the stadium basement areas etc., whereas the UA investment on the Shelby buildings pretty much dominated.
While the people were really nice at both, there wasn’t the southern hospitality we experienced at UA. Plus, from their own words, their football team sucked. </p>
<p>Then there was the Comp. Sci. “representative” with the neck beard talking on and on about their live Pacman game… but that’s another story.</p>
<p>and not for nothing, but seeing all those shirts proclaiming Go Co*ks was a bit concerning ;)</p>
<p>Glad you chimed in, AL34. Glad you brought up the point, too, that many parents have to look at nowadays, unfortunately, the financial stability of the school, especially state schools. Was shocked at how many people are leaving states always known for great public institutions, ie, Illinois and California, to come on down south for Bama, but it seems that the financial stability of Bama versus the instability of their states and lack of support for public education is a driving force bringing many families to Bama.</p>
<p>After visiting five schools, including Clemson and UA, Clemson was my favorite. Even before the tour, just walking around campus, I got an “I absolutely have to go here” feeling, and the tour only made that feeling even stronger. The campus is gorgeous and pretty condensed, which is a huge plus for me. The dorm we saw was not new, to say the least. It was kind of what you would picture when you think about suffering through a year in a freshmen dorm. I was there while there weren’t students on campus, but just from what I saw and what the tour guide told us, I could tell that there really is an incredible sense of community and school spirit there. The town is…very small, but student friendly. There are a few bars, restaurants, Clemson-gear stores. Everyone we met at the school and merchants in town were wonderful, friendly, and full of southern hospitality. My overall impression was that it’s a large school that feels small with very engaged students; I know statistically a lot of students participate in community service and intramural sports are big.</p>
<p>I also loved Alabama, but it had a different feel – bigger with more impressive facilities.</p>
<p>I was interested in USC for a while, but never visited – I know people say the campus is absolutely gorgeous though. My friend applied to USC, Bama, and similar schools, and while she ended up attending UColorado-Boulder, she said South Carolina would have been her next choice.</p>
<p>If I get into Clemson, it’s going to be a difficult choice between there and UA given the generous UA merit scholarships. Both are wonderful schools, it’s all about which is the right fit for you.</p>
<p>Along with U Pittsburgh, U South Carolina was one of the three far-away schools (including UA) that I applied to. It has a great international business program, which is what originally got me to consider attending. The campus looked quite beautiful and the rec center looks like a fancy resort like one would find in Palm Springs. With a scholarship and OOS tuition waiver, it would have only been about $2,000 more a year than UA (housing costs, while very reasonable, were higher at UA). With SC’s budget troubles however, tuition rose by a a large amount (over $1,000 for the year, IIRC), which made me glad that I didn’t choose to attend there.</p>
<p>One thing I felt was very lacking at USC was the personal attention given to both students and applicants by UA. I don’t think I ever got a response to any of the e-mails I sent to USC and received few letters/e-mails compared to what I received from UA. At the time, Columbia also had limited air service and much higher prices when compared to Birmingham. That difference has lessened somewhat, but it still is usually $100 cheaper for me to fly to round-trip to Birmingham.</p>
<p>When I was applying, the consensus I head was the UGA started the trend in the South of improving facilities, honors programs, and merit scholarships to attract top OOS students, followed by UA and then USC and Ole Miss.</p>
<p>Clemson was one of the first colleges we visited and we really liked it. My son loved it.</p>
<p>We knew that we would get the OOS portion paid for which would have brought total costs (tuition, room, board, books, etc) down to instate COA…which is currently $25k per year. </p>
<p>Then we visited Bama and son felt the same way about Bama as he did about Clemson. Son did like that Tuscaloosa offers a lot more than the city of Clemson did.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Bama offered a much better scholarship. </p>
<p>For anyone who would only get the OOS portion covered at Clemson but would get all tuition covered at Bama, it’s really a no-brainer if cost is at all a concern.</p>
<p>The instate tuition at Clemson is currently $12,400 per year (and rising). To have all tuition covered at Bama is a savings of $50k over Clemson. And, for someone who’s also getting the engineering scholarship, that’s an additional $10k.</p>
<p>USC was ok…we didn’t like UGa at all.</p>
<p>Good point, Seatide. Although I was thrilled at the OOS waiver offered by Clemson, I was worried about rising tuition that might make even instate out of reach, or at least much higher compared to that of Bama. The honors program at Clemson was also very competitive, whereas Bama pretty much guaranteed admission into its honors program based on stats. If you’re really in love with the school, but want to do your undergrad with as little debt as possible, I’d recommend Bama for undergrad, then if you’re still interested, look into Clemson for grad. </p>
<p>Seatide makes excellent points about airfare. Our difficulty in visiting Clemson was very similar to that posed by the Starkville airport. The closest airport was GSP, and flights were quite expensive and nonrefundable. And from GSP, it was at least a 90 minute drive to campus. With Birmingham being a Southwest hub, you can get very cheap Wanna Get Away fares that are transferrable should your plans change, ie, I’m not coming home for Thanksgiving because I got tickets to the Auburn game, and there are not only affordable campus shuttles from Bama to the Birmingham at break time, there is also an Amtrak stop at Tuscaloosa. BTW, there is also an Amtrak stop in Clemson, but it is a much longer trip from NOLA because there are many stops in between, including an Atlanta layover. </p>
<p>So glad you guys are getting to visit so many campuses. My advice: apply to a bunch, see what they offer, then weigh the finances, including travel, and fit in making your final decision. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The flights issue brings up another good point - it obviously varies by location, but for me, I believe I can fly directly to Greenville whereas I’d have to connect to get to Birmingham. I’m not a huge fan of connections so that’s a consideration for me.</p>
<p>As far as cost goes, I agree with what everyone’s saying. My father is pressuring me toward Clemson, where I in all likelihood would receive no financial assistance. As much as I loved Clemson, I can’t justify an extra $100,000+ over four years to go there instead of Bama.</p>
<p>I got opinions from two former students on what they thought of Clemson and USC. </p>
<p>One of my formers started at Virginia Tech, but thought the classes were a bit too easy. So she transferred to Clemson. She lasted one year and returned to VT. She said, in the end, VT’s classes were more challenging. As for USC, one of my formers liked the campus, but was not crazy about Columbia.</p>
<p>My son got offers from all three schools. Never wanted to look at the other two schools.</p>
<p>Good point, Regina. Connections are a big factor in traveling. It was a major reason we could not even do a return visit to one of son’s top choices. We realized, if it was an issue just to visit, how would he get home in case of an emergency.</p>
<p>It’s funny how your dad is pushing Clemson. I think our generation knows of its reputation, as well as that of Virginia Tech, which momreads references. However, your generation are luckily catching Bama at a great time for the university, a time of growth and financial incentives for top students. Several years back, my brothers did the same for UT Austin. It is about timing, and I would encourage those who do have the opportunity to attend Bama, while it’s growing and being generous with scholarships, to take advantage of it. </p>
<p>It’s all about fit. What is right for YOU, but also what is affordable. Don’t limit your choices where you can only decide which is the cheapest school. It’s always nice to have a choice where finances are equal, and you can let your heart lead the way.</p>
<p>Again, good luck!</p>
<p>Oops, missed mom2ck’s post. Mom2ck brings up an excellent point that you might bring up to your dad. It certainly made me think twice about pushing for even a visit to Clemson. If you’ve only got an 00S waiver, you’ve got a lot of unknowns about what your future costs are going to be. With Bama, if you’ve got the full tuition, or most of tuition, plus the engineering scholarship, you are on more stable ground than just an OOS waiver.</p>
<p>I was very turned off by Clemson. They were very unaccomodating as a faculty, especially compared to here at Alabama. Furthermore, the lack of things to do around the campus is appalling. However, the school is very beautiful, as the location is also. Alabama also offers better scholarships. You can PM me for more details, but just so you have a reference:</p>
<p>Clemson was tied with UCLA, UNC, and Washington for my favorite schools that I was accepted to.
Alabama was last… by a lot.
I visited both Clemson and Alabama during a 4 day span.
I’m sitting in my common room in my suite at Bama, and I don’t regret my decision at all.</p>
<p>Thanks for the posts- looking for a couple of schools to add or delete from S’s list that we actually might be able to afford. SoCarolina sounds like he might be able to get the OOS waiver, but that wouldn’t be enough to make it higher on the list than 'bama and the location didn’t sound too good. Clemson, I couldn’t make much sense of their merit schedule, looks like OOS waiver is a possibility. Univ of Charleston was put on S’s list by GC. The location sounds great, but don’t know too much about the school. Someone from S’s school is starting this year, so will get some feedback there.
I think he is just going to have to pick a few long shots- $$wise that he really likes and hope for the best. It is much better sitting in a position with a match acceptance both academically and financially, so all good here.
Auburn the 2/3rd tuition isn’t enough to put it on the list I think.</p>